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Hockey Greats By Era

calamity

calamity

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I'll start with naming a few from my favorite era: Late 60's and early 70's.

Teams: Canadians, Hawks and Bruins. Montreal being the best of the three, by far. My memory has the Blackhawks consistently reaching late rounds in the playoffs, only to be eliminated in the conference finals by Boston or wiped out in the Cup Final by Montreal.

Goalies: Dryden and then everyone else. Sad that his career was short. He probably would have been the greatest goalie ever. But, during the few short years I saw him play, he was absolutely unbeatable. Next on that list would be Tony Esposito. He had durability and longevity.

Goal Scoring: Tony's brother Phil. Man, that dude was unreal.

Open Ice player: Yvan Cournoyer. Man that guy could fly on ice. Probably the best open ice skater until Yzerman appeared on the stage.

Shooter: Bobby Hull. Hands down the best pure shooter I have ever seen--all eras.

Playmaker: Bobby Orr. When it came to taking over the game either by himself or by setting up guys like Phil and Johnny B., Bobby was so far above the rest that his is the only name I would mention in the same breath as the Great Gretsky.
 
calamity said:
I'll start with naming a few from my favorite era: Late 60's and early 70's.

Teams: Canadians, Hawks and Bruins. Montreal being the best of the three, by far. My memory has the Blackhawks consistently reaching late rounds in the playoffs, only to be eliminated in the conference finals by Boston or wiped out in the Cup Final by Montreal.

Goalies: Dryden and then everyone else. Sad that his career was short. He probably would have been the greatest goalie ever. But, during the few short years I saw him play, he was absolutely unbeatable. Next on that list would be Tony Esposito. He had durability and longevity.

Goal Scoring: Tony's brother Phil. Man, that dude was unreal.

Open Ice player: Yvan Cournoyer. Man that guy could fly on ice. Probably the best open ice skater until Yzerman appeared on the stage.

Shooter: Bobby Hull. Hands down the best pure shooter I have ever seen--all eras.

Playmaker: Bobby Orr. When it came to taking over the game either by himself or by setting up guys like Phil and Johnny B., Bobby was so far above the rest that his is the only name I would mention in the same breath as the Great Gretsky.
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Growing up I thought God was spelled 'H-O-W-E'. Back in the Original Six days, when everyone around me were Maple Leafs fans, I saved my allowance for a Red Wings no. 9 jersey.

edit- interesting factoid- Gordie Howe only had two 'Gordie Howe hat tricks'.
 
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Grand Mal said:
Growing up I thought God was spelled 'H-O-W-E'. Back in the Original Six days, when everyone around me were Maple Leafs fans, I saved my allowance for a Red Wings no. 9 jersey.

edit- interesting factoid- Gordie Howe only had two 'Gordie Howe hat tricks'.
Click to expand...

Although he was still playing, by the time I was old enough to understand hockey, he was already on the wane. Too bad. He would have been great to see in his prime.
 
calamity said:
Although he was still playing, by the time I was old enough to understand hockey, he was already on the wane. Too bad. He would have been great to see in his prime.
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Great combination of toughness and finesse.
A comment on how the game and the players have changed- if he was coming in hard at a player on the boards who didn't know he was coming, Gordie was known to call the players name to warn him. 'Course, he was also known as 'Mr. Elbows' as well as 'Mr. Hockey'.
The game was really different when there was six teams. That's what, 150 NHL players? They all knew each other, played with and against each other all through juniors and played each other NHL team 15 times a season or more.
 
Grand Mal said:
Great combination of toughness and finesse.
A comment on how the game and the players have changed- if he was coming in hard at a player on the boards who didn't know he was coming, Gordie was known to call the players name to warn him. 'Course, he was also known as 'Mr. Elbows' as well as 'Mr. Hockey'.
The game was really different when there was six teams. That's what, 150 NHL players? They all knew each other, played with and against each other all through juniors and played each other NHL team 15 times a season or more.
Click to expand...

Even later, like when I was playing hockey, it was more about scoring goals and getting assists than it was cheap shots and fighting. I think that changed in the late 70's when Philly brought in Dave Schultz. After that, the game began to morph into a hit first, poke check second, and fight at every opportunity league. But, that is not to say they didn't fight a lot before then.

In my favorite era, the Hawks had Keith Magneson, a scrappy little defender who dropped gloves at least once a game.
 
I don't watch hockey but I do know Gretzky in the 80's was to hockey what MJ was to basketball.

Greatest teams: Once again, didn't watch but I know our Red Wings were pretty great during the Yzerman-Lidstrom era.
 
JC Callender said:
I don't watch hockey but I do know Gretzky in the 80's was to hockey what MJ was to basketball.

Greatest teams: Once again, didn't watch but I know our Red Wings were pretty great during the Yzerman-Lidstrom era.
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Pat LaFontaine was a Michigan kid who could have become a legendary player, but he played in the head hunter era. And, some clown ended his career far too soon.
 
calamity said:
Even later, like when I was playing hockey, it was more about scoring goals and getting assists than it was cheap shots and fighting. I think that changed in the late 70's when Philly brought in Dave Schultz. After that, the game began to morph into a hit first, poke check second, and fight at every opportunity league. But, that is not to say they didn't fight a lot before then.

In my favorite era, the Hawks had Keith Magneson, a scrappy little defender who dropped gloves at least once a game.
Click to expand...

Philly's Dave Schultz was an enforcer, which many teams had. Earned them the nickname "Broad St. Bully's" but there were great players on those Stanley cup teams also. Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber, and don't forget Bernie Parent.
There were and still are a lot worse goons out there. Take Scott Stevens for instance. How many careers has he ended I wonder?
 
Hanky said:
Philly's Dave Schultz was an enforcer, which many teams had. Earned them the nickname "Broad St. Bully's" but there were great players on those Stanley cup teams also. Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Bill Barber, and don't forget Bernie Parent.
There were and still are a lot worse goons out there. Take Scott Stevens for instance. How many careers has he ended I wonder?
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To this day, I still believe that Stevens was hit in the face with that career-ending puck on purpose. He certainly would have had that coming to him.
 
calamity said:
I'll start with naming a few from my favorite era: Late 60's and early 70's.

Teams: Canadians, Hawks and Bruins. Montreal being the best of the three, by far. My memory has the Blackhawks consistently reaching late rounds in the playoffs, only to be eliminated in the conference finals by Boston or wiped out in the Cup Final by Montreal.

Goalies: Dryden and then everyone else. Sad that his career was short. He probably would have been the greatest goalie ever. But, during the few short years I saw him play, he was absolutely unbeatable. Next on that list would be Tony Esposito. He had durability and longevity.

Goal Scoring: Tony's brother Phil. Man, that dude was unreal.

Open Ice player: Yvan Cournoyer. Man that guy could fly on ice. Probably the best open ice skater until Yzerman appeared on the stage.

Shooter: Bobby Hull. Hands down the best pure shooter I have ever seen--all eras.

Playmaker: Bobby Orr. When it came to taking over the game either by himself or by setting up guys like Phil and Johnny B., Bobby was so far above the rest that his is the only name I would mention in the same breath as the Great Gretsky.[/QUOTE

Excellent list.

For a pure goal scorer I would say Mike Bossy would be at the top of my list. However, his career ( like Lemieux’s) was cut short by injury.
Pat Laf - he was tremendous - too bad he didn’t play in this era, same for Kariya.
As a child I loved the French connection line from the Sabres, Perreault especially.
There are so many greats but guys who really stand out:
Gretzky
Orr
Howe
Fetisov
Tretiak
Dryden
Jagr
Richard
Modano
Messier
Crosby
Stevie Y
Click to expand...
 
can2man said:
Excellent list.

For a pure goal scorer I would say Mike Bossy would be at the top of my list. However, his career ( like Lemieux’s) was cut short by injury.
Pat Laf - he was tremendous - too bad he didn’t play in this era, same for Kariya.
As a child I loved the French connection line from the Sabres, Perreault especially.
There are so many greats but guys who really stand out:
Gretzky
Orr
Howe
Fetisov
Tretiak
Dryden
Jagr
Richard
Modano
Messier
Crosby
Stevie Y
Click to expand...
Some whom I missed were the other two pairs of brothers who played in that 60/70's era: The Mahovlich bros, Frank and Pete, and the Martin boys, Rick and Pit.

Pit was on my Hawks, and brother Rick, on the Blues, I believe. The two Mahovliches played for Montreal when I noticed them. But, I've since learned that Frank initially made his bones in Toronto and Detroit, where he teamed up with Red Kelly and Gordie Howe respectively.
 
Just to throw some names out there which are often overlooked:

Johnny Bucyk
Derek Sanderson (great at faceoffs)
Stan Mikita
Dave Keon
Brad Park
Ray Bourque
Jari Kurri
Mark Messier
Pavel Bure
Brian Trottier
Darryl Sittler
Denis Potvin
Mike Bossy
Bernie Parent
Chico Resch
Bobby Clarke
Jean Ratelle
Dave Taylor
Marcel Dionne
Jerry Cheevers
Larry Robinson
Guy Lafleur
Pocket Rocket Richard
Jean Belleveau
Bobby Hull (not often overlooked though)
Yvon Cornouyer
Borge Salming
Mats Sundin
Peter Forsberg
Ken Dryden
Jacques Plante
Terry Sawchuck
Sergei Federov
Vladislav Tretiak
Boris Mikhailov
Joe Sakic
Teemu Selanne
Paul Kariya

So many great players...
 
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zimmer said:
Just to throw some names out there which are often overlooked:

Johnny Bucyk
Derek Sanderson (great at faceoffs)
Stan Mikita
Dave Keon
Brad Park
Ray Bourque
Jari Kurri
Mark Messier
Pavel Bure
Brian Trottier
Darryl Sittler
Denis Potvin
Mike Bossy
Bernie Parent
Chico Resch
Bobby Clarke
Jean Ratelle
Dave Taylor
Marcel Dionne
Jerry Cheevers
Larry Robinson
Guy Lafleur
Pocket Rocket Richard
Jean Belleveau
Bobby Hull (not often overlooked though)
Yvon Cornouyer
Borge Salming
Mats Sundin
Peter Forsberg
Ken Dryden
Jacques Plante
Terry Sawchuck
Sergei Federov
Vladislav Tretiak
Boris Mikhailov
Joe Sakic
Teemu Selanne
Paul Kariya

So many great players...
Click to expand...

Denis Savard
 
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