As one of the Original Six NHL franchises, the Detroit Red Wings have been blessed with a plethora of superstars throughout the years, from Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, and Terry Sawchuk in the mid-20th century to the likes of Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, and Nicklas Lidstrom in more recent times. Detroit has always embraced foreign stars (see the “Russian Five” from the 1990s) and thus, it should come as no surprise that in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the latest generation of Red Wings was led by Pavel Datsyuk from Russia and Henrik Zetterberg of Sweden. Though each dealt with his fair share of injuries, the duo were among the most electrifying players in the league when fully healthy, and helped Detroit add to its Stanley Cup trophy case. With their stellar careers essentially overlapping, let us look back and ask:
Who was better – Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg?
Between the 1999-2000 and 2007-2008 NHL seasons, the legendary Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings won six Norris Trophies as the league’s best defenseman; during this stretch, the only other blueliners to take home the honors were Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues in 1999-2000 and Scott Niedermayer of the New Jersey Devils in 2003-2004. Both were outstanding players in their own right, Hall of Fame defensemen who dominated for well over a decade apiece, actually played together in Anaheim, and even won a Stanley Cup together. As among the best defensemen of their generation NOT named Nicklas Lidstrom and one-time teammates, this begs the question:
Who was better – Scott Niedermayer or Chris Pronger?
Everyone knows that Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,857 career points; almost 1,000 career points behind him at #2 and #3 overall are Jaromir Jagr (1,921) and Mark Messier (1,887), respectively. Both played alongside transcendent players during the first halves of their careers and were arguably Robin rather than Batman (Jagr with Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh, Messier with Gretzky in Edmonton), but are nevertheless all-time legends in their own right – between the 1,800+ career points each, Ross Trophies, Hart Trophies, Pearson Awards, captaincies, and Stanley Cup titles, etc., the question is:
The late 1990s through early 2010s saw perhaps the greatest generation of Swedish hockey talent in the country’s history – led by the likes of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, and forwards Peter Forsberg and the Sedin twins, this culminated in a hockey gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. That historic team was captained by Mats Sundin, with Daniel Alfredsson and Lidstrom serving as alternate captains; speaking to each player’s skill and leadership, Sundin and Alfredsson both spent the majority of their NHL careers playing in Canada and serving as longtime captains for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, respectively. Given each player’s parallel success in the NHL and on the international stage, this leads to the question:
Who was better – Daniel Alfredsson or Mats Sundin?
