one two center duo in History

[Honour Over Glory]

1. Gretzky/Messier
2. McDavid/Draisaitl
3. Crosby/Malkin

1. Cups
2. Zero cups
3. Cups


Weird

 

[Honour Over Glory]

nah man it's easy McDavid and Draisaitl should just go to the grocery store and pick up a ~top 2 all time goaltender or a ~top 5 all time defenseman like those guys

the fact that they're too lazy to do that shows some serious character issues to be honest

Really this board told us ad nauseum Fleury sucked. Murray isn’t even an NHL goalie anymore.

Excuses.

 

[jitterbug]

1. Cups
2. Zero cups
3. Cups


Weird

what's weird about it?

 

[chethejet]

No question top 3 are in no real order
Mario/Francis
Gretzky/Messier
Sid/Geno
Very close
Sakic /Forsburg
Yzerman/Zetterbutg
Only due to Mario Gretzky and Sid being top 5 players in talent or longevity in being great.
Gretzky, Mario, Howe, Sid and Orr top 5 to me.

 

[Fatass]

So you're actually making the argument that Tampa won cups because of Stamkos' defense? If you're not saying that, the comment you're responding to makes it feel like you are.

You guys had one of the deepest teams in the history of the NHL. Give your boys some credit, this is INSANE.

McDavid wasn't the issue on defense this playoffs that people think either. He wasn't the reason they lost.

McDavid was a dash 7 in the Cup Final. That’s playing sound defensively?

 

[SImpelton]

What might have been with Bergeron and Savard. Especially with Krejci on the third line.

A hearty f*** You for Matt Cooke.

 

[Fatass]

what's weird about it?

Cups for the greatest players is what tiers them with the greatest players. It’s weird (I agree with the other poster’s opinion) to include players without Cups in the same tier of greatness of those who do.
McDavid is definitely an all time great. But without leading his club to a Cup he ranks at the bottom of that tier.
What great player (or centre duo in this scenario) hasn’t led their team to a Cup?
McDavid and Draistl would rank at the bottom of any tier of greatness centre pairs.

 

[dr robbie]

As far as trios, I was thinking Lemieux/Francis/Trottier and maybe even Crosby/Malkin/Staal. Obviously a bias here and Trottier was on the tail end of his career while Staal was on the start of his, but still incredible 1,2,3 punch down the line on both.

Hard to vote against Gretzky and Messier & Beliveau and the pocket Rocket as mentioned. Haven't seen Abel and Delvecchio mentioned yet and they would have to be up there.

 

[bleedgreen]

No but it takes leadership and perseverance to inspire your team to sacrifice everything to win. Yzerman, Sakic, Forsberg, and Fedorov had to adapt their game to win cups.

There is zero comparison between the Avs/Wings pre cap cup champs and the current Oilers. The four players involved in this conversation did not play better than Mcdrai have played these last two seasons. I watched all of that up close and I am huge fans of all those older guys.

This whole winning the cup means they did something above and beyond is pure crap.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Pittsburgh passing on Jonathan Toews is one of the most under-talked missed opportunity in hockey history.

Staal did great work there but if they kept Toews for the full ride I believe they would have won 5-6 Stanley Cups. The Crosby/Toews combo would be up there in terms of crazy good playoff center duo in history, and imo Malkin would have eventually be moved to the wing to play with either one of them.

 

[Fataldogg]

No but it takes leadership and perseverance to inspire your team to sacrifice everything to win. Yzerman, Sakic, Forsberg, and Fedorov had to adapt their game to win cups.

Those Redwing and Avalanche teams you're discussing were much deeper. Draisaitl scored 4 goals in OT during a single playoff run, most in NHL history. How is that "not getting it done when it counts"?

This isn't the NBA where 2 or 3 players make a championship team.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Pittsburgh could have very conceivably have a Top 6 in the form of:

Eric Staal-Sidney Crosby-X
X-Jonathan Toews-Evgeni Malkin

It would have cost MA Fleury and Jordan Staal.

This Top 6 signed and secured long-term is winning more than 3 cups. You have everything in there, defense, offense, size, leadership.

Pittsburgh's luck ran red hot and they still blew it when you think about it. That's not talking about wasting a 1st round pick on Angelo Esposito with Pacioretty and Perron (even perhaps Subban) available near that spot, because this is more excusable and you can't always hit at 21th.

 

[Booker T]

Pittsburgh passing on Jonathan Toews is one of the most under-talked missed opportunity in hockey history.

Staal did great work there but if they kept Toews for the full ride I believe they would have won 5-6 Stanley Cups. The Crosby/Toews combo would be up there in terms of crazy good playoff center duo in history, and imo Malkin would have eventually be moved to the wing to play with either one of them.

The chatter at the time was that they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep Toews long-term (money wise), whereas they thought they had a better chance of retaining Staal. They also thought, at the time, that Staal was the better defensive center, which would complement Crosby / Malkin better.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The chatter at the time was that they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep Toews long-term (money wise), whereas they thought they had a better chance of retaining Staal. They also thought, at the time, that Staal was the better defensive center, which would complement Crosby / Malkin better.

Yeah I vaguely remember that but in retrospect it was silly.

 

[66-30-33]

1. Cups
2. Zero cups
3. Cups


Weird

Also option 2 isn't even a center duo, one guy plays wing most of the time.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Pittsburgh passing on Jonathan Toews is one of the most under-talked missed opportunity in hockey history.

Staal did great work there but if they kept Toews for the full ride I believe they would have won 5-6 Stanley Cups. The Crosby/Toews combo would be up there in terms of crazy good playoff center duo in history, and imo Malkin would have eventually be moved to the wing to play with either one of them.

That and Forsberg in 2011. Both of those picks were on a platter.

At least in '06 Staal was a great complementary piece. In '11 all they got was Derrick Pouliot.

 

[IcedCapp]

1. Gretzky/Messier
2. McDavid/Draisaitl
3. Crosby/Malkin

Insane to put mcdavid and draidaitl above Crosby and Malkin given reality. Reality being: Crosby and Malkin’s history isn’t made entirely of being losers and second, they actually centred their own lines. Mcdavid and Drai are not both centres. One is a winger.

That is the major difference between the winning duo and the losers. Sid and Geno were able to centre their own lines with lesser wingers so that the team could be more balanced.

Mcdavid and drai have to play on each other’s lines because it’s more important to score a lot of points in a losing effort and scream “team game!!!!!!!!!” Than actually play in a way that prioritizes the team.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Sorry I don't see how they are better than Mackinnon/Kadri. That team was the best since 85 Oilers.

Strongly disagree on best since 95, and I like Kadri. If you're going back that far, there are a bunch of teams I take over the Avs.

And if we're talking career Kadri instead of just his peak just that year, that combo wouldn't make my top 10.