If you could magically pluck the three older russians from their prime and play them against the current russians right now (at least getting close to their prime), the old guys would destroy them. Unfortunately, those primes were relatively short-lived, and with consistency, the current crop could end up ahead of them.
I honestly think Bure is more offensively skilled than ANY of them.
You say Mogilny played alongside high scoring LaFontaine yet act like Ovechkin and Malkin don't have a team around them right now?
Kovalchuk is the only one that doesn't have a team around him and if I compare Bure as the Florida Panthers to Kovalchuk as the Atlanta Thrashers, Bure wins by a landslide. Bure can be the whole team and win by himself, I've seen it several times before. No one else can do that.
And Fedorov is still the best overall in terms of offense and defense.
I'm glad I could start such a tough poll. It's my first poll ever by the way on here. At least it is a good one. The thing that annoys me though is I know that there are a lot of younger fans on here who have no idea just how good the early 90s Russians were and just mindlessly pick their current player that they are a bandwagon fan of. No offense to anyone personally but if you get offended by that, then that's exactly what you are.
when all is said and done the newer 3 will be remembered as better. at this point everyone remembers the older 3 after their careers have been completed and we've seen everything that they can do. malkin (22), ovechkin(23), and kovalchuk(25) still have their whole careers ahead of them.
also, while the older 3 are amazing, they were not at the top of the league. ovechkin and malkin especially are 2 of the 3 very best players in the nhl and will be for the next decade or so. there were plenty of players better than mogilny, bure, and fedorov. lemieux, gretzky, jagr, yzerman, sakic, forsberg, lindros, etc. ovechkin and malkin will be far more decorated when the dust settles.
Nobody in hockey history can match the acceleration of Pavel Bure. His goal scoring instincts are better then Ovechkin's but i prefer the overall game OV brings. Ovechkin outdid Bures best season in a lower scoring era and brings a dimension that Bure never had. His 07/08 season ranks only behind Fedorov's MVP season as best amoung Russians. I'll take Ovechkin because i think he still has alot more to offer.
Malkin<Federov
This one is not even fair. Fedorov is the best player out of this entire group. Fedorov does everything better then Malkin. It is clear that Malkin is very soft player who does not like physical play. Fedorov was never phased by this and was one of the best playoff performers of all time. Next
Mogilny>Kovalchuk
I really like Kovalchuk but Mogilny is the better player. Kovalchuk does have more heart and desire though.
Does Kovalchuk and Ovechkin remind anyone else of Krutov and Makarov?
Yah right thats a joke. AO is not even in Bure's class. Who u trying to kid??
Mogilny - Let me know when one of them scores 76 goals in 77 games.
Bure - More offensive skill than all of them combined.
Fedorov - Probably best overall. Can play offense AND defense.
Prove to me how Malkin, Ovechkin, and Kovalchuk could ever possibly be better than these 3.
Malkin cant play offence and defence? Ovechkin got 4 main trophys last year! how much trophys did get Mohilnyi for example? or Bure?
Bure is God compared to AO, Malkin and Kovalchuk. Mogilny, Bure and Fedorov are always going to be the better line than AO, Malkin and Kovalchuk. Bure would make all 3 of these guys look like Wade Belak by speeding past them, Mogilny would make AO's scoring ability look foolish and Fedorov frustrate them with his defensive skills and eventually score.
As much as I love the current Russian superstars, how can you not give this one to
Mogilny's 76 goals season
Bure's back to back 60 goals seasons (and 59, 58)
Fedorov's 120 pts and multiple trophies.
dont you think that kovalchuk,ovechkin and malkin have a long way to go till to end of career.
Mogilny scored those 76 goals in the most freakish year ever for scoring in the NHL, playing alongside another one time high scorer in LaFontaine.
1993 was a freak year for NHL scoring.
In 1981-82:5 Players had over 120 points. 13 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had 212). 41 players had over 80 points In 1982-83:3 players had over 120 points. 11 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had 196). 31 players had over 80 points. In 1983-84:3 players had over 120 points. 11 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had over 200). 41 players had over 80 points. In 1984-85:5 players had over 120 points. 16 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had over 200). 35 players had over 80 points. In 1985-86:6 Players had over 120 points. 13 players had over 100 points(1 player had over 200). 30 players had over 80 points. In 1986-87:1 Player had over 120 points(Gretzky). 7 players had over 100 points(Gretzky had 183), 21 players had over 80 points. In 1987-88:4 Players had over 120 points. 8 players had over 100 points. 30 players had over 80 points. In 1988-89:4 players had over 120 points(All 4 had 150 points or higher)9 players had over 100 points. 34 players had over 80 points. In 1989-90:4 Players had over 120 points. 12 players had over 100 points. 36 players had over 80 points In 1990-91:2 players had over 120 points. 10 players had over 100 points. 29 players had over 80 points. In 1991-92:3 Players had over 120 points. 9 players had over 100 points. 28 players had over 80 points. 1992-93:10 Players had over 120 points. 20 players had over 100 points. 47 players had over 80 points. 1993-94:2 Players had over 120 points. 8 players had over 100 points. 35 players had over 80 points. 1994-95:Lockout half season. Will need to adjust and prorrate all players to 82 games) 1995-96:3 Players had over 120 points(4 if you count Francis and his 119) 11 players had over 100 points. 33 players had over 80 points.
In all honestly, Ovechkin scoring 65 goals last season was more impressive to me. Doing so when there was only an average of 5.57 goals per game(Almost equal low to the dead puck era) is adjusted to the 93 season to around 84-85 goals. Ovechkin also bested the nearest goal scorer by 25%(65 goals vs 52 goals). Mogilny was tied for the lead, with Lemieux right on his tail(Lemieux would have outscored if not for Cancer that year)
Other than 2 good years, Mogilny's resume is very very weak. His playoff numbers take a nosedive and he was not a key player in his sole cup win.
Bure: More one on one cherry picking skill you mean. Ovechkin has more skill than Bure ever did. Malkin is very close, if not already better, but its too hard to say after only 2 years. Ovechkin has already accomplished more with his Hart and Scoring title.
Fedorov: No argument there. He is the best two way Russian ever. But his peak was very short. He only had a few good seasons and then his effort after getting big money disappeared in the regular season.
i was too lazy to make a that job what you just did! well done!
If you could magically pluck the three older russians from their prime and play them against the current russians right now (at least getting close to their prime), the old guys would destroy them. Unfortunately, those primes were relatively short-lived, and with consistency, the current crop could end up ahead of them.
I honestly think Bure is more offensively skilled than ANY of them.
You say Mogilny played alongside high scoring LaFontaine yet act like Ovechkin and Malkin don't have a team around them right now?
Kovalchuk is the only one that doesn't have a team around him and if I compare Bure as the Florida Panthers to Kovalchuk as the Atlanta Thrashers, Bure wins by a landslide. Bure can be the whole team and win by himself, I've seen it several times before. No one else can do that.
And Fedorov is still the best overall in terms of offense and defense.
I'm glad I could start such a tough poll. It's my first poll ever by the way on here. At least it is a good one. The thing that annoys me though is I know that there are a lot of younger fans on here who have no idea just how good the early 90s Russians were and just mindlessly pick their current player that they are a bandwagon fan of. No offense to anyone personally but if you get offended by that, then that's exactly what you are.
seem to me you dont have a idea that there is many people around here who knows very well who is who and even more, remember clearly even 80-s! so keep your voice down about ages here!
I'm not sure in what world Malkin even approaches Fedorov yet with his accomplishments to date.
I think when all is said and done, Malkin will be remembered as the better player. Fedorov is a great player, but his prime was short and the only real hardware he took home was in 93-94 - The Hart Trophy and Lester B Pearson. For the remainder of his career he was a consistent 60/70 point player who bounced around from team to team.
I think when all is said and done, Malkin will be remembered as the better player. Fedorov is a great player, but his prime was short and the only real hardware he took home was in 93-94 - The Hart Trophy and Lester B Pearson. For the remainder of his career he was a consistent 60/70 point player who bounced around from team to team.
I went with the more recent guys only because they seem to be closer to dominating the league than the 90's guys did. There was a lot more competition from other guys during their era.
I think when all is said and done, Malkin will be remembered as the better player. Fedorov is a great player, but his prime was short and the only real hardware he took home was in 93-94 - The Hart Trophy and Lester B Pearson. For the remainder of his career he was a consistent 60/70 point player who bounced around from team to team.
Really now? You're forgetting his two Selkes (94 and 96), his three Cups (97,98,02), his six all-star appearances (92,94,96,01,02,03), his 1,155 points, his 475 goals, his career +/- of +273 and the fact that he's still playing, and can play (and HAS played) any skating position on the ice. Yeah, what a flash in the pan and lack of award winning skills.
Malkin has incredible potential, but to even mention him in the same breath as Fedorov at this point is silly...especially with arguments like you used here.
Not only that but Fedorov can play nearly any position he's needed to. I think he in his prime fits a lot more teams' needs than ANY of the others named will ever COME CLOSE to.
I think when all is said and done, Malkin will be remembered as the better player. Fedorov is a great player, but his prime was short and the only real hardware he took home was in 93-94 - The Hart Trophy and Lester B Pearson. For the remainder of his career he was a consistent 60/70 point player who bounced around from team to team.
i will remind federov as redwing who took 3 cups home, even if he bounced around hes still a redwing for me. by the way, which russian won 3 cups or more ? i think the professor won a couple
Ovechkin got 4 main trophys last year! how much trophys did get Mohilnyi for example? or Bure?
