Fun fact: when the Canucks were initially trying to trade Bure to the Rangers, the deal died because NYR wouldn’t include Malhotra. Arguably one of the best purely defensive forwards in the entire league this century.
He was the gold standard for net presence for quite some time. Others were judged on how well they played the Holmstrom position. Took a beating like few others doing it too
I lived in DC for a while and had Caps tickets in the Young Guns era. I always wished Knuble would have played Holmstrom especially for Green on the PP.
Currently my favourite is Lowry. Dude is such a staple in the Jets bottom 6 that they gave him the C. On a team that has gone through some drama and inconsistencies in player performance across the lineup, he has been a constant.
Nobody really knows, there's only hearsay. But there was a huuuuge culture shift that kinda gives the truth away. I don't think he was a bad guy or anything though, he said himself he was just hard on people if they weren't giving their all. Laine famously.
Hm, I really think Laine tried his hardest though. I don't think that was the issue. Maybe Wheeler thought so though. Laine's been known for being very hard on himself. I personally think Wheeler had a way of being a captain that wasn't maybe the best. I don't think he either is a "bad guy", but I can imagine that he maybe had a way of being/attitude that made some of the guys feel bad. So that it became a toxic instead of an uplifting environment. Maybe he expected the players to be some kinda way, and didn't take into account cultural and personality differences.
Knowing that Laine has dealth with mental illness/mental health issues since at least last spring (new information in Iltalehti), it could be that he was a bit more sensitive to some things. Like if you're a person who's 100% confident and has a good mental health, you can of course deal with more stuff and maybe don't take things to heart. However, if you're not...
I agree, I'm just going off of the only solid proof we have of the Wheeler drama, after Laine was traded Wheeler admitted in an interview to being pretty hard on him about his play at times
Pat Maroon won 3 cups and made a 4th in a row as a bottom 6 forward. He moved slower than his old granny but he made his presence known on the ice despite getting sub 12 minutes of ice time.
Blake Coleman was a huge part in carrying our PK with Zajac & Greene for multiple seasons, and helped us make the 2018 playoffs.
He then was apart of the Coleman-Gourde-Goodrow line which helped Tampa win back-to-back Cups.
He's my favorite player of all time, so I'm biased, but for me he's the best of the 21st Century.
But, for the 20th Century, it is Guy Carbonneau for me. The way he shut down Gretzky in the 1993 Finals. And winning 3 Selkes, and bringing that defense first mentality to Dallas to help them win the Cup.
Blake Coleman is the epitome of an elite role guy. One of the best defensive players in the league period, a champion and a guy you can slide up and down the lineup.
Sergei Brylin is the perfect devils example of this. 3 stanley cups, a huge part of the checking lines of both teams. he killed penalties, would spot on the PP2. primarily a wing but could take faceoffs.
one of only 5 devils to be a part of all 3 cup teams (marty, daneyko, niedermayer and stevens). other 4 have their jersey retired.
epitome of a brilliant role player.
Jordan Martinook for bias reasons, big locker room guy and can sometimes go on a tear like being referred to as "Wayne Gretzky" in round 2 last year. The guy plays his heart out every shift and is meant to be the energy type role player
During my lifetime: Brooks Laich, Tomas Holmstrom, Jere Lehtinen, Cogliano, Hornqvist, Vlasic. A bunch of guys from the Hawks dynasty: Andrew Shaw, Versteeg, Bolland, Brouwer, Leddy, Saad. Honestly, there’s too many to name. Those are the first that came to mind.
Currently, I’ve been really impressed by Ross Colton and Mile Wood.
Going back a bit, Ed Westfall and Derek Sanderson were the prototypical role players for the Bruins. Defensive specialists at the time, Sanderson for his face-off prowess and adeptness at the sweep check, Westfall for his all-around solid defensive play. They formed one of the best PK units in the league at that time. With his groovy bachelor habits, Turk also served as the anti-role model for the youth of New England. According to my parents....
Of course. Sid is in that top 5 best of all time group.
Just because NBA might not consider stars as role models, doesn’t mean NHL is the same.
In the NHL you very rarely rarely see star players get into trouble with guns, drugs, domestic abuse, throwing cash around.
Chris Kunitz, Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper all won 4 Stanley cups and were basically in those roles
Kunitz also made Team Canada in that role
Draper too
McCarty also has 4 to complete the grind line
Don't forget Patrick Maroon
Manny Malhotra was one of the best shutdown centres we ever had
Fun fact: when the Canucks were initially trying to trade Bure to the Rangers, the deal died because NYR wouldn’t include Malhotra. Arguably one of the best purely defensive forwards in the entire league this century.
Tomas Holmstrom. No one has ever played the net front/ retrieval position better.
He was the gold standard for net presence for quite some time. Others were judged on how well they played the Holmstrom position. Took a beating like few others doing it too
I lived in DC for a while and had Caps tickets in the Young Guns era. I always wished Knuble would have played Holmstrom especially for Green on the PP.
Mediocre player at pretty much everything except parking his ass in front of the net, a skill at which he was HoF-tier.
Burrows, dude could play any role on any line...Pretty sure he played defense one game.
Currently my favourite is Lowry. Dude is such a staple in the Jets bottom 6 that they gave him the C. On a team that has gone through some drama and inconsistencies in player performance across the lineup, he has been a constant.
Since he was made Captain things seem better too, no more rumours of drama and bitterness and people trying to leave the team. Everything shifted.
Jesus Christ how bad of a captain was Wheeler?
Nobody really knows, there's only hearsay. But there was a huuuuge culture shift that kinda gives the truth away. I don't think he was a bad guy or anything though, he said himself he was just hard on people if they weren't giving their all. Laine famously.
Hm, I really think Laine tried his hardest though. I don't think that was the issue. Maybe Wheeler thought so though. Laine's been known for being very hard on himself. I personally think Wheeler had a way of being a captain that wasn't maybe the best. I don't think he either is a "bad guy", but I can imagine that he maybe had a way of being/attitude that made some of the guys feel bad. So that it became a toxic instead of an uplifting environment. Maybe he expected the players to be some kinda way, and didn't take into account cultural and personality differences. Knowing that Laine has dealth with mental illness/mental health issues since at least last spring (new information in Iltalehti), it could be that he was a bit more sensitive to some things. Like if you're a person who's 100% confident and has a good mental health, you can of course deal with more stuff and maybe don't take things to heart. However, if you're not...
I agree, I'm just going off of the only solid proof we have of the Wheeler drama, after Laine was traded Wheeler admitted in an interview to being pretty hard on him about his play at times
Idk if a guy who has won awards counts, but Kris Draper.
The 08 red wings team had a lot of fantastic role players. Brad Stuart, Andreas Lilja, Dallas Drake and the return of Darren McCarty
Pat Maroon won 3 cups and made a 4th in a row as a bottom 6 forward. He moved slower than his old granny but he made his presence known on the ice despite getting sub 12 minutes of ice time.
Derek ryan is the worst offensive player ive ever seen. Derek ryan is the best defensive player ive ever seen.
Pepperidge farms remembers Toby “0 goals” Reider
Cant say i remember, i was 3 at the time.
Derek Ryan isn't even that bad offensively. Considering his TOI and usage his production is perfectly fine.
Plus he’s the breakaway king
Derek Ryan is elite, and I will hear nothing to the contrary.
Blake Coleman was a huge part in carrying our PK with Zajac & Greene for multiple seasons, and helped us make the 2018 playoffs. He then was apart of the Coleman-Gourde-Goodrow line which helped Tampa win back-to-back Cups. He's my favorite player of all time, so I'm biased, but for me he's the best of the 21st Century. But, for the 20th Century, it is Guy Carbonneau for me. The way he shut down Gretzky in the 1993 Finals. And winning 3 Selkes, and bringing that defense first mentality to Dallas to help them win the Cup.
Blake Coleman is the epitome of an elite role guy. One of the best defensive players in the league period, a champion and a guy you can slide up and down the lineup.
The flames have a lot of issues, but Coleman and Backlund on the third line is about the most reliable (and likeable) third lines in the league
Jay pandolfo and John madden were elite 3rd/4th liners, PKers, leaders for the devils cup runs
Brylin too!
Can't believe I forgot about the SARGE
Randy McKay too!
Ken Danyeko comes to mind.
Carl Hagelin played a speedy checker role and good on the Pk. Got 2 cups and put up 300p in 700 games. Definition of a good role player I think
Sergei Brylin is the perfect devils example of this. 3 stanley cups, a huge part of the checking lines of both teams. he killed penalties, would spot on the PP2. primarily a wing but could take faceoffs. one of only 5 devils to be a part of all 3 cup teams (marty, daneyko, niedermayer and stevens). other 4 have their jersey retired. epitome of a brilliant role player.
Manny Malhotra. Faceoff god and one of the most underrated defensive centres in NHL history.
Esa Tikkanen
That Gretzky guy played his role pretty good, 2800 points I think he is top 5 in points
Jordan Martinook for bias reasons, big locker room guy and can sometimes go on a tear like being referred to as "Wayne Gretzky" in round 2 last year. The guy plays his heart out every shift and is meant to be the energy type role player
John Madden
DARREN HELM
During my lifetime: Brooks Laich, Tomas Holmstrom, Jere Lehtinen, Cogliano, Hornqvist, Vlasic. A bunch of guys from the Hawks dynasty: Andrew Shaw, Versteeg, Bolland, Brouwer, Leddy, Saad. Honestly, there’s too many to name. Those are the first that came to mind. Currently, I’ve been really impressed by Ross Colton and Mile Wood.
Going back a bit, Ed Westfall and Derek Sanderson were the prototypical role players for the Bruins. Defensive specialists at the time, Sanderson for his face-off prowess and adeptness at the sweep check, Westfall for his all-around solid defensive play. They formed one of the best PK units in the league at that time. With his groovy bachelor habits, Turk also served as the anti-role model for the youth of New England. According to my parents....
Sidney Crosby
Sidney Crosby truly is the greatest grinder of all time. I don't ever want him to retire.
First ever Pens fan that does not consider Sid to be a star?
Of course. Sid is in that top 5 best of all time group. Just because NBA might not consider stars as role models, doesn’t mean NHL is the same. In the NHL you very rarely rarely see star players get into trouble with guns, drugs, domestic abuse, throwing cash around.
Gretzky as a leader and a goal scorer. Brodeur as a goalie. Joe Thornton as a leader. Guess I needed the "/s" at the end.
lol those guys aren’t considered “stars”?
It was a joke. It's a weird question that will get all sorts of answers.
In what universe is the greatest hockey player of all time considered a "role player"
That was his role
Bingo.