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The All-Time Best Defensemen in NHL HistoryThe ole story that "offense wins the story and defense wins the glory"
is a known fact. A defenseman may base their skill on shutting down the
opposition, brute size or as a pure scoring machine. To be the best
blue liner, you must combine all of these attributes and much more.This
top 10 list is based purely on the individual who has the complete
package. The best defenseman must be an amazing skater, smart on the
defensive end while having an offensive awareness.Every Stanley
Cup winning team has at least two great defenseman, this list is no
different; cup rings to help solidify the best.And now, we will not keep you waiting...#10 - Chris CheliosIt
will surprise people to know that Chelios won the Norris Trophy three
times as the NHL best defenseman. It will also surprise people that he
was a NHL all-star eleven times and has won three Stanley Cup rings his
24 year career so far. Chelios' nearly 2800 penalty minutes and nearly
900 points make him the perfect example of the "stay at home"
defenseman with a scorer's edge.A career highlight was the
famous fight between him and Flyers goalie Ron Hextall back in his
Montreal days. Known to be one of the ugliest players to ever play, he
is my tenth best defenseman in history.#9 - Scott StevensPunishment. Fear. Intimidation.These
are the three powerful things that Stevens brought to the game and to
the Washington and New Jersey Franchises. He was definitely not
connected to a player who scored points, though his finished his career
with over 900. Stevens was simply a pit-bull that feared players
accepting passes at centre ice and no one wanted to meet him in the
corners.If anyone dared to have their head down with the puck, Stevens would end your career; ask Eric Lindros.#8 - Larry RobinsonRobinson
was known as "Big Bird" for his 6 foot 5 inch frame but brought more to
the game then just a tall body. It was not his 958 NHL points that were
impressive either. What really made Robinson special was his
unbreakable record of having a +730 plus/minus ratio during his 20 year
career.His incredible smart defensive awareness won Robinson two Norris trophies and six Stanley Cups.#7 - Eddie ShoreHere
we have a defenseman that won the Hart Trophy four times. Yes, this did
happen in the 1930's but this will also never happen again. This was
also during a time where there were only 50 games in a season and
defensemen were not to be anywhere in the offensive zone.Shore knew how to get penalties and was obviously recognized for his physical play. #6 - Denis PotvinFour
Stanley Cups, three Norris trophies and five 80+ point seasons make up
a good part of Potvin's career. He brought offense to Rhode Island like
no other defenseman and did it with style and pizzazz.Potvin had one of the greatest seasons a defensemen could have in 1979 with his 31 goals, 70 assists and 101 points.#5 - Paul CoffeyThree
time Norris winner and 14 time all-star, Paul Coffey was the best
skating defenseman in the history of the game (sorry Bobby Orr fans).
There has not ever been a player who can skate as strongly or smoothly
as this man. When he got the puck he would turn on the jets and make
plays as good as Orr.This player has been on eight different
teams, in over 1000 NHL games and is the owner of many records. As a
defensemen, he scored 48 goals in a season, 8 shorthanded goals in a
season and shares the most points in a game by a defensemen with 8.The
main reason why Coffey is not rated any higher is because of the lack
of defensive presence. If he was caught in the offensive zone, he could
easily skate back to break a two on one but also failed many times.
Physically, Coffey was not the biggest or strongest but his offensive
was one of the best ever.#4 - Doug HarveyHarvey was the
pioneer of the offensive defenseman and started his career in 1947. He
had an incredible streak of winning seven Norris trophies in a span of
eight seasons but one person has that record beat. The six Stanley Cups
he won with the Montreal Canadiens were no fluke; he made the team
better.This player managed half a point a game during his 20 year career which was thought impossible in those days.#3 - Raymond BourqueIt
took 23 seasons and a trade to the Colorado Avalanche but Raymond
Bourque finally held Lord Stanley's mug. The previous 21 years in
Boston are where he was made as one of the best ever.Bourque
scored 410 times, assisted 1169 times, totaled 1579 points and all of
these are career records by a defenseman. Include all that magic with
the 19 consecutive all-star appearances, Calder trophy and five Norris
trophies in his cabinet; this justifies him as at least #3 on anyone's
list.#2 - Bobby OrrI am aware that I will be getting an
ear full for putting Orr #2 but hear me out. He would have been on top
of my mountain three months ago but then Nicklas Lidstrom won another
cup to justify my though process(more on him in a second).Orr
was the most electrifying defenseman in history and was even thought to
be the best player overall.....ever. This man revolutionized the
defensive position and made it officially "okay" to score goals.Sadly
his career was cut extremely short as he only played in 657 games due
to injury. Orr had far too many knee surgeries to recover from and this
is what hurt me to put him #1. If we put Orr on top of all defensemen
then we have to put Mario Lemieux as the best forward.Over his
short career, Orr did earn many awards including a Calder trophy, eight
consecutive Norris trophies, and two Conn Smythe awards along with two
Stanley Cups. Players could not catch him; he was the fastest player of
his time and scored so many beautiful goals.No doubt a phenomenal blue-liner, just not the overall best.And my winner for the best defenseman in NHL history goes to...#1 - Nicklas LidstromThis
was a tough one to call but Nicklas Lidstrom has earned this
prestigious justice. Face the facts, his consistency day in and day out
is better then anyone else's in history. No one can or has played the
amount of minutes every single game like Lidstrom and done it so well.I
understand he is does not have that physical presence of previous names
but his awareness is second to none. Lidstrom makes an art of
containing players as oppose to destroying them. The puck may go by him
but the player will not and he perfected the "brains before brawns"
tactic.Lidstrom has played in over 1200 games missing only 17
games since 1991 while tallying 938 points. He has been nominated for
nine Norris trophies winning six of them and a Conn Smythe to go with
his four Stanley Cups.Since Lidstrom still plays in the league
and has a good three years left in him, these statistics can only
improve even more. Watching him play is far beyond anyone story-telling
his career.The guy is a machine.Top / Best All-Time Hockey Defensemen Honorable Mention:" Al MacInnis" Scott Neidermayer" Red Kelly" Brian Leetch" Phil Housley" Larry Murphy
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