Players most underappreciated by their own fanbase?

SirPaste

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Jay Bouwmeister was always criminally underrated by Blues fans until he helped us win a cup.

Now it belongs to Kryou for sure, it's insane how much some fans hate him and just disregard everything he does on the ice.
 

Juxta Position

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Jul 2, 2006
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This should be a runaway for Mitch Marner.

For comparison, since they came into the league:

GP G A P P/GP
1Auston MatthewsLC562368281649+1401141.15274470941780112612,27316.219:4852.8

2
Mitch MarnerRR576194445639+1101841.11141428441959164301,49113.019:5245.3

Yet somehow the Golden Boy Matthews is the Leafs savior and Marner is a pile of shit. It's even more ridiculous in the playoffs when fans really get rabid about it "being all Marner's fault" and want to blame him for everything, yet Matthews gets a pass because of dem intangibles.

GP G A P P/GP
1Mitch MarnerRR57113950+10180.8893111712031457.621:4637.5
2Auston MatthewsLC55232548+2110.87183451400162359.821:3053.6


Some team is going to be laughing their ass off when they get Marner for nothing but cap space because the Leafs fans and media ran another high end player out of town.

The double standard Leafs Nation has between Matthews and Marner, because Matthews "ScRoEs sO mAnY GoAlZZ!!!" is outrageous. Oh, but Matthews is a Selke candidate who plays amazing defense too right? Well....

Since they came into the league Marner is second on the Leafs with 830 minutes of PK time, while Mr. Selke has 82 minutes in 8 years, for an average 0:09 seconds a game of PK time. but I'm sure that's all just on the coaching for not recognizing Matthews stellar PK ability in 8 years of watching him right?....

Marner is CRIMINALLY underrated by Leafs fans and media, and he is going to help some team immensely when the Leafs faithful fire him into the Sun.
 

nbwingsfan

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Dec 13, 2009
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Debrincat just because I think expectations were 40 goals for many.

He was still third on the team in points with 67, came up big at the very end of the season, and we gave very little for him
 

Hamilton Bulldogs

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Jan 11, 2022
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Marner with the Leafs.

One of their most productive player ever for Toronto and you'll see Leaf fans offer him up for a goalie
 

NyQuil

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Debrincat just because I think expectations were 40 goals for many.

He was still third on the team in points with 67, came up big at the very end of the season, and we gave very little for him

He basically duplicated his performance in Ottawa.

Same number of games. Same number of goals. One more assist.

Some people thought he’d do better on Detroit’s first line than he would on Ottawa’s second.

Not sure how his deployment in Detroit ended up unfolding.
 

MOGlLNY

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Jan 5, 2008
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Owen Power. Ironically by the same exact people who were impatient with Dahlin too.
 

Shanahanigans

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Jun 16, 2011
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I'll go with Marner, the vitriol for him not just by some Leafs fans but also Toronto media is outrageous. He can't enjoy a summer golf game without some doofus from the Toronto Sun writing about how real hockey men would be working out 20 houra a day. That's not to say there aren't legit criticisms, but it seems that all of Leafs anger since 67, including the shortcomings of the current core, is all being laid at the feet of Marner.
 

Ezekial

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He basically duplicated his performance in Ottawa.

Same number of games. Same number of goals. One more assist.

Some people thought he’d do better on Detroit’s first line than he would on Ottawa’s second.

Not sure how his deployment in Detroit ended up unfolding.
He was better with Larkin and Raymond on the first line, but they tried to replicate the Kane-Debrincat magic for too long. Hopefully this year they stick to what worked rather than what they hope would work. He spent 25% of his ES ice time with Larkin and Raymond together.
 
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Tie Domi Esquire

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Oct 18, 2010
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This should be a runaway for Mitch Marner.

For comparison, since they came into the league:

GP G A P P/GP
1Auston MatthewsLC562368281649+1401141.15274470941780112612,27316.219:4852.8

2
Mitch MarnerRR576194445639+1101841.11141428441959164301,49113.019:5245.3

Yet somehow the Golden Boy Matthews is the Leafs savior and Marner is a pile of shit. It's even more ridiculous in the playoffs when fans really get rabid about it "being all Marner's fault" and want to blame him for everything, yet Matthews gets a pass because of dem intangibles.

GP G A P P/GP
1Mitch MarnerRR57113950+10180.8893111712031457.621:4637.5
2Auston MatthewsLC55232548+2110.87183451400162359.821:3053.6


Some team is going to be laughing their ass off when they get Marner for nothing but cap space because the Leafs fans and media ran another high end player out of town.

The double standard Leafs Nation has between Matthews and Marner, because Matthews "ScRoEs sO mAnY GoAlZZ!!!" is outrageous. Oh, but Matthews is a Selke candidate who plays amazing defense too right? Well....

Since they came into the league Marner is second on the Leafs with 830 minutes of PK time, while Mr. Selke has 82 minutes in 8 years, for an average 0:09 seconds a game of PK time. but I'm sure that's all just on the coaching for not recognizing Matthews stellar PK ability in 8 years of watching him right?....

Marner is CRIMINALLY underrated by Leafs fans and media, and he is going to help some team immensely when the Leafs faithful fire him into the Sun.

Since when did the team listen to the fans? They're going to overpay Marner and keep him until he retires like the rest of the core.
 

nbwingsfan

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Dec 13, 2009
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He basically duplicated his performance in Ottawa.

Same number of games. Same number of goals. One more assist.

Some people thought he’d do better on Detroit’s first line than he would on Ottawa’s second.

Not sure how his deployment in Detroit ended up unfolding.
Fester kept forcing Kane and Debrincat magic that unfortunately wasn’t really there anymore
 
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tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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Yeah, I find hockey fans in general are harder on Stamkos than he deserves... It's sort of crazy because he's a definite Hall of Famer and the team has had great success while he's there and he's been the team captain. It's like... What more did people expect?

The guy has had seven 40-60 goal seasons for Tampa (would be nine but for injury / work-stoppage), two Richard trophies, and four top-5 scoring finishes (six times top-10). He's the 2nd best goal scorer of an entire era of NHL history.

Unless you were expecting Stamkos to be Crosby (which no one should have), he's fulfilled all realistic expectations. He also deserves credit because he recovered from his severe leg injury -- he was never quite the same after that, but he adapted his game and continued to put the puck in the net. Which is not easy.

There's also this whole "sucks in playoffs" narrative about Stamkos, which has been way over-stated. He was a little disappointing for a while, but has had some solid runs, too. People need to realize that Kucherov is as good a player as Crosby -- you can't expect Stamkos, post-leg injury, to match Kucherov's production in the playoff runs. Stamkos has had four 16+ point playoffs, and there's probably only a handful or two of guys who've done that, currently. Stamkos's playoff numbers aren't great, but they're not bad either.

This is a long-winded way of saying... I agree.

As a non Lightning fan, Stamkos is the first guy I would put on their Mount Rushmore. For him not to be downright beloved by the fans is baffling.
 

SensontheRush

Never said it was Sunshine
Apr 27, 2010
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Thomas Chabot for the Sens.

And nah, Marner is still clearly overrated with all his defenders in this thread. All the playoff games he's almost single-handedly lost for the Leafs is ridiculous. Pure anti-clutch.

He needs a BIG season to prove that he isn't an empty calorie player.
 
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Svechhammer

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Jun 8, 2017
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When he was with the Canes that guy was 100% Joni Pitkanen. Not so much on HF at the time, but when he was active with the Canes the guy took at lot of shit in other online spaces and even in the stands to the point that I used to say that he was a great litmus test for the intelligence of fans of the team. Very cerebral player, solid all-around defender, and his skating was absolutely elite. But because he didn't use his size to be overly physical and his skating stride made it look like he wasn't even trying that hard he got a ton of unwarranted shit heading his direction. Especially because he was often paired with old fan favorites from the 06 team that were well past their "best by" date.
Man that's a great call. At the time, people equally loved and hated him. I think Faulk and Hamilton also had a similar reign here, though Pitkanen was supposed to be the guy for the franchise at the time, which only made the discourse even stronger.

I'd say there really isn't anyone on the Canes right now that gets that treatment. But we're good for a solid multi-week argument any time the competency of Cam Ward or Jeff Skinner is brought up.
 
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BonMorrison

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Jun 17, 2011
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We're pretty good to our Preds players honestly so hard to say.

We can be tough on Saros when he's going through a bad stretch (me included).
 

Machinehead

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Jan 21, 2011
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Not so much anymore on HFNYR but if you go on Social Media fans still think that Chris Kreider is an underachieving bum because he never became Lindros and because he scores a lot of goals around the net.

Meanwhile he's one of the most productive home grown Rangers ever in the regular season and playoffs and for years Rangers fans were begging for a guy that scores around the net.

I've come to the conclusion most fans are dumb as rocks.
I wanna add to this.

My pizza guy is a huge Rangers fan. This is going to be a very New York paragraph, so buckle up, everyone.

PIcture a family-owned pizzeria with signed pictures of all the athletes on the wall. Most of them are signed. In this particular establishment, most of them are Rangers.

The guy who owns the place is the type of guy that does the Italian finger thing when he talks. He's been a STH for like a million years. He's the type of guy that's not a casual by any stretch, but he also doesn't have an HF-level understanding of the game. He's an MSG-hardcore. Anybody who has dealt with Rangers fans knows exactly the type I'm talking about.

Literally any time the team loses it's because they were "TOO SAWFT," he says, doing the finger thing.

As you can already tell by this description, Kreider is a favorite target of his. The funny thing is, one of his favorite pieces is a signed picture of Adam Graves lifting the Cup. These types really love Adam Graves.

That's the part I don't get (I kind of get it, it's the Cup, but still). Production, style, personality: Chris Kreider and Adam Graves are the Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme.
 

tsujimoto74

Moderator
May 28, 2012
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I’d say Owen Power for Buffalo atm. I think having Dahlin has unfairly colored some fans’ expectations of him, and, as a result, they’re not only sleeping on OP’s potential but underrating how good a hockey player he already is. (That and they see a tall man and are angry he doesn’t hit more, regardless of whether he’s otherwise playing well.)
 

Lazlo Hollyfeld

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Very stable defensive partner down the lineup.

Historically for the Wings it is Chris Osgood by a lot here. Most fanbases would argue for their guy’s HHOF credentials, he gets more hate from Detroit fans there than other fanbases.

Admittedly my only real sample size is from here at hfboards but most Wings fans seem to think of him fondly. There's some debate about HHOF worthiness or not, but consensus he was great for us in 2008 and 2009.

For former players I'd say honorable mention to Dan Cleary. The last Holland contracts at the end of his career seem to have wiped away the player he was before that for a lot of fans.
 
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Rebels57

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In Philly, it's Travis Sanheim and Morgan Frost. Two of their best players and half of the fanbase would trade them for free.
 

SnowblindNYR

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I wanna add to this.

My pizza guy is a huge Rangers fan. This is going to be a very New York paragraph, so buckle up, everyone.

PIcture a family-owned pizzeria with signed pictures of all the athletes on the wall. Most of them are signed. In this particular establishment, most of them are Rangers.

The guy who owns the place is the type of guy that does the Italian finger thing when he talks. He's been a STH for like a million years. He's the type of guy that's not a casual by any stretch, but he also doesn't have an HF-level understanding of the game. He's an MSG-hardcore. Anybody who has dealt with Rangers fans knows exactly the type I'm talking about.

Literally any time the team loses it's because they were "TOO SAWFT," he says, doing the finger thing.

As you can already tell by this description, Kreider is a favorite target of his. The funny thing is, one of his favorite pieces is a signed picture of Adam Graves lifting the Cup. These types really love Adam Graves.

That's the part I don't get (I kind of get it, it's the Cup, but still). Production, style, personality: Chris Kreider and Adam Graves are the Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme.

If you get an intelligent pizza guy, the pizza doesn't taste the same.
 

sufferer

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Dec 6, 2017
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O'Reilly and Reinhart when they were with Buffalo. God that shit was so f***ing stupid. Currently, Dahlin and Power.
 

Bouboumaster

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Jul 4, 2014
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Gallagher and Armia both had solid 2nd half seasons and shouldn't receive the shit only Josh Anderson should get
 

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