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NHL: All-Time Face of the Franchise


worcat

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I'd say Bobby Hull for Winnipeg instead, but you've also got him with Chicago. And I really don't know enough about the Blackhawks history to suggest someone else.

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Yeah, I don't get the Gilmour thing. Team's been around since day one or damn close to it, was actually in the business of winning Stanley Cups for the first half of its existence, and yet the greatest Maple Leaf of all is a guy who bounced around the league and only played in Toronto for like five years? There has to be someone else.

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Yeah, I don't get the Gilmour thing. Team's been around since day one or damn close to it, was actually in the business of winning Stanley Cups for the first half of its existence, and yet the greatest Maple Leaf of all is a guy who bounced around the league and only played in Toronto for like five years? There has to be someone else.

Well that's the problem with this "face of the franchise" thing when you get to teams like Toronto. They've been around since the start of the NHL. It's hard to pick one guy and say "oh he's THE guy."

Tim Horton? Dave Keon? Darryl Sittler? Doug Gilmour? Wendell Clark? Mats Sundin? Borje Salming? Frank Mahovlich? Johnny Bower? Ted Kennedy? King Clancy? Ace Bailey? George Armstrong? Too many eras to really say one guy is the face of the franchise.

It's not even that clear cut for the Habs. Maurice Richard works, but what about Henri Richard? Jean Beliveau? Howie Morenz? Guy Lafleur? Yvan Cournoyer?

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Yeah, I don't get the Gilmour thing. Team's been around since day one or damn close to it, was actually in the business of winning Stanley Cups for the first half of its existence, and yet the greatest Maple Leaf of all is a guy who bounced around the league and only played in Toronto for like five years? There has to be someone else.

Well that's the problem with this "face of the franchise" thing when you get to teams like Toronto. They've been around since the start of the NHL. It's hard to pick one guy and say "oh he's THE guy."

Tim Horton? Dave Keon? Darryl Sittler? Doug Gilmour? Wendell Clark? Mats Sundin? Borje Salming? Frank Mahovlich? Johnny Bower? Ted Kennedy? King Clancy? Ace Bailey? George Armstrong? Too many eras to really say one guy is the face of the franchise.

I would say Tim Horton. He was part of Toronto's last dynasty, over 1,100 games played with the Maple Leafs, and lent his name to a big piece of Canadiana. Clark and Sittler would be next on my list, but I think it has to be Horton.

It's not even that clear cut for the Habs. Maurice Richard works, but what about Henri Richard? Jean Beliveau? Howie Morenz? Guy Lafleur? Yvan Cournoyer?

There's no ubiquitous chain of Borje Salming's, and there's no money with stories of kids pretending to be Howie Morenz. mic drop

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Yeah, for all the great players in Montreal's history, it really can only be Maurice Richard. The Richard Trophy, 50 goals in 50 games, one of the first true superstars the game has ever known. I mean, with all due respect to the many legends that were there when Rocket was there, as well as those who were there after he was gone, it's easily Rocket Richard's name that first comes to mind with the Habs.

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For the Ducks it can only be Selanne. There's still bitterness towards Kariya. As far Hebert, I see the argument, Giguere would be a more appropriate choice. Though, Getlaf and even Scott Niedermyer would be in the running. As far as the Kings go, right now Luc is the man, but in a couple years it will be either Kopitar or Doughty, more than likely Doughty. Doughty gets the same, if not a louder reaction than Luc does. So truthfully, I would put Doughty and Luc on an even par right now.

 

 

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Definitely not Lafontaine for the Sabres. He had some memorable years, but he's not even in the top 10 for team history of goals, assists, points or games played. He also has two less-than-ideal exits from town in two stints with the team. GIlbert Perrault is the team's first ever draft pick, he played his entire career with the team, and he is the team leader in all of those categories I listed above. He's also stuck around and done the alumni stuff. You could definitely argue that Hasek was the best player in team history (and I might agree with you, since he was my favorite player growing up), but the messy exit from town disqualifies him from being the "face of the franchise".

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For the Ducks it can only be Selanne. There's still bitterness towards Kariya. As far Hebert, I see the argument, Giguere would be a more appropriate choice. Though, Getlaf and even Scott Niedermyer would be in the running. As far as the Kings go, right now Luc is the man, but in a couple years it will be either Kopitar or Doughty, more than likely Doughty. Doughty gets the same, if not a louder reaction than Luc does. So truthfully, I would put Doughty and Luc on an even par right now.

Who determines the "face"? I'll take your word for it that there's bitterness towards Kariya (I would have no idea), but when me, the average Joe non-sports fanatic think of the Ducks, the first image that comes to mind is Paul Kariya.

I guess it comes down to if the "face" is like an elected position - a "representative" determined by the fans of a certain team, or if the "face" is who most people unconsciously associate with a particular team. There's no wrong answer of course, but I tend to lean toward the latter.

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the average Joe non-sports fanatic think of the Ducks, the first image that comes to mind is Paul Kariya.

That's being generous. We all know it's Emilio Estevez if it's anyone, no matter how much that rankles Ducks fans AND I KNOW IT DOES, because no non-fanatic outside southern California is cognizant of the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, Mighty or otherwise.

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For certain teams, you might as well split their histories in two and have a face for each half. O6 Toronto has Horton, Modern Toronto has Gilmour. O6 Detroit has Howe, Modern Detroit has Yzerman. 80's Oilers have Gretzky, 90's-00's have Ryan Smyth and so on.

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Not a bad list but I made some changes.

  • Anaheim Ducks - Teemu Selanne
  • Boston Bruins - Bobby Orr
  • Buffalo Sabres - Dominik Hasek (Perreault is a very close second)
  • Calgary Flames - Jerome Iginla
  • Carolina Hurricanes - Ron Francis
  • Chicago Blackhawks - Bobby Hull
  • Colorado Avalanche - Joe Sakic
  • Columbus Blue Jackets - Rick Nash
  • Dallas Stars - Mike Modano
  • Detroit Red Wings - Gordie Howe
  • Edmonton OIlers - Wayne Gretzky
  • Florida Panthers - Olli Jokinen
  • Los Angeles Kings - Luc Robitaille
  • Minnesota Wild - Mikko Koivu
  • Montreal Canadiens - Maurice Richard
  • Nashville Predators - Shea Weber
  • New Jersey Devils - Martin Brodeur
  • New York Islanders - Denis Potvin
  • New York Rangers - Mark Messier
  • Ottawa Senators - Daniel Alfredsson
  • Philadelphia Flyers - Bobby Clarke
  • Phoenix Coyotes - Shane Doan
  • Pittsburgh Penguins - Mario Lemieux
  • St. Louis Blues - Brett Hull
  • San Jose Sharks - Patrick Marleau
  • Tampa Bay Lightning - Vincent Lecavalier
  • Toronto Maple Leafs - Dave Keon (most current Leaf fans would probably say Clark or Gilmour, but Keon played over 1000 games for Toronto, wore the C, won 4 Cups, and is the only Leaf to win the Conn Smythe)
  • Vancouver Canucks - Trevor Linden
  • Washington Capitals - Alex Ovechkin (tough to not say Bondra or Kolzig but Ovi is the only true superstar in Caps history)
  • Winnipeg Jets - Dale Hawerchuk
  • Atlanta Thrashers - Ilya Kovalchuk
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