Henrik Lundqvist was named one of 15 NHL stars not to win a Stanley Cup along with New York Rangers teammate Rick Nash.
Henrik Lundqvist is having a rough start to this week and he hasn’t even laced up his skates. Monday, Elite Sports NY reported that he ranked eighth on NHL.com’s list of the 10 best goalies in the NHL.
Tuesday, Jim Cerny of Sporting News wrote a story naming the 15 best active NHL players who have yet to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup above their heads. A pair of New York Rangers—Lundqvist and Rick Nash—made the cut.
Here’s a look at Cerny’s full list, which actually includes 16 players. Last we checked, the Sedin twins count as two people.
1. Alex Ovechkin, F, Washington Capitals
2. Jerome Iginla, F, Free Agent
3. Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers
4. Joe Thornton, C, San Jose Sharks
5. Henrik and Daniel Sedin F, Vancouver Canucks
6. Roberto Luongo, G, Florida Panthers
7. Patrick Marleau, F, Toronto Maple Leafs
8. Shea Weber, D, Montreal Canadiens
9. Ryan Miller, G, Anaheim Ducks
10. Jay Bouwmeester, D, St. Louis Blues
11. Rick Nash, F, New York Rangers
12. Zach Parise, F, Minnesota Wild
13. Joe Pavelski, F, San Jose Sharks
14. Shane Doan, F, Free Agent
15. Brent Burns, D, San Jose Sharks
Top 15 NHL stars without a Stanley Cup https://t.co/xnNAZo2HOI pic.twitter.com/Fl4EFLS0Xo
— Sporting News NHL (@sn_nhl) August 8, 2017
If you look at this list, there are no surprises. Ovechkin has been on two first-place teams the last two years but has never made it out of the second round of the playoffs. Lundqvist and Nash made it to the 2014 Finals and lost to the Los Angeles Kings. The others on this list are all great players but have not been able to reach their goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
There are a few players that are not on this list that I would add (another reason to despise list rankings) such as New York Islanders center John Tavares, Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, just to name a few. Why aren’t they on the list? What were the criteria to make this list other than not winning a Cup?
Let me also say that it is still early August, about six weeks until NHL training camp begins. After beating the horse dead with the details of the expansion draft, the NHL Draft, free agent signings, trades and roster analysis, these lists are inevitable.
Don’t think this is the last list you’ll see in the weeks ahead. lists ranking the top prospects, top nicknames, top concession stands, top jerseys, top…whatever—they’re all on their way.
I, along with most fans (I think), have had enough with these kinds of lists. Anyone can make a list and justify the rankings in any way they like. Then the debates begin. “The list is wrong!” “This player should be lower (or higher).” “Swap this player for that player.”
None of it matters. At the end of the day, you’re left with just another meaningless list and fans yelling at each other for no good reason.
As for this list, let’s just hope that next year’s version will have two fewer Rangers appearing on it.
