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The Captain Or Mr. Hockey: Who Is The Greatest Red Wing Of All Time?
Steve Yzerman’s Hall of Fame induction raised this question in my mind: Who is the greatest Red Wings’ player of all time?
Is it Gordie Howe or Yzerman.
Hockey, as much as any sport, is difficult to compare eras. The game Howe played and the one Yzerman played were much different. Equipment has advanced by leaps and bounds in hockey, and that advancement has changed the sport more than any other in that regard. Skates are much better. Composite sticks. Just look at the goalie equipment?
Howe did play at the beginning of the curved-stick era, and very late in his career - with Hartford - when the equipment was quite advanced compared to when he started in the 1940s, and when he was in his prime during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Yzerman did push Howe’s stats as a Red Wing. He was the captain - Howe wasn’t most of his career. Yzerman won nearly as many Stanley Cup titles as Howe. A lot is made of Yzerman’s leadership qualities, but he was also extraordinarily skilled - especially before suffering a knee injury.
I think the bigger view of Yzerman is often overlooked because he played most of his career in the same period as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. It certainly cut down on how many first- or second-team All Star selections he garnered, or Hart and Art Ross trophies he won.
It is, admittedly, splitting hairs, but I’d still probably take Howe over Yzerman.
Maybe it’s just because I love the term "A Gordie Howe hat trick" for a goal, an assist and a fight.
Might be my favorite hockey term of all.
Oh, and by the way, can’t a case be made that Nicklas Lidstrom is the greatest Red Wings of all time?
How about Chris Osgood?
Oh stop it. I was Just kidding about Ozzie.
Random Thoughts
- I think the Lions will win Sunday in Seattle because Matthew Stafford has a full week of practice under his belt, Calvin Johnson will be back for Stafford to throw to and the Seahawks stink.
- Can we make it official now: The Packers made a huge mistake a couple years ago by not letting Brett Favre return? Aaron Rodgers puts up great stats, but are the Packers nearly the same without Favre? I’ll be honest, I’m shocked how well Favre is playing. Thought the end of last season with the Jets meant it was over for Favre. I was wrong.
My column in Friday's Oakland Press about the Rochester Adams-Birmingham Brother Rice prep football playoff game: http://tinyurl.com/yflxzfe
Is it Gordie Howe or Yzerman.
Hockey, as much as any sport, is difficult to compare eras. The game Howe played and the one Yzerman played were much different. Equipment has advanced by leaps and bounds in hockey, and that advancement has changed the sport more than any other in that regard. Skates are much better. Composite sticks. Just look at the goalie equipment?
Howe did play at the beginning of the curved-stick era, and very late in his career - with Hartford - when the equipment was quite advanced compared to when he started in the 1940s, and when he was in his prime during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Yzerman did push Howe’s stats as a Red Wing. He was the captain - Howe wasn’t most of his career. Yzerman won nearly as many Stanley Cup titles as Howe. A lot is made of Yzerman’s leadership qualities, but he was also extraordinarily skilled - especially before suffering a knee injury.
I think the bigger view of Yzerman is often overlooked because he played most of his career in the same period as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. It certainly cut down on how many first- or second-team All Star selections he garnered, or Hart and Art Ross trophies he won.
It is, admittedly, splitting hairs, but I’d still probably take Howe over Yzerman.
Maybe it’s just because I love the term "A Gordie Howe hat trick" for a goal, an assist and a fight.
Might be my favorite hockey term of all.
Oh, and by the way, can’t a case be made that Nicklas Lidstrom is the greatest Red Wings of all time?
How about Chris Osgood?
Oh stop it. I was Just kidding about Ozzie.
Random Thoughts
- I think the Lions will win Sunday in Seattle because Matthew Stafford has a full week of practice under his belt, Calvin Johnson will be back for Stafford to throw to and the Seahawks stink.
- Can we make it official now: The Packers made a huge mistake a couple years ago by not letting Brett Favre return? Aaron Rodgers puts up great stats, but are the Packers nearly the same without Favre? I’ll be honest, I’m shocked how well Favre is playing. Thought the end of last season with the Jets meant it was over for Favre. I was wrong.
My column in Friday's Oakland Press about the Rochester Adams-Birmingham Brother Rice prep football playoff game: http://tinyurl.com/yflxzfe
posted by Pat Caputo at
2:55 PM
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