Need Advice: Top three RedWings...

[RedRamage]

A little project I'm working on that I need opinions on the top three RedWings of all time. Try not to let recency bias effect your decision as much as possible.

I'm figuring Gordie Howe has to be in the top three if not #1 over all. Stevie-Y in there as well?

[oblong]

Howe, Lidstrom, Yzerman

 

[slothfacekilla]

Howe, Lidstrom, Fedorov

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Given how many times Kenny brought him back, I think Dan Cleary has to be in that conversation. In all seriousness, I'd say #1 is Lidstrom, #2 is Yzerman, and #3 is Howe. As the perfect human, I'd say Lidstrom is the greatest Red Wing of all time.

Lidstrom is perhaps the greatest all around defensemen of all time and has the stats and hardware to back it up. Lidstrom is probably the greatest defensive defensemen of all time (Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr also right up there with him). He's also one of the best offensive defensemen of all time. All around, I don't know that there is anyone better than Nick in NHL history, sans maybe Bobby Orr. He won 7 Norris Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a 12x NHL All Star, and is a member of the Triple Gold Club.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, oblong said:

Howe, Lidstrom, Yzerman

 

Yes. This is the easiest one I think.

Federov may have been the most talented player of all time in a red wing uni, but he wasn't the greatest RW of all time.

[oblong]

I mean.... getting a new international border crossing named after you has to count for something, right?

[buddha]

the top 3 are easy.

#4 is more debateable.

[slothfacekilla]

14 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Yes. This is the easiest one I think.

Federov may have been the most talented player of all time in a red wing uni, but he wasn't the greatest RW of all time.

I went by skill personally, that's how I read the question but can see an argument for Yzerman for non-skill reasons.  I debated including Datsyuk instead of Fedorov too.

[buddha]

if you go by point shares, the top wings are:

gordie 215

lidstrom 212

stevie 167

sawchuck 142

delvecchio 124

red kelly 115

datsyuk 111

zetterburg 109

sergei 104

lindsay 90

jimmy howard! 90

marcel pronvost 87

[Shinzaki]

Delvecchio and Red Kelly deserve some mention...along with Federov

[lordstanley]

3 hours ago, buddha said:

the top 3 are easy.

#4 is more debateable.

Probably Sawchuk. With decent gaps within each of the top 4. Howe-gap-Lidstrom-gap-Yzerman-gap - Sawchuk. 

[oblong]

Each of the 3 have unique qualifications.  Gordie is Mr. Hockey and probably revered more in Canada than in Detroit and that’s saying more about Canada because Detroit loves him obviously.  It’s just that he and others reach national levels like Ali.  

Yzerman was the face of the franchise for over a generation.  I’d say the only thing putting him over Lidstrom, if you choose to, is his leadership and captaincy. I won’t argue with you.  He’s no lower than 3 obviously.  
 

Lidstrom is Mr Perfect and I can’t recall any reasonable criticism of him or his play. Won a ton of Norris Trophies and finished second quite a few times.  He would have been team captain longer if not for Yzerman’s standing.  
 

 

[Shinzaki]

For me...4th is a close call between Delvecchio, Kelly and Sawchuk.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

If Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell hadn't cheated and properly suspended Evgeni Malkin after game 2 in the 2009 SCF than Lidstrom likely has another Cup to his name as captain.

[Sports_Freak]

23 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Given how many times Kenny brought him back, I think Dan Cleary has to be in that conversation. In all seriousness, I'd say #1 is Lidstrom, #2 is Yzerman, and #3 is Howe. As the perfect human, I'd say Lidstrom is the greatest Red Wing of all time.

Lidstrom is perhaps the greatest all around defensemen of all time and has the stats and hardware to back it up. Lidstrom is probably the greatest defensive defensemen of all time (Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, Bobby Orr also right up there with him). He's also one of the best offensive defensemen of all time. All around, I don't know that there is anyone better than Nick in NHL history, sans maybe Bobby Orr. He won 7 Norris Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a 12x NHL All Star, and is a member of the Triple Gold Club.

Didn't Paul Coffey play defense?

[slothfacekilla]

2 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Didn't Paul Coffey play defense?

Depends on your definition of defense!

(I actually think he was quite good at it, he was just in the wrong era where puck possession and offense were almost a knock on defensemen)

[Mr.TaterSalad]

1 minute ago, Sports_Freak said:

Didn't Paul Coffey play defense?

He played offense as a defenseman and was probably one of the best to ever do it. He was an elite-level offensive defenseman. He also scored on his own team and gets a lot of flack for that but was still very good at the defensive side of defense too.

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

He played offense as a defenseman and was probably one of the best to ever do it. He was an elite-level offensive defenseman. He also scored on his own team and gets a lot of flack for that but was still very good at the defensive side of defense too.

Those great Oiler teams were sort of different. IIRC, in terms of defense, guys like Coffey over committed a lot and actually gave up breakaways fairly often, but Fuhr was really good - esp against guys one-on-one so it never seemed to hurt them much, and if they gave something up they'd come back and outscore you anyway.

[Shinzaki]

Coffey was one of the best skaters I've ever seen...

[lordstanley]

16 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Coffey was one of the best skaters I've ever seen...

He was beautiful to watch. 

In Canada, one of Coffey's best-known plays starts at the 1:10 mark of this clip with this intercepted pass and skate back up the ice that flips the rink and leads to the overtime winning goal against the Soviets 30 seconds later.

12 years later, in a World Cup semi vs Sweden, around the 50s mark of this clip he goes from his own goal line to the opposing blue line, leading to the OT winning goal.