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To play for two decades or more in the NHL is an incredible accomplishment; to do so at an extremely high level is the stuff of legends. Throughout the league’s history, two legendary defensemen who exemplify this rare combination of longevity and excellence are Chris Chelios and Larry Robinson – the former was a hard-nosed defender who set both regular season and playoff records for games played, while the latter was blessed with prototypical size and has the highest career +/- rating ever as part of the defensive anchor of the legendary Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1970s. Both eventually skated their way into the Hockey Hall of Fame and are among the greatest blueliners in league history, thus evoking the comparison:
Who was better – Chris Chelios or Larry Robinson?
The Beginning
Interestingly, both Chelios and Robinson began their careers with Montreal, even sharing the blueline together during Chelios’ formative years in the mid-1980s.
A native of Chicago, Chelios spent his early years in Illinois before moving to California while in high school. Given Southern California was not exactly a hockey hotbed, the only college hockey scholarship he got was to what was then known as United States International University; however, he struggled and was cut from the team, subsequently trying his luck in Canada’s junior leagues. Eventually, after a growth spurt, he made his mark with the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and was drafted 40th overall in the second round of the 1981 NHL Entry Draft by the Canadiens. Before making the jump to the NHL, Chelios spent two seasons playing college hockey for the University of Wisconsin, where he won a national title in 1983. Finally, after playing 12 games with Montreal in 1983-1984, he played his first full NHL season 1984-1985, tallying 9 goals and 55 assists for 64 points and a +10 +/- rating to finish second for the Calder Trophy as top rookie behind Mario Lemieux.
In contrast, Robinson had a more conventional path to the NHL – growing up in Ontario, Canada, he played Junior A hockey with the Brockville Braves of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before being drafted 20th overall in the second round of the 1971 NHL Entry Draft by Montreal. Following a couple of seasons with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the American Hockey League (AHL), Robinson made his NHL debut with the Canadiens in 1972-1973, playing 36 games and putting up 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points with a +3 +/- rating.
Career Comparison
Throughout their respective careers, Chelio and Robinson were elite defensemen for well over a decade plus, with each player winning multiple Norris Trophies as the league’s top defender.
As a member of the Canadiens, Chelios’ scoring output dipped after his rookie season, but he remained a steady defensive presence for a number of years before elevating his game to the next level. Following a sixth-place Norris Trophy showing in 1987-1988 (a career-high 20 goals plus 41 assists for 61 points and a +14 +/- rating), he earned his first Norris the next year on the strength of 15 goals and career-highs of 58 assists and 73 points, good for a +35 +/- rating and also a fifth-place Hart Trophy finish. However, despite being a co-captain and again placing top-10 for the Norris the next year, he was subsequently traded in 1990 to the Chicago Blackhawks with a second-round pick for fellow Hall of Famer Denis Savard after seven years in Montreal (perhaps partially due to unsavory off-the-ice behavior).
With a fresh start in Chicago, Chelios remained an elite blueliner, finishing third for the Norris in 1990-1991 with 12 goals and 52 assists for 64 points with a +23 +/- rating; in fact, he would have top-10 showings in each of his first seven years with the Blackhawks, punctuated by his second and third Norris Trophies. Notably, in 1992-1993, he won his second Norris by matching his scoring totals from his first win (15 goals and 58 assists for 73 points with a +14 +/- rating) and was again top-five in MVP voting. After playing in the Swiss National League A for EHC Biel during the 1994-1995 lockout, Chelios was named team captain for the 1995-1996 season and responded by earning his third and final Norris with another 70+ point campaign and top-10 Hart finish: 14 goals and 58 assists for 72 points and a +25 +/- rating. A couple of years later though, as the Blackhawks were in the midst of a rebuild, Chelios shocked Chicago fans by waiving his no-trade clause and accepting a trade to the Detroit Red Wings (another Original Six franchise and a hated rival team), with Anders Eriksson and two first-round draft picks going in the other direction.
Already in his late 30s, Chelios continued to perform at a high level – unlike in Chicago (where he was “The Man” on defense), his burden was alleviated in Detroit by the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom. In his first full season with the Red Wings, Chelios was sixth for the Norris Trophy in his own right with 3 goals and 31 assists for 34 points and a career-best +48 +/- rating. The apex of his Red Wings tenure came at age 40 in 2001-2002, as he posted 39 points (6 goals and 33 assists) with a league-leading +40 +/- rating to finish as Norris runner-up to teammate Lidstrom. Ultimately, Chelios would play with the Red Wings until the age of 47 in 2008-2009 (he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2006-2007), becoming the second-oldest player ever in NHL history behind only the legendary Gordie Howe; following a brief seven-game stint with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009-2010, the 48-year-old Chelios finally retired from the NHL, having set an NHL defenseman record with 1,651 regular season games played.
Meanwhile, Robinson quickly improved to 61 points (14 goals and 47 assists) with a +60 +/- rating in 1974-1975 before bursting out in 1976-1977 with one of the greatest seasons ever for a defenseman: 19 goals and 66 assists for 85 points (all career-highs) with a staggering +120 +/- rating, the second-highest single-season mark in NHL history (behind only Bobby Orr’s +124 in 1970-1971), thus winning the Norris Trophy and finishing fifth for the Hart. This would mark the first of six consecutive years finishing top-five for the Norris with at least 50 points and no worse than a +38 +/- rating each year. As an encore, he posted 13 goals and 52 assists for 65 points and a +71 +/- rating the next year, again finishing top-10 for both the Norris (third) and Hart (10th) Trophies. After finishing as Norris runner-up to Denis Potvin in 1978-1979 (16 goals and 45 assists for 61 points and a +49 +/- rating), Robinson won his second and final Norris Trophy in 1979-1980 on the strength of 75 points (14 goals and 61 assists) and a +38 +/- rating, also good for a fifth-place Hart showing.
As the 1980s rolled around, Robinson remained a highly effective blueliner, but no longer the same dominant player of the 1970s, generally dipping to the 40-50 point range; as mentioned, he and Chelios played together with Montreal for a half-dozen years during the decade. At age 34, Robinson showed a glimpse of his former greatness by tallying 19 goals and 63 assists for 82 points with a +25 +/- rating in 1985-1986, placing third for the Norris Trophy and 10th for the Hart Trophy. The next season (1986-1987) would be his last great campaign: 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points and a +24 +/- rating, good for fourth-place for the Norris.
While many fans expected Robinson to remain a Canadien for life, he surprisingly signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings in 1989-1990; his first season in sunny California was decent (7 goals and 32 assists for 39 points and a +7 +/- rating). Nevertheless, Robinson was more of a steady veteran presence in his three seasons with the Kings, retiring after the 1991-1992 season at age 40; overall, his +722 career +/- rating remains by far the highest in NHL history (next highest is the aforementioned Orr at +582, followed by another all-time defenseman in Ray Bourque at +527).
Given his all-time longevity, Chelios has a substantial advantage over Robinson in terms of both seasons and games played (six additional seasons and more than 250 extra games). Nevertheless, their career scoring totals are very similar, with Chelios tallying more assists, but Robinson scoring more goals and total points with a much higher career +/- rating; on a per-game basis, the latter has the edge at 0.69 vs. 0.57 points per game. On the awards and accolades front, Chelios holds slight advantages in both All-Star Game selections (11x vs. 10x) and Norris Trophies (3x vs. 2x), with both players making it into the Hall of Fame in their very first year of eligibility (Robinson in 1995, followed by Chelios in 2013).
Regular Season Statistics
| Chris Chelios | Player | Larry Robinson |
| 26 (1983-2010) | Seasons | 20 (1972-1992) |
| 1,651 | Games Played | 1,384 |
| 185 | Goals | 208 |
| 763 | Assists | 750 |
| 948 | Points | 958 |
| +351 | +/- | +722 |
| 11x | All-Star Games | 10x |
| – | Hart Trophies | – |
| 3x | Norris Trophies | 2x |
| 3x | Stanley Cups | 6x |
| – | Conn Smythes | 1x |
| 1x Messier | Other Awards | – |
| 2013 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1995 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
In addition to their all-time regular season greatness, Chelios and Robinson also set records with their annual playoff appearances; both were part of multiple Stanley Cup-winning teams, with the latter being honored once as the postseason’s top performer.
Chelios holds the NHL records for most career playoff appearances (24) and playoff games (266), culminating in three Stanley Cup titles, once with the Canadiens early in his career and twice with the Red Wings in the twilight of his career post-40:
- 1985-1986: the Patrick Roy-backstopped Canadiens defeated the Calgary Flames in five games, with Chelios contributing 2 goals and 9 assists for 11 points and a +3 +/- rating in the playoffs
- 2001-2002: led the postseason with a +15 +/- rating, along with 14 points (1 goal and 13 assists) as the Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes in five games
- 2007-2008: Detroit beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, though Chelios did not tally a single playoff point
Similarly, Robinson’s 20 consecutive playoff appearances (i.e. every season of his career) are tied for most all-time with Chelios’ Red Wings teammate Lidstrom. As part of a Canadiens dynasty that included fellow Hall of Famers like Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, etc., he won five titles in the 1970s, including four straight from 1975-1976 to 1977-1978. In particularly, during the 1977-1978 playoffs, Robinson had playoff-highs of 21 points (including 4 goals and a league-leading 17 assists) and a +21 +/- rating to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP as Montreal beat the Boston Bruins in six games to win the Cup; later on, he was part of the same 1985-1986 team as Chelio that won the championship.
On the international stage, Chelios was a stalwart for Team USA – notably, he captained the team at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Winter Olympics and earned a silver medal in Salt lake City in 2002 along with a gold medal at the 1996 World Cup and a silver medal at the 1991 Canada Cup. Though Robinson never competed in the Olympics, he did take home two golds and a silver for his native Canada at various Canada Cups.
Playoff Statistics
| Chris Chelios | Player | Larry Robinson |
| 266 | Games Played | 227 |
| 31 | Goals | 28 |
| 113 | Assists | 116 |
| 144 | Points | 144 |
| +48 | +/- | +100 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Chelios and Robinson each played in the NHL into their 40s (and nearly into his 50s for Chelios), with each eventually becoming a veteran presence following nearly two decades of greatness. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete, though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Chris Chelios | Player | Larry Robinson |
| 1987-1989, 1990-1997, 2001-2002 | Decade of Dominance | 1974-1975, 1976-1983, 1985-1987 |
| 748 | Games Played | 731 |
| 122 | Goals | 146 |
| 462 | Assists | 505 |
| 584 | Points | 651 |
| +220 | +/- | +522 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Normalizing for Chelios’ unparalleled career length, the two defensemen are relatively evenly matched across their decades of dominance; nevertheless, Robinson was generally a little bit better in every category on both an absolute and relative basis (0.89 vs. 0.78 points per game).
My Thoughts
On the x-y axis of longevity and greatness, both Chris Chelios and Larry Robinson score highly on both attributes; in fact, given the physicality and stamina required, I think it is highly unlikely we will ever see a defenseman (or any other player) play as long in the NHL as Chelios did; a true warrior on the ice, he was one of the elite blueliners of his era and more broadly, ranks among the top American-born players in league history. Having said that, even with Chelios’ three Norris Trophies, I do believe Robinson was just a little bit better, all things considered – a better skater with a slightly more offensive game (more total points and a higher points-per-game average), a higher peak (e.g. his streak of greatness during the 1970s), and an integral part of more title teams (of course, there will always be the “chicken or egg” argument, i.e. was Robinson lucky to be on great teams or did his presence make those teams great?). Overall, I rank both players among the top 10 defensemen ever, with Robinson just a few notches higher in the pecking order.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Larry Robinson
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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