many of the things that make crosby so great dont translate into great high lights because he makes them look so easy.

hes getting up there, but datsyuk as always been a marvel to watch.

Current Players:

Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Chara, Brodeur

Past Players I have seen:

Lidström, Sakic, Forsberg, Hasek

Past Players I never saw:

Orr, Messier, Gretzky, Lemieux

Currently?

Datsyuk - Pure skills
Jagr - Unique combination of skills, talent and size. I find him more impressive to watch in his prime than Datsyuk in his prime.
Selanne - A phenom.
Chara - Not everyday do you get to see this size performing at this level
Brodeur - He will be talked about for decades and I will be able to say I saw the legend play.

And on a lighter note:

The Sedins. Quite a story. No matter what they do and what happens, you can be sure of two things: 1) they will finish the season with similar total of points and 2) you still won't be able to tell them apart.

Scott Stevens, Ron Francis and Steve Stamkos

Sid hands down, speed, vision, power, honestly this question shouldn't even be close if people actually watched the games vs. blindly hating the guy.

But haters gonna hate. So get to it.

All time #66. Pure dominance.
- Sell My Monkey

i dont hate the guy.

and it wasnt who we think is the best player now. (though some would argue pavel. and many actual nhl'ers say the same)
it's who are we most stoked that we get to watch. for whatever reason.

i have no love for the wings, but i think datsyuk is the most exciting player to watch in the game. bar none.

great players or not, YOU mention BLIND. and then go on to name 2 players from your favourite team....

I don't think it's necessarily people "hating" on Sid so much as it is people giving credit to other players they love to watch play. I mean, the question was what players we feel "privileged" to have watched play and you chose the best player now and the second greatest player ever....both of whom happen to play for your favorite team. You're not exactly breaking new ground here or spurring any thoughtfulness on the blog. And given that this is a conversation thread on a message board, isn't that kind of the point? If you were on an ice cream message board would you list Vanilla and Chocolate as your two favorite flavors? I'd hope you'd have more creativity than that.....or else not even bother posting.
- TheGreatNumber8

i swear i didnt read this before i posted....

agreed 100%

modano and sakic are prob my all times.

coffey was before my time, but i love seeing highlights

Pavel Bure

Ovi, especially when he seemed to have a highlight real goal every week. Where everything was done with so much speed and power.

Even without the puck Datsyuk gets my undivided attention whenever he's on the ice, in 50 years of watching hockey no other players as hold such a grasp on my mind while watching games.

Tim Tebow

Fedorov may be elite talent but he's an ass wipe of a person. He wanted the captaincy from yzerman and held out in ,98 for what 20 some million. F him- Stevie y is that player for me. Been to a few hockey schools in Ottawa he attended.

Kings now:
Kopitar/Quick

Kings past:
Gretzky/Blake
- hiway39

Agreed... Current... KOPI/QUICK

Past... Gretzky/Lapperiere

Seeing that he has died several times and keeps playing...Patches hands down
- drexel

Haha actually I love watching grabo for the same reason. Every game he gets demolished and it seems to wake him up. He skates hard and fast with no regard for his safety. And that vacant expression on his face the whole time just makes it really funny to watch. IMO at least.

Tim Thomas's facebook page. You never know what that crazy man is going to say next.

Datsyuk is a magician with the puck the stuff he does is crazy. Crosby his vision an ability to make plays with somebody all over him his lower body strength is vastly overlooked. Malkin and Ovechkin are a joy to watch when they are playing to the caliber player they actually are but they are enraging when they arent. And of course stamkos I feel like every time he has the puck on his stick in the offensive zone you just expect it to end up in the net.

I saw Bobby Orr as a 15 year old playing for the Oshawa Generals and Dennis Potvin also as a 15 year old playing for the Ottawa 67's . During one game Bobby killed 1 min and 35 seconds of a penalty pretty much by himself. No one could take the puck away from him. At 15 , Dennis was a force as well , handing out bone crushing body checks and one hell of a shot from the point. Of course living in Edmonton for many of the glory years , Gretz , Coffey and Mess were unbelievable to watch as well.

Pavel Bure
- sbroads24

(frank)in' finally! Excellent choice.

John Tavares

Mighty13duck
- mighty13duck

Richard Park

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Marty Reasoner

[quote=ECHockey20]
He was my close second


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[quote=ECHockey20]
...Marty Reasoner

Ovechkin: I love the flare that he brings to the game. He's also so explosive that he makes you hold your breath every time he touches the puck or goes for a hit.

All time: living in Pittsburgh its either Lemieux or Coffey. When I was a kid I didn't pay much attention to the other teams, but in hindsight I think I would still pick these two.

Current honorable mentions: St Louis, Crosby/Malkin, Toews & Teemu.

(frank)in' finally! Excellent choice.
- chucktaylor

For all-time he should be in everyone's top 5. I was too young to watch him play live.

Homer current picks = Brown / Kopi / Quick

Homer past picks = Gretzky / Sandstrom / Deadmarsh


NHL fan current picks = Crosby / Malkin / Datsyuk

NHL fan past picks = Bure / Fedorov / Coffey / Jagr

Before my time or past their prime...

Savard / Howe / Orr