I peruse the odd sports blog and sometimes I come across some poorly thought out Top 10 lists that rarely seem to stick to any objective criteria when ranking players.
For example, I came across one where the compiler had Mark Messier ranked number 2 and Brendan Shanahan in the top 10.
Yes. I shook my head violently too. I just came back from the hospital. It’s a mild-concussion. I should be fine once the vomiting subsides.
If you’re compiling a Top 10 “favorite” players list then no harm. Knock yourself out. However, you can’t use subjective perception and pass it off as an objective all-time Top 10 list. It’s like wanting your cake and eat it too. It’s like making a Michael Moore movie. All noise and no substance.
You need to be objective lest all sensible perspective be foregone. One way to weed out subjectivity is to consider peak and career value, dominance, NHL All-Star selections (not the game), awards (Art Ross, Vezina, Conn Smythe, Norris etc.) all play a vital role in the equation.
Once you remove personal perspective and look at things from this angle, it’s easy to make the case that Messier and Shanahan (great players no doubt) don’t belong in any Top 10 list.
One of my favorite players all-time growing up was Steve Yzerman and I’ve seen his name also creep in from time to time. Do I think he belongs?
Nope.
The massive, overwhelming consensus “top five” without much debate are: Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux and Maurice Richard. Their cultural and statistical impact on the game is unrivaled.
Numerous players get the nod before the three players aforementioned including Guy Lafleur, Raymond Bourque, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito, Jaromir Jagr, Doug Harvey, Eddie Shore, Bobby Hull, Jacques Plante and eventually Niklas Lidstrom.
And please no “their great leaders” stuff. Every single one of these players were “great” leaders. That’s hard to quantify and shouldn’t be a reason on its own to mention certain players.
