The Hockey News player ranking

[André]

The top 50 before the 08\09 season.

I'm suprised Crosby kept his first position (altough I don't think he's a bad choice) and would've wanted Malkin even higher. As always there's someone I'd want higher or lower than someone else and players I'd like added or removed but all in all I think it's a pretty good list.

Sorry for not posting a link but this one's usually hard to find as it's only in the printed issue (I think) so I'm copying the list from another board.

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Henrik Zetterberg
4. Pavel Datsyuk
5. Vincent Lecavalier
6. Niklas Lidstrom
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jarome Iginla
9. Evgeni Malkin
10. Dany Heatley
11. Chris Pronger
12. Daniel Alfredsson
13. Marian Gaborik
14. Henrik Lundqvist
15. Brenden Morrow
16. Evgeni Nabokov
17. Marian Hossa
18. Ilya Kovalchuk
19. Eric Staal
20. Zdeno Chara
21. Joe Thornton
22. Dion Phaneuf
23. Martin Brodeur
24. J-S Giguere
25. Martin St-Louis
26. Scott Niedermayer
27. Brian Rafalski
28. Sergei Gonchar
29. Marty Turco
30. Ryan Getzlaf
31. Andrei Markov
32. Zach Parise
33. Ales Hemsky
34. Jason Spezza
35. Vesa Toskala
36. Rick Nash
37. Joe Sakic
38. Scott Gomez
39. Ryan Miller
40. Jonathan Toews
41. Daniel Sedin
42. Daniel Briere
43. Anze Kopitar
44. Miikka Kiprusoff
45. Paul Statsny
46. Shane Doan
47. Derek Roy
48. Mark Savard
49. Mike Richards
50. Patrick Kane

[purelebo84]

LOL at Malkin at 9, and LOL at Thornton at 21.

Credibility Gone.

[KG]

Datysuk at 4 is a bit high...Malkin is every bit as good if not better then him...

[bhaw]

I'd adjust some top 10 spots. Once they got past 10, it starts to get a little screwy. Seems like they pushed to put as many detroit players as possible. I don't think Rafalski is a top 50 player in this league anymore, much less 27. A lot of other weird choices.

[littlemoonboot]

Malkin at 9? Fail.

[Defence21]

I love Toskala at 35. Good goalie? Yes. Thirty-fifth best player in the NHL? Far, far, far from it.

[WWGRD]

Malkin is better than Zetterberg.

[Three Stars]

They seemed to emphasize Malkin "hitting the wall" in the finals in their rankings.

In any event, many of the top 8 have accomplished more in their careers than Malkin, so I don't see the problem with the ranking. If he kicks ass again this year, you'll see him move up.

[Idoit40fans]

Yeah I have no problem with malkin only being ranked 9. He has only completed 2 seasons.

[Corvidae]

I'd adjust some top 10 spots. Once they got past 10, it starts to get a little screwy. Seems like they pushed to put as many detroit players as possible. I don't think Rafalski is a top 50 player in this league anymore, much less 27. A lot of other weird choices.

Yeah, I would have never thought about putting Rafalski on this list. Decent defender, no doubt, but really has no business being above Gonchar and Markov.

[JS©]

as much as I hate Philly, Mike Richards is a little better than 49th.

[Sarcastic]

1. Crosby
2. Ovechkin
3. Malkin (I like Malkin's overall game better than Ov's, but Ov has tremendous offensive impact)
4. Vinnie L
5. Zetterburger

To put Malkin as #9 is a travesty.

Anyone here would take Gomez over Toews or Kane!?

[Gabe]

no love for MAF???

Huh? he's definitely better than Toskala.

[Corvidae]

no love for MAF???

Huh? he's definitely better than Toskala.

Wow, I didn't even think about that. Definitely better than Toskala, and I'm pretty sure Kiprusoff is better than him too.

[Maagwa]

Patrik Eliáš should be on this list

[Corvidae]

Patrik Eliáš should be on this list

I don't know. He hasn't been the same player in the last few years. Never returned to pre-Hep A form, though I doubt that has anything to do with it.

[KG]

Patrik Eliáš should be on this list

Elias is borderline done imo...

[Maagwa]

Patrik Eliáš should be on this list

Elias is borderline done imo...

You wouldnt say that if he didn't play for a team that lacks any offensive potential

[PenguinHockeyFanatic]

I think the most shocking rating on the list is Morrow at 15! Top 50, sure, top 15? Don't get me wrong, I love the way he plays, but after 8 seasons his best effort was 74 points. I don't care how hard you play, 74 points is not enough talent for top 15 PLAYER in the NHL.

And no Kovalev? That's a tough list to crack but I think Kovalev deserves to be on it.

[Maagwa]

That's a tough list to crack but I think Kovalev deserves to be on it.

qft

[KG]

Patrik Eliáš should be on this list

Elias is borderline done imo...

You wouldnt say that if he didn't play for a team that lacks any offensive potential

Elias has always played on a team that has lacked offensive potential. He used to be a very good to great player. However, he hasn't had an "Elias" year since 2003-04 when he scored 81 points...Nowadays he is a 50-60 point man...Not what he used to be obviously.

[Skeletons of Quinto]

I still don't understand how these rankings are anything but completely arbitrary.

Do they still rank up to like 250? I imagine a bunch of guys sitting around a dim, smoky room, arguing whether Jerred Smithson is better than Fernando Pisani.