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IBatch

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Everything posted by IBatch

  1. This (voted - and nomination)Welcome Murzyn...
  2. I figured Tanti is fair game given 2 games would still be considered a prospect and heck we gave up Fraser for him...a worthy fourth line consideration himself ..but yes on Diduck..great looking team - edit: I cant think of a better one really. Snepsts, Bieksa, Butcher and Neely keeps that team safe and it’s loaded with leadership and star-power and toughness.
  3. Diduck was a first round pick by NYI - and played with them and the Canadians for a couple years each before becoming a Canuck... I remembered this because he earned a reputation as a tough customer before we got him ... nice pick though... switch him with Tallon and your team should remain fine ..
  4. Couldn’t remember if I did watch any Canucks games with Kurtenbach- but have taken notice to those that have and remember... read a boxing trainer considered him one of the best of his era..didn’t fight often but his reputation as a Ranger was feared and carried over ...ranked as a top 9 toughest Rangers all-time and that’s an original six team..othe
  5. Wonder if Horderchuk did enough...Darcy can’t spell his name. He fought Paros and managed to beat that main eventer 4 out of 5 times - while a Canuck .. didn’t think much of him while he was here given he wasn’t that big and didn’t have the same reputation as other enforcers of the era...Brad May would be a good one for sure...he did some really good work with us and other teams
  6. Jovo was scary when he fought - all offense zero defense. Hurt him a few times early in Florida - but here he was animal. Deadmarsh had a lot of heart, that punch for sure shortened his career. Also I’m bad at reading - was thinking this was the “best “ fighter of all time - so went with Brashear - well because like you I’m pretty sure he’d make quick work with a lot of this list. He did play a fair bit with us / and probably made some of those late 90’s teams the toughest ever .... why did we add Ciccone? Crowder? Because your not supposed to get beat in the alley when your bad too - because that’s embarrassing (which is probably the only thing that bugged me about this rebuild. And Gudranson and his 2 fights a year doesn’t cut it). Going to change my vote to Gino. Then next round Williams ... sorry Brash - loved you too and will never forget you trying to shut Domi up a couple times (he won but it didn’t matter ha ha - for fun you-tube it / took a worse beating then Probert vs Domi 2.0).
  7. Brashear was a better fighter then Gino. That became pretty apparent within a few bouts when he came from MTL - and it didn’t take long before Gino was sent packing - which sucked given he was a fan favourite. Brashear was named fighter of the decade for the 2000’s, and fighter of the year three consecutive years while with us by THN and Tuff Guys a magazine dedicated to enforcers of the era, arguably the best there ever was at that point they became supersizes and took martial arts on top of boxing lessons and was the heavyweight champ after Probert (who he fought 9 times in his career) ... he never inspired the fans the same way Gino did - no chants - but he did his job better then anyone. With the exception of beating that blowhard Domi maybe. Some say Laraque eventually took the belt - but not from him literally as their bouts were even - exchanges wins, losses and draws..but didn’t hold it long ... beat Boogard when he was beating everyone else. If this was a list about my favourite fighters he would still be on it - but as far as best fighters pretty hard not to give it to him...74-3-6 with us...and fighters tended to stay away except for the truly tough ones after he dominated and broke Gino’s record. Felt a little bad for McSorely and Probert - you could tell they wanted to beat him so bad (and Probert talks about it in his book - also didn’t like that he held on and wouldn’t open up much) but just couldn’t handle him. Strong guy, and an exceptional fighter all-time on any team. Also maybe we could add McCallister ... ha ha was at a game where he beat Parker in a great tilt, when he first was around ... at the same time Brashear was pounding the crap out Odjers (and again felt a bit bad for him - so way way out of his class - needed EXTRA bandaids on his nose after that).
  8. Mentioned Wolfman - that’s Mcilhargey...he was one scary dude. Kurtenbach was pretty good too - and Smyl had a heart of a lion at 5’7” taking on some really tough customers to inspire his team. Like what you’ve suggested about Rypien, should name the award after him, when he dropped the gloves nobody stayed sitting long - including in our living room at home “here we go - wow he’s doing it again!” - technically one of the best.
  9. Only Brashear has a winning percentage like Bieksa ... 24-3-1...when he dropped them ... but he wasn’t fighting Probert, McSorely, Worrel, Domi or even guys like Cam Russel who he destroyed - who destroyed McCarty who destroyed Walker...
  10. With all due respect for Rypien - his quality of competition wasn’t that great a lot of his fights were against bad or non-fighters with the exception of Neal, Jensen (light heavyweights) and that big brute Carkner in OTT...pounding on this guy and Hal Gil was easy sport despite the size difference. 19-7-2, the losses to the few remaining enforcers of the time. Keane was an exceptional middleweight too, the most feared fighter in the minors before making the NHL - Walker was pretty good too. I’d consider adding Snepsts to the list too - fought anyone and did well too. The Wolfman would be a good throwback ... Rypien fights were always inspiring - and I’d have him in the middleweight Hall of Fame up there with Wendel Clark, Keane, Corson and Stan Jonathon .. heck Domi was an inch shorter and 6lbs heavier when he was fighting Probert so could add him too.
  11. Neely and Diduck were tough customers for us too although not here long ... both got into 22-32 ish fights close to what Bieksa and Rypien has not like Stern who had 39 in 97 games ... ouch
  12. Nice list...please add Fraser...his punches might have been the hardest of any of these guys which says a lot... Cooke ha ha ha... Stern fought for us and against us ... he was a tough customer..
  13. Biestra you should make another list with the greatest fighter all-time (both enforcers and players)... as long as they played for us it doesn’t matter how many fights as long as they did fight. And their entire career is ok to consider not just with us although that weighting matters too. Brashear, Fraser, Keane, Odjick, Williams, Coxe...on Coxe two of his fights against Probert are ranked as the best fights ever (10 out of 10) on hockeyfights.com - including Probert’s very first fight ever that went on and on both guys landing great shots - Coxe had the upper hand 3/4 into the fight and seemed to have stunned Probert - but he came back and won the fight with a huge right hand at the end. Crowder was one of Proberts top competition (according to him in his own book) and made mince meat out of everyone when he came into the league until a fight with Berube (fasted hands ever for a heavyweight) decisioned him.. so Crowder would have to make the list too. Langdon. Monkey business AND best fighters combined ha ha. Diduck was pretty good too - when he fought. Momesso. Hunter (although he was better before coming to Vancouver)..Antoski (huge and our answer to McCarthy in CAL for a little while at least). Of course Rypien. Walker was just as good IMO for a middleweight - rarely lost and beat the tar out of Petit (another decent fighter for us but big size difference) and his quality of competition was stiffer. Bieksa...only Brashear has a winning percentage as good as him but huge difference in combatants. Lost 3 of around 30 fights for us ... Brashear around the same with around 80...plus was the fighter of the year several times ... and had that many fights the year he broke Gino’s record and didn’t lost one fight wow. Delmore. Butcher. Neely. We’ve had some crazy tough teams over the years. Jovo. Dorsett had a huge heart but couldn’t hold any of these guys jockstrap when the gloves came off.
  14. One could say even though he played 2/3 of his contract a lot of nights he just skated in long ovals slow then really fast (for no apparent reason other then to show fans that he still had it ha ha) and didn’t do much. How a guy goes from two great previous seasons - who was still considered a star (48 goals or something 85/95 ish points?) already legendary etc - on a team with Mogilny Bure, Gélinas and Naslund, plus the majority of the 94 squad screw things up so royally? Mind boggling. Make him our second line center - give him the A and a different number (Maki) be a little humble - encourage management to sign Bure - and how could that team not kill it? Instead he ... well killed it totally. Even with the haul we got from Linden I would have much preferred he stayed and the above is what occurred. In some multiverse we had a dynasty in the late 90’s. COL and Detroit would be chasing our coattails with that lineup fully healthy.
  15. Link Gaetz was a legendary minor league enforcer - and fought everyone - including a lot of enforcers that came into the league including Odjick who he handled easily...was about as fearsome as they come - his disposition was only matched by a few guys - one is Ciccone who once beat up the camera guy in the penalty box after a fight and threw a stick into the crowd breaking an arm and the spent the night in jail (he blacked out while fighting - how scary is that?). Head butted Thomas early on and was suspended while his arms were held...ended up making a decent career but was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde on and off the ice. Kordic also comes to mind - he was tough to beat with his rapid fire non-stop forward style / all offense and beat some great fighters..his death was tragic - took a lot of cops a black spot in the NHLs history for not helping players that used to do the most difficult jobs in sports. Back to Gaetz he might have been the one to take Proberts belt - huge and imposing. Twist would be a good comparison if he made it to the show / and he was one of the best ever. edit: yes I’d like to have a few cold ones with this guy ... and maybe an arm wrestle too ha ha.
  16. I’d agree that was the most dominant team ever - their winning percentage was ridiculous and in Drydens book he used to let one in on purpose just because he was bored etc. They used to split that team in two at practice and he goes on to say that was the best hockey played (in practice) when they were doing their thing. PHI had a great season too (what is it a 35 unbeaten streak?) I think in 1980 (and lost in the final too if memory serves me right in game six or maybe I’m just confused ha ha). That season was incredible for sure - so were the other three - it’s why most have them as the NHL’s best dynasty - then EDM - then NYI - then the Habs again ... they actually had three amazing ones three decades in a row. Even now - since 1993 - that franchise has enough bling to shame their competitors pretty good. Walking around their arena is fun - like a history book all laid out for you right back to the beginning. Outside the statues in bronze are some of the greatest players ever to lace them up - and their ceiling had a fire hazards worth of pendants and retired numbers. Edit: Oh and on having the most goals and allowing the least - that has rarely happened- plus add best PP and best PK a little bit rarer. Our 2011 was almost like that - we had all those things too - with the exception of our PK which i believe was second. It’s why that team is considered the best one never to win a cup. NHL.com recently did an article with the best Conn Smythe winners since expansion. It’s no surprise to see Thomas as one of them. Not all Harts, Norris, Smythes are created equal - just like the Calder. Thomas holds several records now ... his sp in the final was ridiculous- like .968 or something. Plus faced more shots and made more saves then anyone before or since. When this is re-hashed (2011) I often try to point out that what Thomas did was way more important to the result then what happened with the refs - or Marchand - or Rome’s hit etc. Or that some of our key guys were out or injured etc. If TB won instead we’d have handled them easily. Just hockey - sometimes all you need is a hot goalie.
  17. That team was ridiculous. It’s no surprise that the top teams over the past 100 years voted by fans has four Oilers Oilers teams in the top ten including number one (84 although Fuhr says 87 was their best team and I’d agree) which says a lot given the Habs teams were crazy good too (late 70’s)... Gretzky was incredible - He’s scoring 200 plus points and the second place guy is Kurri with 130ish...and really despite all the goals scored back then most teams were scoring 250 ish which shows you how dominant they were. And Coffey is matching Orrs best years... And they were fun to watch. Like watching an all-star team play regular folks half the time...sent 10 players to the all-star game one year (like who’s ever done that imagine how good our team would be if we did that?)- good grief it wasn’t even fair ha ha. As a kid I got caught up in the hype - and was glad I did turns. out it was actually really special (and not the norm) - we won’t ever see anything like it again. Lemieux made me think that maybe Gretzky wasn’t a one off...since then Crosby, Ovi and McDavid...but we also had Stastny, Hawerchuk, Yzwerman, Dionne etc in the 80’s - even without Gretzky and Lemieux and era scoring adjustments it was an insanely talented period. Edmonton fans must feel cursed a bit knowing that their best years came right at the start and will never again have another dynasty. Those who watched it though also much feel pretty blessed. Guys like Huddy and Lowe were all-stars too - but a lower tier compared to their top guys. Coffey scored 48 goals ... that to me is a record as safe as Roy’s 10 OT wins in 93, or Gretzky 50 in 39 or 92 goal season or bazillion assists one year. The leagues best not on EDM were maybe getting 110 points - like McDavid is now - when WG was scoring 200-215 points four years in a row. 1981 happens to be the high water mark for goals in a season...
  18. And such an unlikely finish.. The Battle of Alberta was so great because Calgary went out and created a team that could almost match up with them - Smith was big tough and talented - a 4 cup member (THN ranked him 17th all-time best Oiler) but is remembered most for this gaffe.. Personally I felt when EDMs great players were getting traded - and were left with a skeleton crew that held on to win one more cup in 89-90 that the power in the division was switching to Calgary and Vancouver eventually took EDMs spot in that rivalry. Early 90’s Flames/Canucks games were fight filled nasty affairs. WNP stepped up too once KT and Selanne were added...when Peca oblitered Selanne with an open ice hit the game ended with over 200 pims and took an extra hour to play ha ha. Some of the most entertaining hockey in franchise history.
  19. Best: 1994 Calgary vs Van Better but we lost so number two: Otto kicked it in! 1989 1994 NYR Luongo vs Turco (holy crap!) Non Canuck series Every single time Detroit and COL matched up .... think it was 7 times. Battle of Alberta 1986 whoops! Roy vs Brodeur 2001. TO vs LA 1993 - one of the few times I watched playoff hockey every day the first couple rounds given where I was living at the time and with whom (1990 too) also impressed with Roy that year but no series was better then this one that year. Clark gave McSorley a huge black eye...tough customers those too - and according to Gretzky he played his best game ever in game 7 - where I think he scored a hat trick...TO’s best team since expansion couldn’t handle him. Even better we beat the same team easily in 5 the next year to go to the finals ha ha.
  20. The Habs never took the Nordiques seriously when they first came into the league - were a bit of a doormat to say the least. Then the Stastny brothers came and they matched up in the first round in 1982. The Habs were still a great team during NYI dynasty days - a contender really - and optimistic they could get one more cup. Then they were tied and winner take all in the first round ... and somehow lost in OT (Hunter was the hero). That started the rivalry which gained steam and became more bitter both in regular season and playoff games right until COL left. Reading about it even the alumni games were chippy and extremely intense - problem was the Habs players kept getting younger and the Nordiques kept getting older ha ha. Yeah those games were just as intense and violent as the battle of Alberta ones - although the skill level in Alberta was even better. Sucks that those things have come and passed, the cap won’t allow two teams to load up with players like that ever again...what would those teams cost in today’s money post salary disclosure? Crazy crazy money.
  21. Voted Ververgaert nominate Murzyn ..
  22. Sorry about Cooke...but apologies aside THN had him at 45 only three years ago - And he would be my brother in-law if my little sister had her way when she fell in love with the Canucks during the WCE era ... so I’m 100% understanding of Apollo or whomever brings him up. Your about as level headed as anyone during this process so no slights intended. If anything I’m just hoping to remind guys of older players I grew up with and then later fell in love with too. Murzyn, Babych, Ronning, Diduck, Momesso practically the entire team meant the world to me - so if others felt the same about WCE, Sedin or pre-Smyl hey I absolutely get it. These are our hero’s - think anyone who’s on this sites viewpoint is valid - Uber fans all of us - and said early this list will be better and mean more to me then whatever THN or others have made - and do think the balance between the dark and light couldn’t be perfect. Dark pre Linden and light post Linden - and grey while he was here ha ha. Linden is and will be the greatest Canuck ever IMO until we finally win a cup. He’s our Howe, Richard, Orr/Shore, Gretzky etc. Could do a lot worse.
  23. Absolutely. And in three years the top 40 will look even different - I except EP, BB, QH to make the list - and even odds this guy too...
  24. I’ve mentioned this enough through the process that I thought I would post it. Three years ago THN made a book/magazine called Top 50 - Players or All-Time by Franchise. They used four hockey historians and their senior staff to make the lists. As mentioned earlier it got harder as they went through the ranking system - and how deep the historians did when making comparisons (such as what the coaches think/thought of the players especially defenseman and divvying up ice-time). Well past stats - and these guys were around long enough to make proper comparisons. Length of service matters - just like with us - which is probably why Tanev didn’t make the cut. They also have a write up for the top 25 and after that a sentence or two for each player. For the top two they said it was splitting hairs - they went with the goal scorer but personally I’d have it the other way. The comments in brackets are exact or paraphrasing from their list. 1. Daniel Sedin 2. Henrik Sedin 3. Pavel Bure (Bure is the best pure talent to wear a Canucks swearter) 4. Naslund (first Swede to win Pearson award - has more first line all-star selections then Stajonov had goals after the trade) 5. Linden 6. Ohlund (a rock could do everything) 7. Luongo (yips in playoffs hurt legacy) 8. Smyl 9. Bertuzzi 10. Kesler 11. Snepsts 12. Lidster 13. Lumme 14. McLean (google 1994 save in game 7 versus Flames) 15. Boudrias 16. Jovo 17. Gradin 18. Brodeur 19. Tanti 20. Edler (occasional lapses in confidence but the Canucks most reliable minute muncher for a decade) 21. Lever 22. Kearns 23. Bieksa (one of the meanest mugs had rough game to match) 24. Burrows (infuriated opponents with taunts and cheap shots - then he’d put the puck in the net) 25. Sundstrom (soft hands was the guy feeding Tanti owner record before Bure came along ) 26. Hamhuis (good not great at everything on top pairing) 27. Salo (known for shot and constant injuries) 28. Morrison 29. Adams 30. Mogilny 31. Babych (offensive elsewhere, defensive role as a Canuck number one in mustache rankings) 32. Courtnall 33. Skriko. 34 Ronning (water-but shifty creative number two center) 35. McCarthy (hurt in 1982 run) 36. Ververgaet (hyped power forward) 37. Lanz (big guy with howitzer - the first Salo) 38 Butcher (strangler could rag-doll guys in fights) 39. Lindgren (two-way d man was an excellent passer) 40. Oddliefson (solid playmaker, checker in forgotten teams) 41. Rota 42. Cloutier (done in by the center ice shot) 43. Hansen (great wheels fit in in scoring or checking line) 44. Kurtenbach (checker became scorer for the team) 45. Cooke (grinder turned villain later in career) 46. Smith (key to division crown). 47 Aucoin (team record for goals in a season 23) 48. Odjick 49. Murzyn (brushing shot blocker and hitter) 50. Mitchell (cleared the net strong dressing room voice). When you get down to the nitty gritty there is one glaring obmission / but they did preface the rankings that where enforcers should go was all over the map. In a re-do five or so years from now it could get even more polarizing. No Willams - no Fraser ... otherwise an interesting take.
  25. Mogilny was a godsend at the time ... who would have guessed back then what was to come. If we kept Peca and Walker those guys could have really helped the WCE teams gain traction come playoff time ...
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