Who were our Generational players?

[Non Player Canadiens]

Price had equal or more of an impact on winning the hockey games he was in than guys like Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid imo.

Maybe thats a hot take, and I don't think it's how people define generational, but for me his impact on the Habs is comparable to many that get labelled 'generational'.

Price generational? I don't get the Price worship. Here are some players who I consider equally talented in his 'generation':

- Lundqvist
- Vasilevskiy
- Brodeur (bit of a stretch on that one, but he did play until 2015 )

And yet I don't think anyone would call any of them 'generational'. Active goalies who might reach that level but still in the beginning of their careers:
- Shesterkin
- Demko
- Oettinger

Price was very, very good but I think Habs fans put him on too high a pedestal.

 

[CHwest]

Price generational? I don't get the Price worship. Here are some players who I consider equally talented in his 'generation':

- Lundqvist
- Vasilevskiy
- Brodeur (bit of a stretch on that one, but he did play until 2015 )

And yet I don't think anyone would call any of them 'generational'. Active goalies who might reach that level but still in the beginning of their careers:
- Shesterkin
- Demko
- Oettinger

Price was very, very good but I think Habs fans put him on too high a pedestal.

Because most of us saw him play and he was/is a very likeable guy.

 

[yianik]

Harvey, possibly Morenz

It's not possibly Morenz. Morenz was that.

 

[crosbyshow]

There is a consensus in the hockey world that since the 50s, those are considered the generational players:

Howe
Orr
Gretzky
Lemieux
Crosby
Mcdavid


I agree with that. I see the Rocket and Lafleur as franchise player but not generational

 

[LaP]

There is a consensus in the hockey world that since the 50s, those are considered the generational players:

Howe
Orr
Gretzky
Lemieux
Crosby
Mcdavid


I agree with that. I see the Rocket and Lafleur as franchise player but not generational

Richard pretty much redifined what a goal scorer was. What is this consensus you are talking about? Toronto's consensus? I always saw Richard as a generational player. He is the best goal scorer who did not play in the 80 games era.

Not having Ovy as generational always make me laugh big time and it totally discredit any argument someone might have imo. The guy might soon be the best goal scorer in the f***ing history of the league. If this is not generational then there's a massive problem with the modus operandi.

 

[The Last Red]

There is a consensus in the hockey world that since the 50s, those are considered the generational players:

Howe
Orr
Gretzky
Lemieux
Crosby
Mcdavid


I agree with that. I see the Rocket and Lafleur as franchise player but not generational

Did you see actually see Lafleur play? He was generational. He just partied way too much and had a shorter career prime as a result.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

No they didn't. A simple google search will show you that has been debunked.

It’s been debunked 1000 times.

Price had equal or more of an impact on winning the hockey games he was in than guys like Crosby, Ovechkin, and McDavid imo.

Maybe thats a hot take, and I don't think it's how people define generational, but for me his impact on the Habs is comparable to many that get labelled 'generational'.

It’s a hot take.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Richard pretty much redifined what a goal scorer was. What is this consensus you are talking about? Toronto's consensus? I always saw Richard as a generational player. He is the best goal scorer who did not play in the 80 games era.

Not having Ovy as generational always make me laugh big time and it totally discredit any argument someone might have imo. The guy might soon be the best goal scorer in the f***ing history of the league. If this is not generational then there's a massive problem with the modus operandi.

Crosby fans love to pretend there are miles of separation between Sid and Ovi. IMO you can easily support the case that ovi was better and had a better career.

 

[LaP]

Crosby fans love to pretend there are miles of separation between Sid and Ovi. IMO you can easily support the case that ovi was better and had a better career.

When it's close i'll always side with the 200 foot center over the offensive winger. So given the choice i would easily go with Crosby to build a team around. This said Ovy had a legendary career.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

When it's close i'll always side with the 200 foot center over the offensive winger. So given the choice i would easily go with Crosby to build a team around. This said Ovy had a legendary career.

If you value goals the most it is hard to argue against Ovi. Crosby’s defensive game was always a bit overrated imo.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Price generational? I don't get the Price worship. Here are some players who I consider equally talented in his 'generation':

- Lundqvist
- Vasilevskiy
- Brodeur (bit of a stretch on that one, but he did play until 2015 )

And yet I don't think anyone would call any of them 'generational'. Active goalies who might reach that level but still in the beginning of their careers:
- Shesterkin
- Demko
- Oettinger

Price was very, very good but I think Habs fans put him on too high a pedestal.

He doesn’t have the resume to be considered generational. But much of that was due to health. He certainly had the talent.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

When it's close i'll always side with the 200 foot center over the offensive winger. So given the choice i would easily go with Crosby to build a team around. This said Ovy had a legendary career.

Those goal numbers are insane. And OV was a really physical player in his day too.

They’re in the same class of player. I don’t think one is definitively better than the other. If pressed I would probably take Ovechkin.

One thing to consider: Imagine if OV had gotten to play with Malkin his whole career.

 

[LaP]

Those goal numbers are insane. And OV was a really physical player in his day too.

They’re in the same class of player. I don’t think one is definitively better than the other. If pressed I would probably take Ovechkin.

One thing to consider: Imagine if OV had gotten to play with Malkin his whole career.

Despite retiring at probably 40-41 Ovy will likely have an average of around 46 to 48 goals every 82 games which is f***ing crazy.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Despite retiring at probably 40-41 Ovy will likely have an average of around 46 to 48 goals every 82 games which is f***ing crazy.

What’s really crazy (and this applies to Crosby as well) is that those guys played much of their careers in a low scoring era. 84 points being enough to win a scoring title would be nuts today.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Mesar.

 

[TRG]

Roy, Hasek and Brodeur are often referred as the best goaltenders of all time.

If that's the case, then Roy is a generational player.

 

[Treb]

Newsy Lalonde, Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Guy Lafleur at forward.

Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson at defence.

George Vezina, George Hainsworth, Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy for the goalies.

 

[crosbyshow]

If you value goals the most it is hard to argue against Ovi. Crosby’s defensive game was always a bit overrated imo.

Crosby missed basically 2 years at 23 and 24 years old....at his prime. The dude would have close to 1800 points by now

Ovi a generational scorer but Crosby stll has 600 goals and 1000 assists.

 

[crosbyshow]

Did you see actually see Lafleur play? He was generational. He just partied way too much and had a shorter career prime as a result.

Yes I have seen him. By far the most spectacular player I have seen era for era with Mcdavid and maybe Bure.

Is he generational...I don't think so. Dionne was as good as him stats wise and he had not the big 3 behind him.

I see a big gap between Lafleur versus Orr, Gretzky and Lemieux.

Concerning the Rocket and Ovi.....I see them as generational scorer big time but not generational players. It s not a knock on those unbelievable players

Howe , Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux , Crosby and Mcdavid made (makes) the players around them way better and they were (are) still able to score a lot themselves.

 

[crosbyshow]

My personal ranking:

1- Orr / Lemieux can't choose...a lot of what if with their career but so dominant.

Lemieux is the best scorer of all time...without injuries...it's 1000 goals easily.. ..The dude has 700 goals and he missed 5 1/2 seasons between 24 and 35 years old...think about that..

2 - Gretzky ( has all the numbers to be above Lemieux and Orr but I prefer a bit more 4 and 66. 99 is by far the best passer of all time...a computer on the ice!

3-Howe

4- Crosby
5 Mcdavid ( Mcdavid will surpass Sid soon) The dude has 1000 points....at 27 years old....

6- Jagr

Then it s hard between Lidstrom, Lafleur, Ovechkin, Yzerman Sakic , Beliveau, Bossy , Messier , Dionne Bourque , Hasek and Roy...

 

[Essenege]

Lafleur best 5v5 season point total not named Gretzky. In a class of his own for like 5 years.

So underrated just because his prime was sandwiched between the 4 GOATS

 

[crosbyshow]

Lafleur best 5v5 season point total not named Gretzky. In a class of his own for like 5 years.

So underrated just because his prime was sandwiched between the 4 GOATS

He is not underrated...he is a franchise player a superstar. Not because that you are not considered a generational player that you are underrated. Jagr was the best in the league for a time and he is not considered generational too.

I have seen Lafleur and Lemieux at their prime...I am sorry but Lafleur was not even close to Lemieux.
he was more spectacular but that's it. Lemieux was a martian out there.

I am a Habs fan but we have to be honest here Lafleur was not close of Wayne and Mario

 

[Naslundforever]

A generation is around 25 yrs, so are we talking about a top 5 for every generation? If so, that's about the top 20 players of all time who are generational.

I consider an average nhler career to be the length of a generation in this context, not how long it takes humans to generally reproduce.

For me they just need to be so dominant at their position their level of performance is unattainable by the rest of the players. Some can be concurrent too, hard to argue against Mario and Wayne being generational.

Lafleur best 5v5 season point total not named Gretzky. In a class of his own for like 5 years.

So underrated just because his prime was sandwiched between the 4 GOATS

Yea, hard for me to agree with the ironically named @Lafleurs Guy that Flower was not generational. He was the best player in the world for his prime and the reason people tuned in to watch.

 

[Naslundforever]

He is not underrated...he is a franchise player a superstar. Not because that you are not considered a generational player that you are underrated. Jagr was the best in the league for a time and he is not considered generational too.

I have seen Lafleur and Lemieux at their prime...I am sorry but Lafleur was not even close to Lemieux.
he was more spectacular but that's it. Lemieux was a martian out there.

I am a Habs fan but we have to be honest here Lafleur was not close of Wayne and Mario

And an average AHL replacement goalie today is better than prime Dryden. Have to agree Mario was a martian though. I have him above Wayne as my goat.

 

[CHwest]

Crosby fans love to pretend there are miles of separation between Sid and Ovi. IMO you can easily support the case that ovi was better and had a better career.

Not even close, Ovi I believe had more talent but he had no heart. For years every time the Caps would get down in a series HE would fold like a cheap tent and let his team mates down. It was disgusting. When they won the cup, HE put the team on his back and willed them to win, I didn't think he had it in him after watching him fold countless times. It only happened once. Crosby on the other hand worked, it seemed every shift he played.