Un-Freakin'-Fair
I make a lot of boasts about the Sharks' 1-2 center punch with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, but let's face it -- two badass centers are much more common than two badass defensemen, let alone two of the best defensement of their generation. Just checking the box scores today, I saw this:
| Anaheim | 11:12, Andy McDonald 1 (power play) (Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer) |
I still haven't totally fathomed how unstoppable the Anaheim blueline will be. I mean, it's not like one's great at offense and one's great at defense -- they're both awesome at both ends of the game. Pronger's got reach, Niedermayer's got speed, but they're both so god damn effective, it just makes me shake my head.
And that's the ONLY props I'll give to the Ducks (at least on this blog) for now.
3 comments:
Schneider and Lidstrom are about the closest that come to my mind over the last decade, anyways.
Ohlund and Jovanovski were a good duo.
Chara and Redden were also impressive, and Phaneuf/Regher seem to be good mix of offensive and defensive.
But Pronger and Niedermayer are in a class all their own.
Scott Stevens and Niedermayer. MacInnis and Pronger. Leetch and Zubov. Blake and Foote. just a few that come to mind. that last post was very canada-centric!
Stevens and Foote were both defensively minded and didn't put up the points that Niedermayer/Pronger will. MacInnis is great but I don't see him as complete as Niedermayer. Leetch in his prime was up there, but I put Zubov a cut below Pronger or Niedermayer.
It's just my opinion, but I don't think we've seen a combo like this in ages.
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