What is the most important player position in hockey?

[poeman]

Straight up question, as fans we all have our own opinions...I do think this is not a easy answer.

Say you have a elite player, who was the core of your team, and the most dominant player to lead you to the promise land...Which positon do you think it most important to get right in hockey?

Lets look at the options:

Center (C)
Forward (LW/RW)
Defenseman (D)
Goaltender (G)

Personally, after much thought I think the most important player position in hockey is the defenseman. A single defenseman who can score, shutdown and control the blue line can take away your best player and thus turn the tide over to your side.

Good examples are:
Lidstrom, Chara, Keith...This is my personal opinion.

What do you all think?

 

[Seb]

Goalie AINEC

 

[Classicnamesup]

Goalie AINEC

Agreed

 

[Willyfox]

Number one Center imo just because if you look at the past Stanley cup Winners they have that great #1 Center. A close second would be franchise D

 

[poeman]

Agreed

How about Osgood and those Red Wings?

Oilers glory days?

Blackhawks recent years?

 

[illpucks]

On paper

Goalie AINEC

In reality (what people value)

Center AINEC

Goalies that are exceptional have a hard time winning any other awards than Vezina.

Forwards are a lock for nominations as long as they win the Art Ross, regardless of performance.

Defense are undervalued unless they have Bobby Orr point seasons.

It all comes down to points

so

How people value is

Center >>>>>Winger>>>>>>>Defenseman>>>>>>>>>>Goalie

 

[Drake744]

tendy

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Tough to say - Niemi and Crawford I wouldn't call elite while their teammates certainly are/were.

 

[Dod93Cityt]

Number one Center imo just because if you look at the past Stanley cup Winners they have that great #1 Center. A close second would be franchise D

They all also had a #1 defenseman

 

[poeman]

They all also had a #1 defenseman

Blackhawks are interesting...
Who was more important Toews or Keith?

Who would you go to war with out of those two?

 

[Cursed Lemon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stanley_Cup_champions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vezina_Trophy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Ross_Trophy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Norris_Memorial_Trophy

Go nuts, people.

 

[Classicnamesup]

How about Osgood and those Red Wings?

Oilers glory days?

Blackhawks recent years?

Which of those examples did they get bad goaltending? Didn't think so

 

[foundhockey]

Well if you're doing a pick up game, what do you have to play to make it work? You gotta score to win.

 

[alexny]

Straight up question, as fans we all have our own opinions...I do think this is not a easy answer.

Say you have a elite player, who was the core of your team, and the most dominant player to lead you to the promise land...Which positon do you think it most important to get right in hockey?

Lets look at the options:

Center (C)
Forward (LW/RW)
Defenseman (D)
Goaltender (G)

Personally, after much thought I think the most important player position in hockey is the defenseman. A single defenseman who can score, shutdown and control the blue line can take away your best player and thus turn the tide over to your side.

Good examples are:
Lidstrom, Chara, Keith...This is my personal opinion.

What do you all think?

Franchise D.

 

[Ttracer*]

They're all the most important thus making it very tough to build a winner. 30 NHL teams you need everyone clicking ainec

 

[capebretoncanadien]

I think a #1 elite D is most important.

ie. Pronger

They need a great team around them too of course.

 

[Seedling]

If you don't have goaltending you have nothing.

 

[aufheben]

#1D
#1C
Goalie

Really depends on the makeup of your team. Teams have won Cups with the goalie as their most important player and vice versa.

 

[hirawl]

Goalie and it really is not even close. AIRINEC.

 

[journeyman79]

The way I look at this is to consider multiple teams. One with an awful #1 center, one with an awful #1 Defenseman, one with an awful goalie, and one with an awful winger.

The team with the awful goalie sucks the most.

 

[Church of Toews*]

Hawks won with Niemi and Crawford

Wings were able to win with Osgood and Vernon

Not a single one of those goalies are considered a elite on this board but were able to come through for their team. Honestly this notion that every team needs to have an elite guy like Lundqvist Price etc is kind of overrated having #1 center and #1 Dman are far more crucial seeing that even "average" goalies can step up when everything is on the line. A great goalie can only carry a team into the playoffs a great center can have your team win it.

 

[hersky77]

#1 goalie. You build from the net out.

 

[The Macho Man]

Goalie. If your goalie has a bad game, you almost always lose.

 

[PlaceboFan]

I don't think that there's a most important position. Every player can have a huge influence on their team's success, regardless of their position. For Capitals, winger is their most important player. For Penguins, center is their most important player. For Rangers, goalie is their most important player. Then there are teams that do fine with average goaltending, no elite #1C, no elite winger or no elite #1 D. In the end, it comes down to teamwork. Gretzky never won a cup outside of Edmonton.

 

[discordant concord]

Over a regular season a #1 centre is valued the most. They are your reliable point producers. However, top goaltenders can carry middling teams during the playoffs.