PLayer who best represents your franchise

Every NHL franchise has particular players that they build their team around. Maybe that player is the best defenceman, or the top scorer, or maybe they’re the best attitude in the dressing room. However, there’s also the question, of which player best personifies a franchise.

Take my team, the Detroit Red Wings, for example. Some of the players that have worn the winged wheel were, or are, fantastically gifted players, and you only need to look at the rafters to be reminded of some of the greatest Detroit players. Sawchuk, Delvecchio, Abel, Howe, Yzerman, Lindsay, all of these were exceptional players, of this there is no doubt, but do they personify the Detroit Red Wings franchise?

Howe was fiercely competitive, and had a reputation for his use of the elbows. He would also fight and was often victories, despite being a relatively small player. His goalscoring record is incredible, and he was respected wherever he went, but I would not claim Howe was the epitome of the Detroit Red Wings.

Personally, I believe that honour goes to Steve Yzerman. The Red Wings thrive on strong leadership, on pure, accurate hockey, allowing as few penalty minutes as possible and on the ability to be ruthless on the scoresheet. That is a description of Yzerman, more than it is of Gordie Howe.

Great players don’t always epitomise your team. Fedorov was a great player, and one of the best of his generation, but you did not see him on the ice and think that he was all that is the Detroit Red Wings, you simply saw an exceptional player. In Yzerman, you saw someone who lived, breathed, played, led and won for Detroit.

Who would you say was the epitome of everything your franchise tries to be?

£50 says Homer makes a reference to Jamie Benn…

I did think that but it is way to early for that talk

For the Stars it can only be one man really. He may have left to play with some dodgy team playing in a city that makes dodgy cars but Modano is not the player who best represents the Stars....he IS the Stars.

In time that may change as new faces come and go, some may even argue that it is Morrow but while this is Morrow's team now what Modano has given not only a franchise and a city but an entire state is unbeatable in most Stars fans eyes.

Modano is the single biggest reason that not only the Stars thrived in Texas but hockey on the whole. Before they moved to Texas most Texans didn't even know what hockey was but today there are 11 teams in the NHL/AHL/CHL and countless other amateur clubs.

When I was there I went into a shopping mall and they had an indoor rink with a kids game playing for anyone who wanted to stop and watch and there was a surprisingly big crowd watching it.

So yes for me, he may be wearing the winged wheel right now but we all know he is a Star at heart

Couldn't agree more on Yzerman for the Wings though, he single handedly dragged that team out of the gutter and helped build them into the power house they are today.

Wendel Clark

BuffonIdol wrote:Wendel Clark

I think you're probably joined by many Leafs fans on that one Buffon. Clark always struck me who put in absolutely everything he had, every shift. That kind of work ethic is always remembered.

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/search/label/Top%2017%20Wendel%20Clark%20Moments

Read that from bottom to top. DGB does a great job of eulogising Clark as a Leaf.

For the Bruins it's got to be the one and only Bobby Orr.

Kris Versteeg.

Good until he arrived, much like Kris Versteeg.

If you're talking about being a good ambassador and representing the club at corporate events; charity work; and having a laugh with the kids then I'd name the likes Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermeyer and George Parros. If you're talking a player who represents the ethos of the team's playing style and general sentiment among rival fans then I'd name Corey Perry. Yeah, he's annoying, not well liked and petulant at times but he'll also go to the dirty areas in the crease and use his size and power to good effect. Oh yeah, he's f*cking talented too. He's the Ducks....

Alexander the Great. Simple

colonelbagpuss wrote:Alexander the Great. Simple

Big and ugly?

Could easily be one of...Federko, MacInnis, Unger, Red Berenson, Brian Sutter or even Chris Pronger.....

but I think it has to be (drum roll and be upstanding ) Brett Hull.

Played 744....527 goals, 409 assists for 936 points. 27 Hat-tricks, 70 Game winning goals, 195 powerplay goals and 18 short handed goals...

I bow and drop to one knee in reverence

One man...Jarome Iginla.

The best player in franchise history, and the most humble to boot. Class.

It can only be one man, Mario Lemieux!

Number 1 Pick, Captain, Leader of every points record, Owner, 3 time Stanley Cup winner!

Difficult with a team like the Leafs. So many legends have passed through Maple Leaf Gardens, and the ACC from King Clancy, to George Armstrong to Borje Salming to Terry Sawchuck and Tim Horton (nice doughnuts). Who gets the nod? Wendel Clark runs it very close, not only for his scoring, dedication and general Leafiness, but also for having a magic tache. But the title must go to Ace Bailey, who epitomised the Leafs way back when even Driz was a youngster, and whos career was tragically cut short, but he endeavoured to help in hockey any way he could.

who would represent the post-lockout leafs the best? Andy Wosniewski?

Habs is tough - I think Beliveau and Lafleur represent what they wish they were, but Maurice Richard stands alone in the crucial categories of riot inciting and linesman punching - the man was both exceptionally good and mad as a sock full of squirrels. He'd blow by you to score, then slug you in the jaw on the way back to the bench just to let you know who was boss. I think the Francophone population (as a historically oppressed majority in Quebec) massively identifies with a guy who was always told he was too small or wasn't good enough and yet ended up dominating the league almost through sheer force of will.

ronnie pander wrote:

colonelbagpuss wrote:Alexander the Great. Simple

Big and ugly?

Monty wrote:One man...Jarome Iginla.

The best player in franchise history, and the most humble to boot. Class.

The Flames are very lucky to have him! He is what every team wants/needs in a captain

sportsportsport wrote:It can only be one man, Mario Lemieux!

Number 1 Pick, Captain, Leader of every points record, Owner, 3 time Stanley Cup winner!

Not bad for someone who refused to put the jersey on and swore he would never play there