I doubt anyone is going to debate 1 and 2, Thornton and Iginla were arguably the best players in the World during their peaks.
Elias scored 96 points in 2000-2001, when league wide scoring was at 5.51 goals per game. He was clearly his team's best forward and had the most points on his team by 13 points. He was 3rd in league wide scoring, behind Jaromir Jagr and Joe Sakic. Not that it's an incredibly meaningful statistic, but he was also +45 that year, a mark only surpassed by 4 players in the 11 seasons since then. Elias was a 1st team NHL All Star this season.
Alfredsson scored 103 points in 2005-2006, by far the highest scoring season since the mid 90s (6.17 goals per game). He was arguably only the 3rd best player on his line, which was definitely the NHL's best last season (some credit goes to him obviously, but you can't deny that playing with Heatley and Spezza is a huge boost). He was tied for 4th in league scoring (behind Thornton, Jagr and Ovechkin) with linemate Dany Heatley. Alfredsson was a 2nd team NHL All Star this season.
Last edited by MastuhNinks: 11-17-2012 at 01:33 AM.
I doubt anyone is going to debate 1 and 2, Thornton and Iginla were arguably the best players in the World during their peaks.
Elias scored 96 points in 2000-2001, when league wide scoring was at 5.51 goals per game. He was clearly his team's best forward and had the most points on his team by 13 points. He was 3rd in league wide scoring, behind Jaromir Jagr and Joe Sakic. Not that it's an incredibly meaningful statistic, but he was also +45 that year, a mark only surpassed by 4 players in the 11 seasons since then. Elias was a 1st team NHL All Star this season.
Alfredsson scored 103 points in 2005-2006, by far the highest scoring season since the mid 90s (6.17 goals per game). He was arguably only the 3rd best player on his line, which was definitely the NHL's best last season (some credit goes to him obviously, but you can't deny that playing with Heatley and Spezza is a huge boost). He was tied for 4th in league scoring (behind Thornton, Jagr and Ovechkin) with linemate Dany Heatley. Alfredsson was a 2nd team NHL All Star this season.
Lol... Alfredsson was the main reason that line functioned the way it did.
Of all the players mentioned, at their peaks, Alfredsson is the best all-around player. An all-around player scoring 100 points is pretty ****ing amazing.
Thornton can and has been legitimately mentioned in the same sentence as Gretzky and Lemieux. I think that should answer this question.
As in Thornton is not nearly as good as Lemieux or Gretzky? Since otherwise there is no reason to mention them.
If you don't mean the assist (back-2-back 90 assists?) which would be weird since he was nowhere near Gretzky/Lemieux level. It is just an arbitrary line which has nothing to do with either Gretzky or Lemieux.
Lol... Alfredsson was the main reason that line functioned the way it did.
Of all the players mentioned, at their peaks, Alfredsson is the best all-around player. An all-around player scoring 100 points is pretty ****ing amazing.
Thornton
Alfredsson
Iginla
Elias
The only one thats not "great" all around is Thornton. Elias is easily the best defensive forward of the group and still put up 96 pts. He is easily probably the most underrated forward in the last 2 decades.
The only one thats not "great" all around is Thornton. Elias is easily the best defensive forward of the group and still put up 96 pts. He is easily probably the most underrated forward in the last 2 decades.
96 points? Thornton had that many assists alone in one season, elias isn't on that level. Not that Thornton was a defensive liability at all during his prime either.
Elias will never, ever get the recognition he deserves because of the team he played his entire career for. I'd be willing to bet that had he played in Ottawa and Alfie played in NJ, people would be wondering how you could ever put Alfredsson ahead of Elias.
I do agree that those two are 3 and 4 on this list, but IMO they are interchangeable. There is no obvious order for the two. That said:
Thornton
Iginla
Elias/Alfredsson (Being a Devils fan I put Elias' name first)
could have been a decent poll if it said better careers, but elias doesn't even belong in the same sentence with joe n iggy
Pretty much I wanted to see who people thought was better peak vs peak: Iginla or Thornton, and then wanted to see what people thought who was better at peak vs peak: Elias or Alfredsson. So I just threw them all in one thread.
Lol... Alfredsson was the main reason that line functioned the way it did.
Of all the players mentioned, at their peaks, Alfredsson is the best all-around player. An all-around player scoring 100 points is pretty ****ing amazing.
Thornton
Alfredsson
Iginla
Elias
Iginla's peak is better than Alfredsson's. Jose Theodore would not have a Hart if Calgary had made the playoffs that year.
Though Patrik's last season has been sensational: Turned Sykora into a decent player, Top 10 NHL scoring against tough competition (1.4 QoC), all of this at 36.
So impressive but so underrated on HF.
96 points? Thornton had that many assists alone in one season, elias isn't on that level. Not that Thornton was a defensive liability at all during his prime either.
I realize I didn't state it clearly in the post you quoted but earlier in the thread I acknowledged Thornton is a clear #1 with Iginla as a clear #2. I was talking to a poster attempting to convince people that Alfredsson is head over shoulders better then iginla and Elias, who seemingly always gets overlooked and underrated by everyone.
