Lineage of the Heavyweight Champ & Top Ten Lists '75-'07

[Humpzilla]

This is truly a wealth of information!

Major props, Merlin

So honestly, How long did take you to finish this post?

[canuckfan]

Great recaps and summaries, Merlin, good work.

Made for a very entertaining read during my lunch hour!

Not to nitpick or anything, but I would've tried to throw Coxe and his epic battles with Probert in the notable fight sections. Still, excellent post Merlin, thanks for all the great info!

[Merlin401]

Originally Posted by OBA

Did the Rick Tocchet of 1992-93 get any consideration?

Not that he could have been on your list for this year, because I would not know who to take out. Just wondering...

Thanks.

Not really, actually. There were too many heavyweights in the league to really consider him anymore since he only was averaging about 8 fights a year at that point in his career. I would say Tocchet peaked around 86-87, which unfortunately, was a year that saw SO MANY great fighters have great years that I never could squeeze him in.

Originally Posted by CanuckFan

Not to nitpick or anything, but I would've tried to throw Coxe and his epic battles with Probert in the notable fight sections. Still, excellent post Merlin, thanks for all the great info!.

Nitpick all you want, especially on the notable fights sections. As I said, I just did a real quick job putting some notable fights up. I'm sure I missed a lot, and if you think of any major ones (mostly I'm interested with fights that influenced the top 10 rankings for that year), I'll throw them on the list. (Edit, actually Probert-Coxe I was on there afterall )

[full force five]

Awesome post, I agree with it for the most part.

I would say that Paul Holmgren should have made the top ten in several of the years late 70's - early 80's. Also, Willie Plett could be in the lower part of the top 10 give his ability to handle Wilson, especially when Willie was in ATL.

[BENNETTWOLF]

Posts like these are the exact reason i spent 3 yrs. reading stuff from people who share the passion that we all do-made me realize that someone, somewhere had the time, care and equipment to crunch the data. UNREAL......, JUST A GREAT JOB, REALLY APPRECIATE THE TIME AND EFFORT. Dosen't it make you ache for real old time hockey, the way it was and should once again be played.

[bigjack]

Great job Merlin as always. I was just wondering about Langdon only making a top 10 list once, Rudy Poeschek in 1988-89 had a great year and George McPhee being better than Kevin McClelland?
Any thoughts?

[jgdeadrabbit]

Wow.Amazing.Impressive.

[Saskachuck]

Kocur never quite makes #1, eh? Oh well. People will disagree with some of your picks (and of course that's the fun), but that won't detract from the great effort you put in here. Sweet post. Much appreciated.

[Rob666]

NICE THANKS ALOT BRO!!!!! I think the voting was alittle f*cked because Joey Kocur never finished 1st, but hey it's just everyone's oppions.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

POST OF THE YEAR!!!!! Another winner for Merlin . . . this one is going to be tough to beat . . .

[IhateLindros]

Excellent post Merlin. I really cant argue with any of these rankings. Really impressive. One thing that catches my eye though.

*Was Lyndon Byers that good of a fighter, for him to be ranked so high??

*I think the Missing Link should garner at least a mention somewhere in the early 90's. He did fight Probert, Grimson and Kocur.

Where's the rep system when you need it???

[GIANTSFAN]

Awesome read, & fair rankings.

I thought Nilan should've made the list more than once during the mid 80s considering he has maybe the best fight card after Probert. I hated him, but he almost never lost, & fought most heavys at least 2-3x.

Coxe vs Probert rd1 was in Vancouver, & clear win for Coxe. I give Probert the edge in their second fight in JLA. Coxe dropped Kocur in the same game.

Also, I don't think Semenko ever beat T.Hunter. He may have bloodied him but is that the fight where he knees Hunter? Hunter owned Semenko from the fights I have.

I agree that McPhee should be on there as well as McSorley for an excellent rookie season, taking on Gillies, Stanley, Holmgren, etc..& not getting embarrassed.

I think Snepsts could be on that list a lot more, IF his early fights were available.

Any footage of the Fraser-Nystrom toe to toer?

[u70143]

Merlin,

You did do a tremendous job! Why don't you post all clips of each?

Wink

[battleship25]

Great job. Very interesting.
Small point- J.Bob Kelly was on CHI in 77-78 , and sadly he shouldn't have been in the top 10 in that year IMO. He seemed to have faded badly on CHI.

[bigjack]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Great job. Very interesting.
Small point- J.Bob Kelly was on CHI in 77-78 , and sadly he shouldn't have been in the top 10 in that year IMO. He seemed to have faded badly on CHI.

I don't think he was happy in Chicago. He was treated like a goon and given little icetime after showing in Pittsburgh that he had hands and could score 25 goals and 50 points. It's a good point!