Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroiter
1. I consider playing in their prime when they are playing their best hockey. Those guys had their best years before Lidstrom started winning the Norris trophy. Those all great players you mentioned, but Yzerman was better than everyone of them including Lidstrom.
2. I'm saying that Yzerman had better competition. Mario and Gretzky are the two greatest hockey players of all-time. Lidstrom's biggest competition was Bourque and he wasn't even as good careerwise as Yzerman.
3. You brought up another point that makes Yzerman look even better. Lidstrom played on a loaded team for his entire career. Yzerman did not. Yzerman played with minor league caliber players for the early part of his career and carried this team on his back.
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1. You're begging the question. Lidstrom started winning the Norris Trophy because he was the best defenseman in the league, not because a few players you've hand-picked to talk about were wrapping up their careers.
2. What you're really saying is that Yzerman was a better player than Lidstrom because he
wasn't the best player at his position. How does that work? Lidstrom, for the last decade, has been THE BEST defenseman in the NHL! There is no 10 year stretch in which Yzerman was the best forward in the league. How many seasons did Yzerman outscore Gretzky or Lemiuex?
3. Yzerman played on the a lousy team for about 3 seasons. He was in the league 22 years. Within 3 years of him entering the league, the Wings started making the playoffs semi-regularly and then got on their playoff appearance streak after Lidstrom joined the team. The same point you are making could be argued the other way. You don't think Yzerman benefited from having good defensemen behind him like Coffey, Murphy, Lidstrom, Fetisov, Konstantinov, Chelios and a whole bunch of other steady guys? The bulk of Yzerman's career was spent on good to great teams, all pre-salary cap.