Hockey player rankings released?

Question

the Hockey Magazine has released its player rankings for the upcoming 08/09 season... anyone got any objections?

Forwards

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Alex Ovechkin

3. Joe Thornton

4. Evgeni Malkin

5. Vincent Lecavalier

6. Dany Heatley

7. Jerome Iginla

8. Pavel Datsyuk

9. Daniel Alfredsson

10. Jason Spezza

11. Henrik Zetterberg

12. Martin St.Louis

13. Patrick Kane

14. Marc Savard

15. Ilya Kovalchuk

16. Marian Hossa

17. Ryan Getzlaf

18. Nicklas Backstrom

19. Olli Jokinen

20. Anze Kopitar

Defence

1. Nicklas Lidstrom

2. Sergei Gonchar

3. Scott Niedermayer

4. Tomas Kaberle

5. Dion Phaneuf

6. Mike Green

7. Brian Campbell

8. Brian Rafalski

9. Andrei Markov

10. Chris Pronger

Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur

2. Evgeni Nabokov

3. Roberto Luongo

4. Miikka Kiprusoff

5. Marc Andre Fleury

6. Henrik Lundqvist

7. Marty Turco

8. Cristobal Huet

9. JS Giguere

10. Carey Price

Answer 1

I'm sure I could come up with more if combed through it... but as a sens fan it jumps out at me that they ranked Heatley above Alfredsson.

Alfredsson scored more points than Heatley last season, played one less game. But more importantly, if you watch sens games regularly Aflie manufactures a lot more than Heatley(who pretty much just finishes), and Aflie can be relied upon a h**l of lot more to score when the chips are down. Turn the momentum of games.

To show I'm not just biased, I actually don't think Heatley should be ranked that high period. He's a star, don't get me wrong. But if you watch sens games regularly he's only a pure finisher. Not much on defense, not much of a play maker, and not much even in terms of deking. He just has one h**l of a shot. And a nose for the puck around the net.

Also, I would add that list has an obvious bias toward offensive flare, in terms of forwards. As most diehard hockey fans should know, having your best players accountable defensively is extremely, extremely important when it comes to the playoffs.

Answer 2

No not really

Answer 3

I  don't Have Many. I would take Crosby out of first though.  Neidermayer also needs to be removed from number 3. Yes he did well but He played half the season and Phanuef played the full season. I would replace Scott with Dion. Also Luongo had a very poor season and is not worth fourth 6th is more like it.  This is how I would do it.

Forwards

1. Alex Ovechkin

2. Jarome Iginla

3. Evgeni Malkin

4. Sidney Crosby

5. Joe Thornton

6. Dany Heatley

7. Vincent Lecavalier

8. Pavel Datsyuk

9. Daniel Alfredsson

10. Jason Spezza

11. Henrik Zetterberg

12. Martin St.Louis

13. Patrick Kane

14. Marc Savard

15. Ilya Kovalchuk

16. Marian Hossa

17. Ryan Getzlaf

18. Nicklas Backstrom

19. Olli Jokinen

20. Anze Kopitar

Defence

1. Nicklas Lidstrom

2. Sergei Gonchar

3. Dion Phaneuf

4. Tomas Kaberle

5. Scott Niedermayer

6. Mike Green

7. Brian Campbell

8. Brian Rafalski

9. Andrei Markov

10. Chris Pronger

Goalies

1. Martin Brodeur

2. Evgeni Nabokov

3. Miikka Kiprusoff

4. Marc-Andre Fleury

5. Henrik Lunqvist

6. Roberto Luongo

7. Marty Turco

8. Cristobal Huet

9. JS Giguere

10. Carey Price

Answer 4

first of alex ovechkin is the best player in the league. he should be #1.

crosby isnt as good as ppl say lower his rank and move up Lecavalier.

move up Kovalchuk. on defense, green being 6 is a disgrace he had the most goals for a defenseman and did great in the playoffs, did i mention i'm a diehard caps fan? lidstrom just gets so much fame cause he is a good player on the best team. if he was with the sabres or coyotes he wouldn't be praised as much. for goalies nabokov #1 he got robbed for the vezina. go CAPS

Answer 5

Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley are all high on the list so I have no objections.

Answer 6

Pretty decent list... there are so many talented forwards that it's going to be impossible for everyone to agree on a set list.  Outside of some minor tweaking, and giving more consideration to two-way forwards, I think the first list is pretty good.

Defense is all messed up.  Lidstrom is obviously 1 and I think Gonchar definitely belongs at 2, but Niedermayer does not belong above the 6-7 range, and I would take Dion Phaneuf or Brian Campbell over Kaberle any day.  I suppose Chara should also be on that list, especially considering he was a Norris finalist this year.

Turco is too low at 7, I'd also flop MAF and Lundqvist like someone else said.

Answer 7

Marty Brodeur at number 1, thats all that matters to me.  I also dont think Crosby should be number 1, I think AO edges him out.  Kovalchuk could be a little higher too...just because he has no one around him doesnt mean hes not good.  He should be in the top 10.  

Answer 8

ovechkin should be ahead of crosby, lecavalier should be ahead of malkin and your right, pat kane is way too high... who would put him above kovalchuk?

phaneuf, green, campbell and rafalski whould be ahead of kaberle

luongo should be number 1

Answer 9

A few... Niedermayer is not the same Dman (would drop his out and slide bouwmeester in at 7)

Thornton just gets points but if you see him play hes a lazy bum that doesnt do anything hard (although he makes some amazing passes), would slot him at 6 and move malkin and vinnie up.

Fleury (although a good goalie) is not as good as lundqvist, flip those two

Backstrom is a promising player but noway in h**l does he deserve to be on this list.  Take him off and put toews in

Answer 10

Interesting. I don't think there's many names I'd drop entirely but I'd probably find room for Mats Sundin, assuming he plays this year. Most of the names I'd move are probably due to familiarity ( or lack of).