Who was the most talented out of Mogilny, Bure and Fedorov?

[DitchMarner]

Mogilny was the most talented for me followed by Bure and Fedorov. Though as strange as this sounds Fedorov was the best player followed by Bure and lastly Mogilny. Talent isn't anything unless you got drive I suppose.

Was drive really the thing that made Fedorov better than Bure?

I'd say he was better because of a higher hockey IQ and due to being more versatile and less injury prone and having better teams to play on.

Bure actually seems to have been the more driven player (even if he was only driven to score goals at times). Talent-wise, I might give Bure the edge as well if we're only considering physical and technical skills.

You're saying Mogilny didn't care. Okay. But a lot of people don't care that much about practice either, just ask Allen Iverson.

We're not talking about the game... we're talking practice!

Not the game... not the game... practice!

 

[GMR]

Fedorov > Bure > Mogilny.

Fedorov might be the most frustrating player ever for me. He had such a strong prime & career, but his accomplishment always felt like they could have been so much higher if he tried harder. I remember during the 90s, I felt he was the kind of guy who should have been contending for the Art Ross every year (like a Jagr, or if not that high, at least close to Forsberg). Instead, after 1995-1996 season, he has a 6 year stretch where he didn't once surpass 70 points. I know Fedorov was also great defensively, and he did perform great in playoffs obviously - but I always felt he had the talent to do more offensively still in the regular season.

Bure #2. He's probably close to Fedorov, and I'd say he definitely played to his potential more often than Fedorov did, but I do slot him 2nd.

Mogilny easily #3. Great player too, but I have him behind the others.

I don't think Sergei took the regular season too seriously most of his career.

 

[connellc]

I don't think Sergei took the regular season too seriously most of his career.

This is correct and this is what non-Detroit fans sometimes fail to realize. After 1996, he coasted but he turned it up a high gear and extra level in the playoffs. Top 3 in playoff points in the 1990's while playing on highly defensive teams is no joke.

Post red wings though, he got totally lazy and that SHOULD bring him down a notch. There was a story how Perry and Getzlaf couldn't be called up because of him in Anaheim because of his attitude issues and at that time was probably just playing for a paycheck. According to Brian Burke he spent most nights in LA out until 3-4am, even on game days. That's where his head was after he left Detroit

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Was Fedorov always the best defensively of the two through Junior as well?

my impression is yes but my assumption is that it was circumstantial. in the tikhonov system, which i as understand it runs early through its feeder teams, the center has pretty defined defensive responsibilities that come at the expense of offence.

so was he naturally better defensively, or was it just the position he played and how he was trained? conversely maybe there is a reason he wasn’t a winger, ie, a natural predisposition to center responsibilities. probably some of both, i’d imagine.

Was drive really the thing that made Fedorov better than Bure?

I'd say he was better because of a higher hockey IQ and due to being more versatile and less injury prone and having better teams to play on.

This is correct and this is what non-Detroit fans sometimes fail to realize. After 1996, he coasted but he turned it up a high gear and extra level in the playoffs. Top 3 in playoff points in the 1990's while playing on highly defensive teams is no joke.

Post red wings though, he got totally lazy and that SHOULD bring him down a notch. There was a story how Perry and Getzlaf couldn't be called up because of him in Anaheim because of his attitude issues and at that time was probably just playing for a paycheck. According to Brian Burke he spent most nights in LA out until 3-4am, even on game days. That's where his head was after he left Detroit

again this is where i see fedorov as a circumstantal player. temperamentally, he was a beat of his own drum guy, but was molded by the soviet system to be a great defensive center, and later detroit kept him (at times barely) in line.

taken outside of those two extremely exceptional environments, he was a waste of talent.

but otoh, he had creme de la creme tools. not just anybody could become peak fedorov just because he is in the same room as tikhonov and larionov/fetisov/bowman/yzerman.

 

[bobholly39]

I don't think Sergei took the regular season too seriously most of his career.

Yep exactly.

Good on him i guess since he was able to do well in playoffs and win cups - but I always felt he had more to give.