He's definitely in the top handful of HOCKEY players on the planet; may not have the most dazzling offensive skills in the world, but he is incredible on both sides of the puck and a tenacious sonnuvabitch to boot.
Let's get the conversation started since this has been a debated topic. Is Jonathan Toews the best player in the world?
http://thehockeywriters.com/jonathan...hockey-player/
He's definitely in the top handful of HOCKEY players on the planet; may not have the most dazzling offensive skills in the world, but he is incredible on both sides of the puck and a tenacious sonnuvabitch to boot.
MounD - Double Threat FHL (18-19 champs)
10-Team Yahoo daily H2H Dynasty
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 7Bn (IR)
G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK // W, Sv, GAA, Sv%, SHO
C: Bergeron, Barkov, Aho, Point, Kadri
LW: Marchand, Landeskog, Hertl, Marchessault
RW: Stamkos, Tarasenko, Laine, Palmieri
D: Carlson, Letang, Dumba, Weber, Pietrangelo, Ristolainen, Byfuglien*
G: Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lehner, Greiss-Varlamov
Farm: Turcotte, Cozens, Denisenko, Newhook // Sandin, Jokiharju, Dobson, K'Andre // Shesterkin
I think the consensus that his scoring is lacking may be a tad misleading. I agree that he's not a prolific goal scorer, but if you look at his career numbers, he's thrown up consistent point totals. Excluding the lockout-shortened season last year, he's scored at least 50 points in every year in the league. Even last year, he was only 2 points shy of 50. Furthermore, he's never been shy of 20 goals in a season. When you take that type of production with his defense, faceoff skills, and other intangibles, it makes it even more impressive.
Lots of great players in thegame today, but with Crosby around, the convesation really ends there.
I was specifically trying to say that his offense was "incredible," but I guess my response was a bit ambiguous. I think if he were a player who focused more on the offensive side of his game, and not playing such a focused defensive game, I think he could be one of the best offensive players in the NHL. Basically, I'm pretty much agreeing with you on the point that Toews is right up there with the best hockey players in the world.
MounD - Double Threat FHL (18-19 champs)
10-Team Yahoo daily H2H Dynasty
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 7Bn (IR)
G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK // W, Sv, GAA, Sv%, SHO
C: Bergeron, Barkov, Aho, Point, Kadri
LW: Marchand, Landeskog, Hertl, Marchessault
RW: Stamkos, Tarasenko, Laine, Palmieri
D: Carlson, Letang, Dumba, Weber, Pietrangelo, Ristolainen, Byfuglien*
G: Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lehner, Greiss-Varlamov
Farm: Turcotte, Cozens, Denisenko, Newhook // Sandin, Jokiharju, Dobson, K'Andre // Shesterkin
No he's not. I know he brings a lot more than just offence to the table so do a lot of other players. Toews has never finished in the top 10 in scoring. To me that is a big knock on calling him the best player in the world. I would rank Crosby, Malkin and Stamkos easily over him. And then there's a handful of others that you can put a really good argument for being better.
I can't promise I'll try but I'll try to try.
I can't promise I'll try but I'll try to try.
I read that article last night and really came away unimpressed. The author used a lot of shortcuts IMO.
What kind of argument is that? Pacioretty is clearly a better goal scorer than Claude Giroux. Giroux also has more points than Pacioretty. In this case, Crosby has more goals & assists than Toews so I'm gonna go on a limb and say that statistics shows a lot.If stacking points is the standard, Crosby runs away in the comparison hands down. But there’s a reason why scoring isn’t the lone standard – because it doesn’t reveal the entire player.For instance, Montreal’s Max Pacioretty is 5th in the NHL with 30 goals, seven more than Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux. No one, however, would ever make the mistake of elevating Pacioretty, a fine player, ahead of Giroux
This argument is fallacious. Toews might have won the Conn Smyth in 2010 but he had only 3 pts ( 3G in 6GP) in the finals. To say Crosby didn't lift the Pens to the top but Toews did isn't really accurate.While Crosby was the youngest captain to win a Stanley Cup, leading Pittsburgh to a Game Seven against Detroit in 2009, he was on the ice for only 32 seconds of the 3rd period. Although Crosby tallied 31 points throughout the playoffs that year, it was Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot’s contributions that lifted Pittsburgh to the top
Small sample size much?Not only did Toews outshine Crosby with two goals and assist in Chicago’s 5-1 throttling of Pittsburgh, he did so in conditions not conducive for a normal hockey game.
I'd say that 13 pts behind in one game more is being far behind. I mean, Toews only has 14 more skaters to surpass to reach Crosby in points....Sure, Crosby leads the league in points with 84 in 63 games. But not only is Toews not too far behind with 61 in 64 games, it’s Toews’ defense that adds to his claim to best player in the world
Jonathan Toews is a great player, arguably a top5 player in the league. But he is not the best player in the world.
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You're really splitting hairs with the Pacioretty to Giroux argument. The comparison example was to show that just because one may have better stats in one way or another, it doesn't necessarily mean it's the tell all in determining who's better. Crosby leads the league in points and got his due praise for that. It's completely misleading on your behalf by illustrating my argument in the manner that I'm calling Crosby chopped liver.
While there's no argument from me that Crosby's contributions were a major factor in them reaching the Cup Finals in 09, as well as a Game 7, you CANNOT say they won Game 7 because of Crosby. That's laughable. And if Malkin and Talbot don't show up, Toews has 2 Cups to Sid's 0. I stand by my commentary.
There's no doubt that a single head-to-head match up between is a small sample size, but you cannot ignore the results. Toews absolutely dominated that game while Crosby was only found diving. Now I know the best can't be the best every day, but like I said, that game was embarrassing to your argument.
Toews' point totals were used to show A.) Crosby's ability and legitimacy in the conversation, and B.) That Toews isn't just a "defensive forward." It's to show that he can still score while maintaining the complete package.
I understand that you cannot please everyone, but facts are facts. Toews has more championships with equal talent around him, and has never been swept in the playoffs. If that's a shortcut, I'll take it every time.