Top Ten Most Hated NHL Players of all Time

[RP-29]

Dominik Hasek.

Interesting...

I always thought Patrick Roy was much more universally loathed than Hasek. I guess I learned something today.

 

[dare2be]

Lindros.

 

[mattola]

Mark Messier x 10

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Willie Plett?

 

[Otis B. Driftwood]

Never understood why he got it in the first place.

By the way, what would you take in trade for Jim Nill? We want him back.

You know... as much as I bag on Nieuwendyk (in most cases justifiably so), he did leave some pieces for Nill to work with. The cupboard in Cedar Park ain't barren. But I give Nill a ton of praise for making my heroes reagent again and making some really good additions. I haven't felt this good about the Stars in a long time.


In other words - you can't have him back. Go to hell!

 

[slapshot]

I actually like Crosby. He only got on the list because of his incessant whining.

I agree with you. Crosby is a great player and will be in the NHL Hall of Fame. He'll be in the Whiner's Hall of Fame too. Also, I of course can see why Dale is on the list. Got to admit I loved him both as a player and a coach.

 

[RP-29]

You know... as much as I bag on Nieuwendyk (in most cases justifiably so), he did leave some pieces for Nill to work with. The cupboard in Cedar Park ain't barren. But I give Nill a ton of praise for making my heroes reagent again and making some really good additions. I haven't felt this good about the Stars in a long time.


In other words - you can't have him back. Go to hell!

We may already be there. Holland hasn't done much recently to prove otherwise.

 

[RP-29]

I agree with you. Crosby is a great player and will be in the NHL Hall of Fame. He'll be in the Whiner's Hall of Fame too.

I not only dislike Crosby because of his lack of composure, but also because he's (in my eyes) disgustingly overrated by the vast majority of fans and media heads. He's a poor captain, he's an average defender, he's average in the faceoff circle (and he worked hard to get to average) and he's average physically. Where he truly excels is his ice vision and offensive awareness, which results in high scoring totals and hypnotizes people into believing he's the second-greatest hockey player of all time behind another offense-only guy named Gretzky.

It rakes my spine when someone says "Sidney Crosby, the best player in the NHL" as if it's an unquestioned universal proven fact.

 

[BGDave]

I agree with a lot of these lists, but I cannot believe that nobody mentioned Chris Simon or that douche-bag Neil (still with Ottawa?)
Also agree with BG Dave (as I seem to pretty often) that the modern guys...even Lemieux...are Nobel Prize winners compared Terrible Ted and Eddie Shore...and Mr Hockey too!

I toyed with including Gordie, but decided he was a notch below.

To me, hated means a guy who can: (1) get a lot of people to attend the game just to see him, and (2) whip those people into a blood rage. The kind of guy who the entire building will just go ape-shit crazy when they get on the ice.

There has been a lot of agitators over the years, but hated is a whole new level.

BTW, I am shocked that guys like Tiger Williams and Tie Domi havent been mentioned (although someone will shortly link to a post that has one of those names)

 

[BGDave]

For everyone who includes Crosby, what about Bobby Clarke?

 

[pixburgher66]

I not only dislike Crosby because of his lack of composure, but also because he's (in my eyes) disgustingly overrated by the vast majority of fans and media heads. He's a poor captain, he's an average defender, he's average in the faceoff circle (and he worked hard to get to average) and he's average physically. Where he truly excels is his ice vision and offensive awareness, which results in high scoring totals and hypnotizes people into believing he's the second-greatest hockey player of all time behind another offense-only guy named Gretzky.

It rakes my spine when someone says "Sidney Crosby, the best player in the NHL" as if it's an unquestioned universal proven fact.

So...you're saying he's only good because people think he's good? Don't make me break out advanced stats...I'll do it. I agree that he's not a physically dominant guy, but that only makes what he does more impressive. And he's above average at faceoffs, far from the best. If you wanna argue he's not the best player in the league, please give some examples.

Sidenote: I don't think he's the most purely talented guy in the league...but that doesn't make someone the best player.

EDIT: I don't care if people don't like the guy, but when someone wants to argue his abilities, I want to see evidence of it.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Interesting...

I always thought Patrick Roy was much more universally loathed than Hasek. I guess I learned something today.

Patrick Roy never single-handedly kept the Leafs out of the Cup Finals

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So...you're saying he's only good because people think he's good? Don't make me break out advanced stats...I'll do it. I agree that he's not a physically dominant guy, but that only makes what he does more impressive. And he's above average at faceoffs, far from the best. If you wanna argue he's not the best player in the league, please give some examples.

Sidenote: I don't think he's the most purely talented guy in the league...but that doesn't make someone the best player.

EDIT: I don't care if people don't like the guy, but when someone wants to argue his abilities, I want to see evidence of it.

Crosby makes some very, very average players look like superstars. That is why I place him at the head of the herd - it takes very special talents to do that.

 

[Puck082]

In no order.....

Brad Marchand
Darcy Tucker
Alexei Yashin
Kirk Muller
Dale Hunter
Esa Tikkanen
Claude Lemiuex
Crosby
Matt Cooke
Chris Simon

 

[Abe Vigoda]

Oh. The guy was a fucking douche as a player. I wasn't necessarily defending him but rather saying that he was actually not THAT dirty a player.

I tend to reserve my high end hatred for guys who repeatedly try to end careers. I think we can agree that Avery is an asshole though.

Yeah tame compared to what Hunter did to Turgeon as an example

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Crosby makes some very, very average players look like superstars. That is why I place him at the head of the herd - it takes very special talents to do that.

Playing against the Sabres makes some very average players look like superstars too. I don't think it means quite the same thing though.

 

[RP-29]

So...you're saying he's only good because people think he's good?

There was an astronomical amount of hype about Crosby since he was a young teen. The hype train gained momentum when he entered the league and played well. Hype clouds vision and influences the weak minded.

I liken it to boy bands. They're adored by young impressionable weak-minded girls. Ask them why they like that music and they do not have a truly legitimate answer. It's "I don't know, I just like it" or "they're cute" (completely irrelevant to their music) or if they're more honest and self-aware it's "because my friends do".

To be clear, I think Crosby is an elite hockey player, but to emphatically exclaim him the unquestioned best is quite irritating.

Don't make me break out advanced stats...I'll do it.

You've got my curiosity. What advanced metrics do you have that proves his elite proficiency when the puck is not on his stick?

I agree that he's not a physically dominant guy, but that only makes what he does more impressive.

Interesting. People say that about Zetterberg, too, but we don't hear his name even whispered among the "best". Tell ya what, when you supply those fancy advanced metrics, match them side-by-side with Zetterberg's so I can see how much better of an all-around hockey player Crosby is than Zetterberg.

And he's above average at faceoffs, far from the best.

If you consider over .500 FO% above average, you're right. If you rate him in relation to other top-line centers in the league, he's average.

If you wanna argue he's not the best player in the league, please give some examples.

I argue that he should not be so clearly labeled "the best", he should be labeled "one of the best". It is very debatable.

 

[slapshot]

I not only dislike Crosby because of his lack of composure, but also because he's (in my eyes) disgustingly overrated by the vast majority of fans and media heads. He's a poor captain, he's an average defender, he's average in the faceoff circle (and he worked hard to get to average) and he's average physically. Where he truly excels is his ice vision and offensive awareness, which results in high scoring totals and hypnotizes people into believing he's the second-greatest hockey player of all time behind another offense-only guy named Gretzky.

It rakes my spine when someone says "Sidney Crosby, the best player in the NHL" as if it's an unquestioned universal proven fact.

Understand your point, but he is a great player. Not the greatest ever, but damn good in a lot of respects. For what it's worth (not much for sure) He's been one of the main reason's, IMO, for the Pen' success in recent years. Do I like him? No. But I can't dismiss him as talentless. Anyway, it's what makes horse races.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

D Hatcher, Avery and Domi (to a lesser extent some of the other assholes on those early 2000s Leafs teams, Corson, Tucker etc.).

Avery is self explanatory.

Hatcher for his vicious elbow to Sykora in game 6 of the 2000 finals (robbed him of the chance to hoist the cup then).

Domi (also self explanatory) but more specifically for his unprovoked, completely behind the play elbow of Niedermayer, only one of the classiest guys to ever play the game, during the 2001 playoffs. I'll never forget the rage of Scott Stevens watching that as he sat in the box. I thought he might get himself ejected/suspended for leaving the box.

 

[pixburgher66]

There was an astronomical amount of hype about Crosby since he was a young teen. The hype train gained momentum when he entered the league and played well. Hype clouds vision and influences the weak minded.

I liken it to boy bands. They're adored by young impressionable weak-minded girls. Ask them why they like that music and they do not have a truly legitimate answer. It's "I don't know, I just like it" or "they're cute" (completely irrelevant to their music) or if they're more honest and self-aware it's "because my friends do".

To be clear, I think Crosby is an elite hockey player, but to emphatically exclaim him the unquestioned best is quite irritating.



You've got my curiosity. What advanced metrics do you have that proves his elite proficiency when the puck is not on his stick?



Interesting. People say that about Zetterberg, too, but we don't hear his name even whispered among the "best". Tell ya what, when you supply those fancy advanced metrics, match them side-by-side with Zetterberg's so I can see how much better of an all-around hockey player Crosby is than Zetterberg.



If you consider over .500 FO% above average, you're right. If you rate him in relation to other top-line centers in the league, he's average.



I argue that he should not be so clearly labeled "the best", he should be labeled "one of the best". It is very debatable.

I judge the FO% based on how he stacks up in the league. He's not elite in that regard, but he's not in the bottom half either.

Comparing this years stats aren't very fair to Zetterberg since he was hurt a lot.

I think that player chart uploaded?


Anyway, his possession numbers are toward the top of league, and his PT/60 are fantastic. In this year, where he was very productive, his PT/60 was down (3.55) . He was at 4.42 last year in 36 games, 5.46 in 22 games the year before, 4.41 in 41 games the before that.

P/60 for Zetterberg in comparison: '10-11 3.06, 11-12 2.55, 12-13 3.05, 13-14 2.08.

CF%rel 5v5: Crosby '13-14 +6.9%, Zetterberg +3.7% (Basically saying the team's possession is that much better with each of those guys on the ice); Crosby '12-13 +8.6%, Zetterberg +1.6%

Now, I'm cherry picking stats, and there are some that Zetterberg is better at, obviously, but those are two stats I personally find valuable.