Hockey's elite

[niteowl]

Which is more an elite club?
I did a similar poll before, but this prompted me again only because The Province mentioned about the second choice as the elite with Eric Staal being on the team winning Olympic Gold. And yet they did mention the group has 22 members and while I'm sure I'm wrong but the first group only has two members.

Scott Niedermeyer and Corey Perry.

 

[bartendr]

And Roy-Boy will never have the Olympic gold!

 

[niteowl]

It would be nice for some of you voters to say why you voted the way you did. It may change my mind.

 

[twoblues]

Memorial Cup + World Junior shows that you exceled as a junior.

Stanley Cup + Olympic Gold shows that you exceled as a pro.

I'm not too fond of the World Cup...always seems like an afterthought.

 

[threepeat]

It would be nice for some of you voters to say why you voted the way you did. It may change my mind.

Well, since Olympic Gold and Stanley Cup are in both of the choices, it really boils down to World Cup vs. Memorial Cup and World Junior. As much as Canadians love watching junior hockey, it's not the pros. There are so many players who exceled in junior -- for the Oilers, Danny Syvret, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, and Andrew Cogliano come to mind -- who have yet to make much of an impact in the pros. While junior championships can be just as hard to win as the Stanley Cup in terms of the effort and dedication involved, the lower level of competition make them B-class titles as far as I'm concerned.

 

[bcneil]

Memorial cup is great and everything, but who cares.
The majority of Memorial cup winners never play in the NHL, they aren't good enough.
So I can't see this being that elite a title comparable to the other titles listed.
Its like saying Drew brees isn't a great QB cause his highschool team never won state, or nationals.

Same with the junior worlds, a lot of these guys never make it to the pros.
For a team like Canada, making the team is the achievement.
Sort of like the Ladies olympic hockey, someone told me the real excitement for the girls in making the team.
The rest just decided gold or silver. As soon as the girl finds out she made the team, its like winning the silver that second.

The world cup. To even be asked to be on one of the top teams, you need to have competed at a top level for your career.
You need to be one of the very best pros out there. This team is made of the legends, future hall of famers.

So second option.

 

[wilde]

I would rank the Calder cup higher than the Memorial cup although some players do bypass the AHL.

 

[niteowl]

Really? Who cares about the Memorial Cup? I do and so did 16,000 plus fans who saw the Giants win the Memorial Cup. For the majority of the kids out there the Memorial Cup may be the closest thing to winning the Memorial Cup.
And feel free to tell all those who has won the Cup that it doesn't mean anything.

 

[niteowl]

You do have a point twoblues.But then if you do put them together it shows that the person has excelled at the Junior, Pro Level and both International Levels does it not? While the second choice only says what the player has achieved only at the pro level.
But it does seem like an afterthought as you are just a piece of meat in the hockey community.