Is it just because he was a fan favourite? Is it because he played his whole career with one team?

l ''get'' the whole, ''he was my favourite'' but why do people get clouded into thinking he was one of the greatest ever? Why the need to defend him, he was what he was!!
It seems alot of people have him in their top 10 players of all time and think he was the greatest captain ever.
Truth be known, Chris Chelios was/is a higher caliber player than Yzerman throughout his career IMO.

Somebody help me out here........


''You''...........sorry to pick on your team.....l just legitimately wanna know why people on this site like to rank him higher than he should be.
Johnny..good observation. Tool.
IanArm......no argument here......great player.........HOF player.......up there around the top 100 of all time.
Jen.......l agree, he was classy and a dang good leader. l think he had to hang them up with those knees.
Certainly WAY classier than Chelios........but l just use Chelios as an example because he was/is a future HOFer who plays with the Wings.
Cattledog......Chris Chelios has had a better career than Steve Yzerman had!! l do not say it for shock value....people seem to forget that there were years where Chelios was the best Dman in the NHL. l think the majority would agree that Chelios has had a better career. (3 Norris trophies, 1000 points, never missed the playoffs, +351, international standout)
Cattledog....also you say...''Was he a Hull or a Messier or even a Leetch? No, but deserves his reputation.''

Well my friend, l have Chelios over Leetch so there is a conundrum.
Jacoby....NO, l do not criticize Yzerman for anything, he was a favourite of mine as well.....not all players need to be physical......Gretzky is arguably the best player ever and wasn't.......l WAS NOT criticizing Stevie Y.......l was just saying that, for me, l prefer my captains to be able to tango.
Joe........the Hockey News Top 100 of all time......seems to support my theory.

Yzerman is 78th
Chelios is 40th



BTW, Lindros is 54th.

......but what do they know.......it was-

The judges involved in making the selections for this list include writers, journalists, and broadcasters (Don Cherry, John Davidson, Milt Dunnell, Stan Fischler, Dick Irvin, Brian McFarlane, Bob McKenzie, Jim Matheson, Harry Neale, Frank Orr), as well as coaches, referees, general managers, and former players (Al Arbour, Scotty Bowman, Emile Francis, Howie Meeker, Scotty Morrison, Roger Neilson, Bud Poile, Sam Pollock, Marcel Pronovost, Billy Reay, Glen Sather, Harry Sinden, Red Storey).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Top_100_NHL_Players_of_All-Time
Joe..the post expansion voters were The voters included Brian Burke, Jacques Demers, Harry Neale, Jim Rutherford, Kevin-Paul Dupont (Boston Globe), Al Strachan (FOXSports.com), Mike Brophy (The Hockey News), and Jason Kay (The Hockey News), Ken Campbell and Adam Proteau.

Never heard of a couple of them......beyond that, Al Strachan? Harry Neale? Ugh.

Scotty Bowman though......there is an opinion l could value.
Joe.....could you provide me their list?
Joe......then that begs the Q, who the hell is Ken (?) Campbell??

l know a Hockey News contributor.......nobody l have heard of. Same with this Poutreu guy. Never heard of him.
Daven........do not think that is a wise comparison eh? Did you read all of my question?
Do you profess to be smarter than the likes of Scotty Bowman and Red Storey?


Noah.......Good comparison.
Does ANYBODY have Dale Hawerchuk in the top 100? He had a better point per game average......they played in points eras......

DAVEN........Ron Francis is 4th on the all-time list..........is he a top 100 player of all time even? NO. Point proven.
You have to be a Red Wings fan to understand......what does that even mean?
Cdn fan.....l have him as being better than Hawerchuk............but the Sakic/Francisexamples are PERFECT.......though l have Sakic a little above him.......a slight notch.

HE IS OLD AND NEEDS TO QUIT

l agree with u on some terms. Many people just like him because he is a crowd pleaser & a marketable player. He was presented in the right way making him likable & such. Now that’s not saying he isn’t one of the greatest to ever play, but he isn’t one of the top ten best players of all time. And really how can u only pick ten of the greatest? The game changes so much over time that players r changing with it. He was a great captain & was the captain for the wings a long time. He’s a good leader & a playmaker, but l do see how many people raise him up to this new level of playing. He was great at what he did & he had things that stood out about him but no all aspects of his game.

l get what you’re saying he’s that kind of play everyone likes & just because he’s a nice guy doesn’t make him one of the best. He was a good player though & deserves credit for his skills.


AND yes, l also agree top 100 is reasonable & best fit.

He is classier than Chelios by lightyears, a dang good C, and from what l heard he was very fan friendly. Being a nice guy to the fans gets you all kinds of respect. Paul Kariya was a jerk to the fans.

Stevie Y knew when to hang 'em up Chelios keeps going but does not have it anymore. He should've quit last season. He got benched during the Finals! That should have been a clue.

Okay, l can buy that people think Yzerman is over-rated but saying that Chelios is a ''higher caliber'' player than Steve Yzerman is crazy.

BTW, l am no Red Wings fan and l do not dislike either Yzerman or Chelios but you making that comparison has got to be for shock value. Yzerman has so many intangibles that 97% of the players in the league will never have. He deserves his reputation. Was he a Hull or a Messier or even a Leetch? No, but deserves his reputation.

Yzerman is early numbers from the late 80 is to early 90 is surprised me. He was a preinal 50 goal scorer when the Wings were bad (or at least not great)

The longevity has something to do w/it. People have more memories bbut people gotta face it, he was not the reason detroit won 3 cups. He was important yeah but look at the players they had on those teams

Lidstrom
The Russian 5
Lapointe
Shanahan
Hull
Robataille
Chelios
Osgood
Vernon
Hasek

Those teams were stocked

Still l know u critize Stevie Y for not being a guy who would play physical & stand up for him teamates. Still his work ethic & the respect he commanded in the lockeroom were reasons he deserved the ''C''

Stevie Y also developed into a better 2 way player late in his career (Selke in 99)

Is he somewhat overated yes but was he one of the greats: yes

Going back to why he was extremley popular he was one of the most marketed players in his career & just playing in Detroit a big city & hockey town helped his case

It was 41 years between Cups for the Wings, l should know because l had front row seats in my living room to watch him and his team sweep the Orange & Black..He was the Captain of the last dynasty in hockey.In ''The Hockey News'' Steve was ranked 6th in the Top 60 since the Expansion Era and he is a sure fire Hall of Famer.Almost 700 goals does not hurt.

And no,not a favorite of mine.

l do not know of any of my hockey fan friends that ''overrate'' or think that Steve Yzerman is ''overrated''.

Yzerman was a GREAT player. l would think you are STUPID if you were a Red Wing fan and did not have Yzerman on the top of your most beloved player list. If you are not a Red Wing Fan, l could see him being in your top twenty.

Yzerman was a sensational scorer who became a more well-rounded player as he got older, and started leading his team to titles. Nothing overrated about that.

In terms of one of the top ten best ever. well many people place him there because he IS in the top 10 of best ever (points). 6th actually.

l am not a Wings fan but he was a great player. l am also not sure comparing Chelios to Yzerman is the best approach. Maybe longevity u have a point but hard to compare a defenceman to a forward. with the exception of a select few in NHL history. Cheli was good but career 970pts. versus Yzerman is career 1755. no contest. As far as other facets of the game sure Cheli was a tougher guy & had to deal with a more physical style of play so yeah l give the thumbs up to Cheli there & his tenure makes that part all that much more impressive.

In the end. l can honestly say l have only a handful of moments where Cheli had me saying ''Holy $h!t did u see that play he made'' but l have about that phrase ten fold for what l had witnessed Yzerman do. Personally, & from all the years l watched him play here in Chicago. kinda felt Cheli was overrated in a few ways. His chili was overrated too.LOL (for those that had been to his restaurant Cheli is Chili u know what l mean)

l know. Players like him, Bourque, Trottier, Messier, Potvin and all were great players but they get really overhyped in my opinion.

People can think what they want. Not everyone can know all like I.

l always paralleled Yzerman to Jackie Slater of the Rams. He spent 20 or so years playing on the same NFL team, and based on his longevity, he somehow became legendary in the NFL.

If one were to base legends upon length of career, why no mention of Phil Housley, Teppo Numminen, etc?

l guess you have to be a Red Wings fan to understand.

But your right, and everyone else is wrong. l know how it goes.

l think Stevie Y was a great player.. definitely one of the greatest Captains. And l agree being so loyal and great to the fans made him even greater. But l think every Redwings fan should have him up for at least top ten. l know he is up there for me.definitely for top 20.

Steve Yzerman overrated? You have to be kidding me.

Bob, did not anyone ever tell u not to discuss religion, politics & Steve Yzerman in mixed company?

l had not really given it much thought prior to ur question earlier today. l consider myself a neutral party in this debate & l have to side with Bob on this. He was a great hockey player, deserves to be in the HOF.

For those who disagree & think Yzerman is in the top 10 of all time, look at the list Bob provided & tell me who u would bump from the list to put Yzerman in?
1) Wayne Gretzky
2) Bobby Orr
3) Gordie Howe
4) Mario Lemieux
5) Maurice Richard
6) Doug Harvey
7) Jean Beliveau
8) Bobby Hull
9) Terry Sawchuk
10) Eddie Shore

No-one has provided any valid argument to rebut what Bob is saying here.

Actually, if anything Yzerman was underrated, not overrated. He was one of the greats, but because he played primarily in the Gretzky-Lemieux-Messier era, he was essentially shutout of most individual accolades. Other than Wayne & Mario, Messier won two Harts & Brett Hull won it when he scored 80+ goals. l was convinced he would win it in 1994 after six straight 100-point seasons from 88-93, but he got hurt in 1994 & Fedorov won it instead. He rarely was named an all-star due to the aforementioned Wayne & Mario. l think he kept getting declined by Team Canada. If my memory is correct, after Gretzky & Lemieux: he is the only player who has ever scored both 60 goals & 90 assists; one of two to score more than 150 points (Esposito); one of only a handful of other players ever had 90 assists (Orr, Oates, Francis, Gilmour). Add that to his Stanley Cups, his Conn Smythe, his longevity, his leadership & his resilience (especially playing through pain), he is absolutely one of the greatest.

Hockey news Top 100 was published in early 1998, so it was before Yzerman is second Cup, & before his Conn Smythe. It is also possible or even likely that it was written before his first Cup ( l have no idea how long it takes to publish or write a book, but l would guess it is not just a matter of a few months), so three Stanley Cups & a Conn Smythe would surely move Stevie up the list past Lindros, Perreault & Dionne.

In short, Yzerman is absolutely one of the greatest ever. l do not know about top 10, because 10 is a pretty short list. l think u could reasonably put him in the top 20 or 30 though.

l do not think that Yzerman is overrated. True, l will put him in my top ten all time & he is easily my favorite player. But l think that if he played in a different time period, then he would have gotten a lot more hardware. Keep in mind that he played during the same time that Gretzky, Roy, Lemieux, Messier, & more played. l will agree with u that us Wings fans do some pretty serious worshiping of him but u have to think of all the things he did for Detroit. Three Cups, 20 seasons as the Captain, brought them out of the Dead Wing Era, etc. Overall, as a biased Wings fan, l would say that Yzerman is one of the top 10. As a hockey fan though l would put him in the top 50.

i'd love to answer this question before you award Best Answer to one of these contributors. l think the answer is actually pretty simple. l finally got back online just now. your Avery question was the last l saw in the forum. been busy tonight. but great question, and i'm about to go to bed, but i'd love to read all the details tomorrow, and throw in my two cents. gotta get to bed. good night all.

l hope u wore ur armour for this one. Yzerman was a great player but certainly not top 10 of all time. l would have a tough time with top 10 of his era. l rank him with guys like Sakic & Ron Francis, great consistent performers but not guys who really scared me.

In his era 80 is 90 is l would have to put these guys ahead of him, in no particular order

Gretzky
lemieux
Bourque
Hawerchuk
Chelios
Lafontaine
Roy
Brodeur
Housely maybe
Brett Hull- he certainly scared me more.

The guy is barely top 10 in his era so yes l would agree- great player but overrated on longevity & all his time with one team.

l think what Wings fan meant is the fact that Yzerman has been the face of the Red Wings franchise since 1983. He played a big factor in turning us around, & u can not deny that he was a great player. Yes, he was no Gretzky, or Lemieux in the stats, but his leadership, sportsmanship, & determination r three qualities that Yzerman simply surpassed as captain. And if u want, l can argue with him being the best leader/captain of all time..the guy had a heart of a champion. But if you're talking just simply statistics l agree with you, but when it comes down to heart, & determination, Yzerman is number one on my all time list. Thats probably why most Wings have his name stitched on the back of their hockey hearts.