List of best defensive defensemen

[ChiefWiggum]

Who were the best defensemen at defending the rush, finishing checks and shutting down the opposition in their own end?

Click to read more...

 

[Leafsdude7]

From all reports, Rod Langway was the best in the 80s...

 

[VanIslander]

I was a huge fan of Rod Langway, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Boards, who played defense as ferociously as I recall Larry Robinson doing. I could name so many since, but here are some from before my time I recall reading a lot of good stuff about as defensive-first defensemen (defensive defensemen, not two-way or rushing dmen... guys who made the safe play defensively rather than risk a turnover by generating an offensive move):

Harvey Pulford
Lionel Hitchman
Jacques Laperriere
Tom Johnson
Harry Howell

 

[Bustedprospect]

Lidstrom

 

[Rebels57]

Chris Pronger
Scott Stevens
Derian Hatcher
Adam Foote

 

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Serge Savard

 

[BobbyAwe]

"Big Z". Who wouldn't you rather run into if you were bearing down on the other team's net?

 

[Epsilon]

Doug Harvey
Nicklas Lidstrom
Scott Stevens
Serge Savard
Rod Langway

Lots of others warrant mention, of course.

 

[ChuckLefley]

Kevin Lowe

 

[Hobnobs]

Doug Harvey
Nicklas Lidstrom
Scott Stevens
Serge Savard
Rod Langway

Lots of others warrant mention, of course.

Thats a pretty good start. I'll add Red Kellys partner Marcel Pronovost, Raymond Bourque, Denis Potvin, Mark Howe, Börje Salming, Slava Fetisov, Brad Park and Carl Brewer.

 

[VanIslander]

I thought Francois Beauchemin was an underappreciated defensive defenseman.

He logged a team-high 30:33 minutes of ice time in the 2007 Stanley Cup championship postseason for Anaheim, more than Pronger or Neidermayer. I was very happy when he was a 2nd team NHL all-star in 2013 and The Hockey News' Rod Langway Award winner as the league's best Defensive Defenseman.

So, so many good checks he has given:

 

[VMBM]

Thats a pretty good start. I'll add Red Kellys partner Marcel Pronovost, Raymond Bourque, Denis Potvin, Mark Howe, Börje Salming, Slava Fetisov, Brad Park and Carl Brewer.

Defensive defenceman isn't maybe the first epithet that comes to mind when thinking about Potvin, Bourque, Park, Fetisov etc... Not that they weren't great defensive players - they were.

Valeri Vasiliev deserves a mention.

 

[Hoser]

Brad McCrimmon

 

[Hobnobs]

Defensive defenceman isn't maybe the first epithet that comes to mind when thinking about Potvin, Bourque, Park, Fetisov etc... Not that they weren't great defensive players - they were.

Valeri Vasiliev deserves a mention.

The best defensive defensemen often offer something other than defense. If the question is "Best defensive defensemen who offered little else?" then obviously the answer would be much different. Then the list would be players like Lowe, McCrimmon, Samuelsson (Ulf and Kjell), Foote, Marcel Pronovost, Jack Evans and so on. But even they provided other skillsets.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

just throwing out some upper echelon defense-first guys i admired whose names haven’t come up yet: mike ramsey, jamie macoun, sylvain lefebvre, dmitri yushkevich, ken morrow, richard matvichuk, craig ludwig, scott hannan, marc-edouard vlasic, dan hamhuis, willie mitchell, matthias ohlund, keith carney, vladimir konstantinov, bob rouse.

 

[crobro]

Brad McCrimmon

Jiri Bubla

 

[JackSlater]

Langway was the most impressive looking defensive defenceman that I have seen, though that doesn't necessarily mean that he was the best. It's so difficult to isolate individual defensive play from team system play that I can't confidently pick a best player. I would lean toward Langway or maybe Savard overall, though I do believe that Lidstrom was the best specifically at defending in the neutral zone.

 

[Boxscore]

Scott Stevens and Denis Potvin come to mind. Langway, yes. Oh, and some dude named Orr... he just took the puck and nobody else could have it.

Bourque and Chelios were also pretty good lol. Ray could do anything and everything - no holes in his game.

 

[Namba 17]

One of the best European defensive defensemen, one of the toughest European defensemen, a guy, who was nicknamed "mr. bodycheck" (and who wasn't even considered not only in ATD, but in MLD either (!)):

 

[VMBM]

Oldrich Machac, right?

Some other European (or "European") ones that haven't been mentioned yet: Frantisek Pospisil, Alexei Kasatonov, Mats Waltin...

 

[Namba 17]

Oldrich Machac, right?

You knew, you knew

 

[double5son10]

Bill White was a great who always seems to get overlooked. Tower of strength for the 'Hawks in the 70s.

 

[Eye of Ra]

strange picture, beachamin is from canada so how can he play against team canada?

 

[VanIslander]

strange picture, beachamin is from canada so how can he play against team canada?

He hit Crosby in practice.

 

[frisco]

Has anyone mentioned Eddie Shore?

My Best-Carey