Top 50 Canucks of All-Time - #31

[-AJ-]

Our Top 30 concludes with a very confident victory by Greg Adams, though like with our #29 poll, others definitely got a bit of consideration as well.

 

Almost all of the nominations went to only two players: Darcy Rota and Jannik Hansen, but this time, Hansen came out on top @Coconuts (you did it!), edging Rota by just one nomination, so he was added as a voting option.

 

Reminder to both vote and nominate another player to be added as a voting option!

 

For those of you who haven't seen these kinds of polls before, the way they work is you vote for who you think is the greatest/top Canuck at the position. As for what is meant by "Greatest" or "Top", I will leave that to each individual. I have my own interpretations, but others may define it differently. Worth noting, that I do want to keep this to their tenures with Vancouver and as players, thus a player like Neely would only be considered for his Vancouver time and guys like Quinn and Crawford would only be considered for their playing careers, not their coaching careers.

 

The List:

#1 - H. Sedin

#2 - D. Sedin

#3 - T. Linden

#4 - P. Bure

#5 - M. Naslund

#6 - S. Smyl

#7 - R. Luongo

#8 - K. McLean

#9 - T. Gradin

#10 - A. Edler

-------------------

#11 - T. Bertuzzi

#12 - M. Ohlund

#13 - R. Brodeur

#14 - A. Burrows

#15 - R. Kesler

#16 - H. Snepsts

#17 - T. Tanti

#18 - A. Mogilny

#19 - J. Lumme

#20 - S. Salo

-------------------

#21 - B. Morrison

#22 - A. Boudrias

#23 - D. Lidster

#24 - K. Bieksa

#25 - C. Ronning

#26 - D. Lever

#27 - D. Kearns

#28 - E. Jovanovski

#29 - P. Sundstrom

#30 - G. Adams

[-AJ-]

I remain in voting for Skriko and nominating Rota. Skriko was 2nd in voting last time and Rota was the only one aside from Hansen to get more than one nomination, so I have a good feeling both my guys might get in here.

[Kevin Biestra]

Congratulations @Coconuts.  I was getting ready to jump on your bandwagon but you did it without me.

 

I was all ready to nominate Gary Smith until I saw Rota didn't make it.

 

So...vote Tiger Williams, nominate Darcy Rota.

[Iron Fist]

Voting discreetly from now on out

 

Nominate Dan Hamhuis

[Yan86]

In the last thread i asked why didn't anyone mention hamhuis and I don't really get it.

He was not a star or those flashy type of players but he was a REALLY STEADY dmen during his prime.

Did people forget he even made the 2014 olympics team?

He played a huge role in our 2011 run and I really think if hamhuis wasn't injured we would win the cup that year.

Hansen was a really good player but he was just a 3rd liner.

I just don't get how so many ppl put hansen ahead of hamhuis.

[Kevin Biestra]

1 hour ago, Yan86 said:

In the last thread i asked why didn't anyone mention hamhuis and I don't really get it.

He was not a star or those flashy type of players but he was a REALLY STEADY dmen during his prime.

Did people forget he even made the 2014 olympics team?

He played a huge role in our 2011 run and I really think if hamhuis wasn't injured we would win the cup that year.

Hansen was a really good player but he was just a 3rd liner.

I just don't get how so many ppl put hansen ahead of hamhuis.

 

Well, if you want my answer...

 

Hamhuis gets a bonus for the Olympics, but also just a small bonus.  That isn't really a Canucks accomplishment or contribution, just an attestation to the quality of player he is, and kind of a fluke if it happens while he's under contract to Vancouver.

 

It seems like three points are pertinent to your question and what you bring up to support Hamhuis...  1. Hamhuis re: 2011, 2. Hamhuis vs. Hansen, 3. Hamhuis vs. other Canucks defensemen.

 

Hamhuis in 2011...  Maybe we would have won the Cup if he weren't injured in 2011.  But arguably our TWO best defensemen missed the ENTIRE playoffs in 1982 - Rick Lanz and Kevin McCarthy, BOTH 50 point defensemen.  That's like the 2011 team not having Ehrhoff and Edler for the ENTIRE playoffs, or the 1994 team not having Lumme and Jeff Brown for the ENTIRE playoffs.

 

I would venture that in 1982, the Canucks DEFINITELY win Game 1 vs. the Islanders with Lanz and McCarthy in the lineup and then...who knows when it comes to games 3 and 4, which were fairly close but in which the Canucks could generate no offense.  A pair of Christian Ehrhoff / Jyrki Lumme level scorers on the blueline wouldn't have hurt.  They were both better offensive defensemen than EVERY blueliner on the Islanders except for Potvin.

 

The Canucks scored zero goals in Game 7 vs. the Bruins in 2011.  I don't know how Hamhuis solves that.  Maybe we lose 3-0 instead of 4-0.  Perhaps we would have won the Cup if Malhotra wasn't hurt.  Maybe we would have won in 1994 if Murzyn hadn't been hurt, or if Ronning's wrist wasn't broken.

 

Hamhuis vs. Hansen...  Why would someone pick Hansen over Hamhuis?  Time served.  Was Hamhuis the better player in a game for game comparison?  Yes.  But Hansen is part of the 500 game club as a Canuck, in 20th place all time.  Dan Hamhuis: 389 games.  A good run, but at least two full seasons' worth less than Hansen, and part of a massive group of players with >300 and <400 games, which includes many guys not getting named at all in this poll...Brashear, Murray Baron, Adrian Aucoin, Lars Lindgren, Higgins, Klatt, Jere Gillis.  If they had played the same number of games, I would put Hamhuis ahead of Hansen, but with the actual number of games played, I would give Hansen the edge for "greatest Canuck."  That said, I have them both in the top 50, in the 40-50 range.

 

Hamhuis vs. other Defensemen...  Who has done similar stuff on the blueline?  Rick Lanz had two 50 point seasons for the Canucks and has anybody mentioned him at all, other than me and maybe iBatch?  Kevin McCarthy was a 50 point guy and team captain.  Lanz played more games as a Canuck than Hamhuis, McCarthy almost as many.  Murzyn played more games than Hamhuis as a Canuck and had the 1994 Cup run and played a similar role.

 

And it wouldn't be ridiculous to bring Doug Halward, Lars Lindgren, Aucoin, Guevremont, Tallon, etc. into the discussion either.  Tallon broke Bobby Orr's rookie record for defensemen.  And so on.

 

Anyway, I personally have Hamhuis behind Lanz and McCarthy and probably Murzyn.  I have him ahead of some guys that deserve serious top 50 consideration like Halward, Tallon, Guevremont, etc.

 

So...I would say you're not wrong at all to bring Dan Hamhuis up for discussion.  But when you ask why someone wouldn't nominate him yet...one can equally ask why you're not nominating or campaigning for Rick Lanz or Kevin McCarthy.

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Kevin Biestra

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

Well, if you want my answer...

 

Hamhuis gets a bonus for the Olympics, but also just a small bonus.  That isn't really a Canucks accomplishment or contribution, just an attestation to the quality of player he is, and kind of a fluke if it happens while he's under contract to Vancouver.

 

It seems like three points are pertinent to your question and what you bring up to support Hamhuis...  1. Hamhuis re: 2011, 2. Hamhuis vs. Hansen, 3. Hamhuis vs. other Canucks defensemen.

 

Hamhuis in 2011...  Maybe we would have won the Cup if he weren't injured in 2011.  But arguably our TWO best defensemen missed the ENTIRE playoffs in 1982 - Rick Lanz and Kevin McCarthy, BOTH 50 point defensemen.  That's like the 2011 team not having Ehrhoff and Edler for the ENTIRE playoffs, or the 1994 team not having Lumme and Jeff Brown for the ENTIRE playoffs.

 

I would venture that in 1982, the Canucks DEFINITELY win Game 1 vs. the Islanders with Lanz and McCarthy in the lineup and then...who knows when it comes to games 3 and 4, which were fairly close but in which the Canucks could generate no offense.  A pair of Christian Ehrhoff / Jyrki Lumme level scorers on the blueline wouldn't have hurt.  They were both better offensive defensemen than EVERY blueliner on the Islanders except for Potvin.

 

The Canucks scored zero goals in Game 7 vs. the Bruins in 2011.  I don't know how Hamhuis solves that.  Maybe we lose 3-0 instead of 4-0.  Perhaps we would have won the Cup if Malhotra wasn't hurt.  Maybe we would have won in 1994 if Murzyn hadn't been hurt, or if Ronning's wrist wasn't broken.

 

Hamhuis vs. Hansen...  Why would someone pick Hansen over Hamhuis?  Time served.  Was Hamhuis the better player in a game for game comparison?  Yes.  But Hansen is part of the 500 game club as a Canuck, in 20th place all time.  Dan Hamhuis: 389 games.  A good run, but at least two full seasons' worth less than Hansen, and part of a massive group of players with >300 and <400 games, which includes many guys not getting named at all in this poll...Brashear, Murray Baron, Adrian Aucoin, Lars Lindgren, Higgins, Klatt, Jere Gillis.  If they had played the same number of games, I would put Hamhuis ahead of Hansen, but with the actual number of games played, I would give Hansen the edge for "greatest Canuck."  That said, I have them both in the top 50, in the 40-50 range.

 

Hamhuis vs. other Defensemen...  Who has done similar stuff on the blueline?  Rick Lanz had two 50 point seasons for the Canucks and has anybody mentioned him at all, other than me and maybe iBatch?  Kevin McCarthy was a 50 point guy and team captain.  Lanz played more games as a Canuck than Hamhuis, McCarthy almost as many.  Murzyn played more games than Hamhuis as a Canuck and had the 1994 Cup run and played a similar role.

 

And it wouldn't be ridiculous to bring Doug Halward, Lars Lindgren, Aucoin, Guevremont, Tallon, etc. into the discussion either.  Tallon broke Bobby Orr's rookie record for defensemen.  And so on.

 

Anyway, I personally have Hamhuis behind Lanz and McCarthy and probably Murzyn.  I have him ahead of some guys that deserve serious top 50 consideration like Halward, Tallon, Guevremont, etc.

 

So...I would say you're not wrong at all to bring Dan Hamhuis up for discussion.  But when you ask why someone wouldn't nominate him yet...one can equally ask why you're not nominating or campaigning for Rick Lanz or Kevin McCarthy.

 

 

 

Well said - voted Courtnall - nominate Rota.   

[Rick Blight]

Voted Skriko and nominate Rota.

[smithers joe]

kurtenbach

 

reinhart

[kchengc]

Voted Skriko, nominate Rota

[Wilbur]

Voted Skriko

Nominating Ververgaert

[Baratheon]

Voted for Geoff Courtnall.  I was very close to picking Skriko but Courtnall was just too good in the playoffs.  One of those rare guys who actually got better come playoff time.

 

Nominate Darcy Rota! It has to be done!

[GB5]

vote Bo

 

Nominate Rota

[Coconuts]

Aww yiss, it happened! I think @apollo gave him the tiebreaker

 

 

Voting Skriko and nominating Rota

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Voting Orland Kurtenbach.

 

Nominating Darcy Rota.

[BarnBurner]

Voted Courtnall.

 

Nominate Rota.

[Master Mind]

Voting Skriko

 

Nominating Rota

[Gurn]

Vote Kurtenbach

 

nominate Fraser

[stonecoldstevebernier]

Voting Skriko, nominating Rota.

[Timbermen]

Kurtenbach

 

Rota