Forsberg, Joe or Sundin - Who would you take in their prime!?
With all the talk of what Sundin/Joe/Forsberg will do and when they will sign I find it odd that all of them had their begging with the same franchise. I know, Forsberg was drafted by the Flyers but he did begin his career or the majority of it with the Nordiques. So I am thinking, of all three of these players who have had similar beginnings, who would you choose to have on your team or would start your team around when each player was in his prime?
Personally I would go Joe Sakic because of his leadership but in his prime or Sundin's prime I don't think they stood a chance against Forsberg!
Sakic, not basing my team around a guy who in 15 seasons played 80+games once and 70+games 4 times. Since his second season he never played more than 80 games. Ill take the guy who in his prime is dominating the league for 82 games than the guy who dominates it for 60.
Forsberg "in his prime" pretty much means "forget about his injuries". It's basically a case where you put together the 3 players respectively best seasons and decide who's the best, and personally I think Forsberg was in a class of his own at his pinnacle, Sakic is great and always has been, Sundin isn't really the same type of player, he's very consistent, but he's not dominating the game the same way Sakic and especially Forsberg did in their prime.
Forsberg is a great player and he has world class skills. But the problem is that he "prime" basically is only one full season where he won the Art Ross trophy. Outside of that year, Forsberg never dominated Sakic for long stretches. Sakic is a consistent performer and his peak is both longer and better than Forsberg's.
Forsberg is full of "what ifs" and "what could have been" and that makes him a little bit overrated because people tend to judge that instead of using actual performance. He definitively was great for certain amount of time but he never was dominant like Sakic was for a long period of time, so that's why I think it is not that close.
At there absolute best, is Forsberg a better hockey player than Sakic? Maybe, but that, we'll never really know.
I disagree. When Sakic was 37 he scored a 100 points, Sundin has only hit 100+ once in his career. Plus, last year Sakic was injured for the better half of the season yet still managed 10 points in 10 playoff games so he hasn't lost a step on Sundin. Plus, in a more defensive conference as opposed to the East, I am sure Sakic has a few steps above Sundin still.
As for Forsberg, what can I say about the guy? He's probably one of the greatest players in the world when he is healthy and on the top of his game, but thats maybe a few games per season. He can still score but he isn't what he was. I would prefer Sundin over Forsberg now since Sundin can play more games, but in terms of skill Sakic/Forsberg > Sundin.
