Over the past months, the players we love to dislike have been well-chronicled here. However, the true question here is this: which player in the 90 year history of the NHL has received the most flack? There is a difference between hated and maligned; that being a maligned player is one who has been criticized either fairly or unfairly by teammates, media, and coaches.
2007-10-21 11:07:51 · 9 answers · asked by Snoop 5 in Sports ➔ Hockey
Go back to the 1960's........there was a Canadiens' defenseman by the name of Terry Harper, who bore the brunt of Montreal fans for years. He was a poor skater, a shot that couldn't break an egg, and couldn't fight to save his life, and regularly had other teams' enforcers pounding tattoos on his face.
The culmination of the fans displeasure came in the third game of the 1971 finals, when he allowed Bobby Hull to get between him and the net, and score a goal which put the Blackhawks up 2-0 in the game.
However, the Canadiens did come back to tie the score, and then Harper did something that basically washed away all the years of animosity towards him. He picked up a loose puck inside his blue line and the boos from the fans started. However, as Harper moved up ice, he put on a puck handling display that shocked the hell out of everyone.....he dodged every Blackhawk player who took a run at him, and ended up on the left of the Blackhawks net....and then took what was described as a "kidney unhinging hit" from two Blackhawk players who simultaneously rammed him into the boards. Harper still didn't lose the puck...he managed to pass it out to John Ferguson in front of the Blackhawk net, and Ferguson scored what was to be the winning goal in this game.
When the goal was announced Harper got a bigger and longer ovation than Ferguson did, and it seemed that the fans finally figured out that Harper wasn't the useless goof they thought him to be.
While this was the feel-good story of the playoffs, the rest of the Montreal players weren't so charitable towards the fans. As one player said, where the fans were concerned,what Harper did was the best "f--- you" gesture he'd ever seen. Another player stated that he had to resist turning around, and flipping the finger to all the fans in the Montreal Forum.
However, why the fans never liked Harper is a mystery. No, he wasn't a classy player, nor a good fighter when the time came. However, the Canadiens never traded him during all these years because they knew what a skilled defensemen he was, and Bobby Hull, along with a lot of other stars in the NHL, said Harper was one of the most formidable defensemen they had ever encountered. As for his fighting abilities, while always finishing a poor second, he never let a smaller or more talented teammate, such as Cournoyer take a pounding. Yeah, he took the poundings, but in doing so, save a few of his teammates from taking one.
As far as I am concerned, Terry Harper was done a grave, and egregious injustice by the Montreal fans for years.
2007-10-21 11:50:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Lindros comes to mind-you said fairly or unfairly. Actually, I can't think of anyone more maligned by coaches, GM's and the media. Yes, Lindros is the answer. When media and internet really picked up spped in the 90's, Lindros was THE soap opera.
2007-10-21 19:41:56 · answer #2 · answered by Bob Loblaw 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Bobby Hull for making the jump to the fledgling WHA and basically putting the league in business. His decison was ripped by NHL management and mocked by fans & the cozy NHL-aligned media.
2007-10-21 19:50:04 · answer #3 · answered by Zombie Birdhouse 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'll throw out a few names for you
1. Dominik Hasek
2. Andre Racicot
3. Mats Sundin
4. Alexei Yashin
5. Jaromir Jagr
Oh, you owe me an email I believe
Mike,
You only have to read these forums or listen to talk radio in Detroit and Toronto to see what people think of him. His relationship with the media historically has not been a stellar one and I think he pays for it. His punch up with Buffalo reporter Jim Kelly (not the QB) was unfortunate only in that Hasek didn't kill the SOB. His tenure in Ottawa was greeted daily with radio, television, or newspaper articles asking for his head....and the injury in Torino made the relationship with the fans in Ottawa and especially Bryan Murray a nightly beatdown.
2007-10-21 18:19:06 · answer #4 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
LITY: I didn't know Hasek was maligned. Wow. He's one of the best goalies of all time (3rd in my list), he carried the Sabres on his back for all those years, and he was criticized? Damn, that's just... damn.
~
Yeah, I guess he is criticized today a lot. It's funny how I don't criticize him as much as Zam, yet he plays for the Wings.
2007-10-21 18:41:46 · answer #5 · answered by N/A 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
their is so many players.. you can really go by the 90 years, you would have to go by each era.
For my player i would have to think it would be in the 2000's just because more people in the NHL and fans of the sport to hate on the players. it is a toss up to Mr.Todd B or matts sundin. eather you love matts or hate him. my self i hate him
2007-10-21 18:21:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Probably Bob Probert, for his fighting and style of play (which has also made him loved by fans), and his numerous instances of drug use, suspensions, and run-ins with the law. He never bothered me, though--I thought he was a pretty good player in his day.
2007-10-21 18:19:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Marty McSorley.....Brashear fell like the whoozie he is....he didn't want any of Mac so he just lay there like a carp. Mac was getting his attention with a tap, and i mean tap, to his head, to get his dander up...no, Brashear just lay there and hoped no one else jumped him.
2007-10-21 18:27:45 · answer #8 · answered by dtet03 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Todd Bertuzzi -his was warranted
Rocket Richard - once you realize the way the league treated him it was no wonder those eyes of his were so filled with fire.
2007-10-21 18:28:18 · answer #9 · answered by PuckDat 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋