Hockey's Most Loved Player

[serge 904]

With Steve Yzerman in the news today, its hard to find anyone say anything bad about him..Is he the most loved player of all time.?We all know people either love or hate Crosby, Ovechkin..Even Gretzky and Lemieux in the day had their haters..A lot of great players are hated for many reasons..Mainly because they are good..When i think of Stevie Y, I think of a player that is loved by fans and opposition fans...In my time Stevie Y and Joe Sakic fit this category..Is there anyone in todays NHL that fits this bill...??

[grocery_mony 8]

Hard to hate the Sedins for what they do on the ice and for their philanthropy off the ice. Nobody really has nothing bad to say about them.

[ajs510 122]

In my time Stevie Y and Joe Sakic fit this category..

I would add Messier to this list, hard to find players in the league today who is respected and loved by fans of teams other than their own and who are disliked by essentially no one. Mike Modano is on the list for active guys (or at least, played the past season). Jonathan Toews is a guy no one ever has anything but great things to say about, he's probably destined for this category if he isn't already in it. It's a hard group to crack.

[Speed Limit 0]

Hard to hate the Sedins for what they do on the ice and for their philanthropy off the ice. Nobody really has nothing bad to say about them.

lol get out of here with this. People don't say anything bad about them except calling them robots without personalities. They both are way too far away from the public eye to be hockey's most loved player(s).

[digitalmonkey 929]

I've heard some negative things about both Yzerman and Messier, but it had to do with autograph experiences.

[FCP Bob 1,312]

I've heard some negative things about both Yzerman and Messier, but it had to do with autograph experiences.

I'm sure lots of people in Vancouver have negative things to say about Messier's play when he was there.

[grocery_mony 8]

Yea Messier is king douche in Vancouver. Not only for his play but some of his off the ice antics aswell.

[grocery_mony 8]

lol get out of here with this. People don't say anything bad about them except calling them robots without personalities. They both are way too far away from the public eye to be hockey's most loved player(s).

Your right, I was more going for the players who arent hated. Pretty much everyone who doesnt play for your team is hated but other teams players and fans dont seem to have a bad thing to say about them. OV had an oppurtunity to be such a player if he wasnt so dirty.

[Zach6668 513]

Francis, Sakic, Yzerman, Shanny, off the top of my head.

[mrdannyg 274]

Francis, Sakic, Yzerman, Shanny, off the top of my head.

Very good list. Brind'Amour? Though he's not in the same league as those guys.I have always hated Messier. Just seemed like a pompous douche. I didn't watch his best playing seasons, so as far as I could tell he was a star for his 'intangibles'...which is a good way to piss me off.Toews is a good one.

[00Lenny 0]

Very good list. Brind'Amour? Though he's not in the same league as those guys.I have always hated Messier. Just seemed like a pompous douche. I didn't watch his best playing seasons, so as far as I could tell he was a star for his 'intangibles'...which is a good way to piss me off.Toews is a good one.

Brind'Amour is a solid choice, and I'd throw Linden and Lidstrom out there as well.And for a little controversy, Sundin?

[Speed Limit 0]

Ray Bourque when he was lifting the cup.-ray

[Zach6668 513]

Ray Bourque is a good one.I guess Lidstrom, I'm so/so on him, but probably because I hate the Wings now.I dunno about Brindy. I wouldn't put him in the same class of lovedness as my original list.Linden is solid too, but he was more of a locally loved guy than anything else. Maybe he fits into the Brindy category.Notice everyone we're talking about now is recently retired, or just about to retire. We won't have a decent assessment of the current guys for a while, I'd imagine. For the same reasons that Yzerman was criticized early on in his career, the current core of young guys have to get through the maturing process, then they'll be able to forge a legacy like the aformentioned guys.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

Im not sure I get the exact topic here. Is it loved by the public? Teammates? League wide respect?Yzerman, Francis, Sundin I get.I dont see it in Messier at all, I thought he was disliked by quite a few in the Gretzky mold. (a victim of his success)Even by some teammates, esp during Van years.Even Yzerman....many believed he was selfish and a hotdog til Bowman "fixed" him as has been said on here a few times.Im a homer, but good luck finding anything negative ever said about Ron Francis. Every team loved him, he was a leader pretty much everywhere he went, I imagine the whole league respected his game and he did a lot in the community/for charity. He'd win this award in my eyes hands down, and also because he was one of the best ever in the NHL.As to Zachs point of these guys being the older guys....I think the attention the guys that play today get will kill the reputations. Anyone ever gonna put Kane in this spot now?

[Zach6668 513]

Yeah, I'm totally down for the Francis love. What a human.

[00Lenny 0]

Kane won't ever be making any of my "well-liked lists", and that's just because of the cabbie-punching incident. Tough to pick the youngsters though because they've had less time to shape their images than guys like Francis/Yzerman, and how about Ray Bourque?

[JubilantLankyLad 1,957]

They don't call him Mr Hockey for nothing.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

Kane won't ever be making any of my "well-liked lists", and that's just because of the cabbie-punching incident. Tough to pick the youngsters though because they've had less time to shape their images than guys like Francis/Yzerman, and how about Ray Bourque?

I agree, but the point was if Kane played in the 80's, maybe we never hear about that incident, or see the pics of him bare chested.(not that I really cared about that, but it is a good example of the kinda thing you never saw before, and that didnt necessarily mean it didnt happen)I saw Gretzky in what was possibly a Tiger-esque type situation once. I remember being so naively shocked.

[Zach6668 513]

Exactly!This is why Messier doesn't make the list:

[mrdannyg 274]

Shane Doan!

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

Exactly!This is why Messier doesn't make the list:

I know Gary Coleman was like 63 when that picture was taken, but he really shouldnt be touching him there, should he?

[grocery_mony 8]

I know Gary Coleman was like 63 when that picture was taken, but he really shouldnt be touching him there, should he?

Thats what Bure said.

[grocery_mony 8]

Iginla? I know I respect the hell out of the guy and he plays for my teams biggest rival.

[doox 15]

Sakic was my first choice when I saw this thread, but Francis deserves to be on here as well. I think it's about impossible to put a currently-playing NHL player on here, although Sakic isn't far removed...which makes it even more impressive that people should consider him. I'd disagree on a personal level about the Borque selection though, since it irks me that people celebrate him leaving the team he was synonomous with to be a mercenary for a Cup. I'd consider him more if he stayed a Bruin.

[MapleLeafs 142]

In terms of today's players who are good on and off the ice, I'd say the closest thing out there is Pavel Datsyuk.Honourable mention to Tomas Kaberle, Paul Kariya and Brad Richards.