Devils Vs lusanne
- Thread starter moggy#9
- Start date
I actually agree with Wannabe to an extent. I wouldn’t want to seriously compare any of our players to other teams; naturally I’d be biased and I also never watched them closely enough.
But for the Devils the only D I would ever consider taking over Richardson would be Hotham and Wellar and even then it would be a bit of a dilemma. Every D man I can think of that’s played for us who was considered high end at the time had some sort of weakness in their game. The only one I can think of with Richie is his physicality.
What I can’t think of is a player who ticks this many boxes: As strong offensive game as defensive, skating ability, work ethic, shot blocking machine, loves the club, loyal, appears to be very fit, doesn’t get injured often, consistently improves the player he’s paired with every year, proven winner, doesn’t take stupid penalties, doesn’t make mistakes, positionally excellent.
Andrew Hotham is probably my favourite player to watch for the Devils in my 30 years of watching however he couldn’t skate. Nor would he block shots, sometimes caught out of position. Wellar was unbelievable but he wouldn’t put himself on the line like Richie does and he was off the following year.
There’s certainly better point scorers, flashier players and tougher but I can’t think of many who offer as much as Richie does.
But for the Devils the only D I would ever consider taking over Richardson would be Hotham and Wellar and even then it would be a bit of a dilemma. Every D man I can think of that’s played for us who was considered high end at the time had some sort of weakness in their game. The only one I can think of with Richie is his physicality.
What I can’t think of is a player who ticks this many boxes: As strong offensive game as defensive, skating ability, work ethic, shot blocking machine, loves the club, loyal, appears to be very fit, doesn’t get injured often, consistently improves the player he’s paired with every year, proven winner, doesn’t take stupid penalties, doesn’t make mistakes, positionally excellent.
Andrew Hotham is probably my favourite player to watch for the Devils in my 30 years of watching however he couldn’t skate. Nor would he block shots, sometimes caught out of position. Wellar was unbelievable but he wouldn’t put himself on the line like Richie does and he was off the following year.
There’s certainly better point scorers, flashier players and tougher but I can’t think of many who offer as much as Richie does.
A couple of interesting replies guys.
I wouldn’t expect you to give a toss mate, and certainly glad you don’t.
I didn’t know that about Noble and Lindman, that was a good scouting trip for them!!
Great assessment Ocko and I’d put Strachan and Lindman in the equation even though it was one season or less for them.
Not sure being loyal, loving the club, not getting injured often and possibly being a proven winner are ways of define his ability as a hockey player but I understand where you’re coming from with it because they are all things you want in a player.
I’m just want to reiterate , I think he’s an excellent player, just not the best to have played on these shores.
Cheers
I wouldn’t expect you to give a toss mate, and certainly glad you don’t.
I didn’t know that about Noble and Lindman, that was a good scouting trip for them!!
Great assessment Ocko and I’d put Strachan and Lindman in the equation even though it was one season or less for them.
Not sure being loyal, loving the club, not getting injured often and possibly being a proven winner are ways of define his ability as a hockey player but I understand where you’re coming from with it because they are all things you want in a player.
I’m just want to reiterate , I think he’s an excellent player, just not the best to have played on these shores.
Cheers
I think It’s stating the obvious to say opinions vary, especially on here 
First of all, this debate has nothing to do with who is the best Brit Dman, it started by me disagreeing with the statement that Ritchie is equal or better than ANY Dman to have played in Britain, import or Brit.
I personally went to the Ashfield Islanders game so you can put me in the long term category ( although I did miss a big chunk when at bbt) and I can assure you that loyalty is very important to me too, but loyalty doesn’t make a man a better player was my point.
As you asked about British Dmen, I would put four players in the hat:
Stephen Cooper
Jonathan Weaver
Ben O’Connor
Mark Richardson
I can’t remember when Weaver switched to D so not sure how much I saw of him, so I’ll leave him out.
O’Connor, as good offensively as he has been, there has been too many mistakes in him, positionally, getting caught with puck etc.
Cooper played a lot of his hockey in 3 import hockey plus dual nationals but was still holding his own later when ISL came along.
I think if he had played his whole career in a league with higher Import numbers he would have developed even more than he did when younger and been by far the best British defenceman ever.
So that means I will go with Mark Richardson as he plays to the level he does surrounded by imports.
First of all, this debate has nothing to do with who is the best Brit Dman, it started by me disagreeing with the statement that Ritchie is equal or better than ANY Dman to have played in Britain, import or Brit.
I personally went to the Ashfield Islanders game so you can put me in the long term category ( although I did miss a big chunk when at bbt) and I can assure you that loyalty is very important to me too, but loyalty doesn’t make a man a better player was my point.
As you asked about British Dmen, I would put four players in the hat:
Stephen Cooper
Jonathan Weaver
Ben O’Connor
Mark Richardson
I can’t remember when Weaver switched to D so not sure how much I saw of him, so I’ll leave him out.
O’Connor, as good offensively as he has been, there has been too many mistakes in him, positionally, getting caught with puck etc.
Cooper played a lot of his hockey in 3 import hockey plus dual nationals but was still holding his own later when ISL came along.
I think if he had played his whole career in a league with higher Import numbers he would have developed even more than he did when younger and been by far the best British defenceman ever.
So that means I will go with Mark Richardson as he plays to the level he does surrounded by imports.
Thread starter
#132
I think It’s stating the obvious to say opinions vary, especially on here
First of all, this debate has nothing to do with who is the best Brit Dman, it started by me disagreeing with the statement that Ritchie is equal or better than ANY Dman to have played in Britain, import or Brit.
I personally went to the Ashfield Islanders game so you can put me in the long term category ( although I did miss a big chunk when at bbt) and I can assure you that loyalty is very important to me too, but loyalty doesn’t make a man a better player was my point.
As you asked about British Dmen, I would put four players in the hat:
Stephen Cooper
Jonathan Weaver
Ben O’Connor
Mark Richardson
I can’t remember when Weaver switched to D so not sure how much I saw of him, so I’ll leave him out.
O’Connor, as good offensively as he has been, there has been too many mistakes in him, positionally, getting caught with puck etc.
Cooper played a lot of his hockey in 3 import hockey plus dual nationals but was still holding his own later when ISL came along.
I think if he had played his whole career in a league with higher Import numbers he would have developed even more than he did when younger and been by far the best British defenceman ever.
So that means I will go with Mark Richardson as he plays to the level he does surrounded by imports.
First of all, this debate has nothing to do with who is the best Brit Dman, it started by me disagreeing with the statement that Ritchie is equal or better than ANY Dman to have played in Britain, import or Brit.
I personally went to the Ashfield Islanders game so you can put me in the long term category ( although I did miss a big chunk when at bbt) and I can assure you that loyalty is very important to me too, but loyalty doesn’t make a man a better player was my point.
As you asked about British Dmen, I would put four players in the hat:
Stephen Cooper
Jonathan Weaver
Ben O’Connor
Mark Richardson
I can’t remember when Weaver switched to D so not sure how much I saw of him, so I’ll leave him out.
O’Connor, as good offensively as he has been, there has been too many mistakes in him, positionally, getting caught with puck etc.
Cooper played a lot of his hockey in 3 import hockey plus dual nationals but was still holding his own later when ISL came along.
I think if he had played his whole career in a league with higher Import numbers he would have developed even more than he did when younger and been by far the best British defenceman ever.
So that means I will go with Mark Richardson as he plays to the level he does surrounded by imports.
It’s a good shout and tbh didn’t even spring to mind.
Would you put him in amongst those four ( which is not exclusive, just my thoughts)
I think for me he’d just be in the next bracket down.
The thing with Stone , and Chinn, is the late age they actually started skating, then playing.
Imagine if they started skating at 5/6/7 etc and had a good coaching from a young age.
We could possibly been looking at a draft prospect, especially Chinn imo.
Maybe I’m getting carried away with it lol
Would you put him in amongst those four ( which is not exclusive, just my thoughts)
I think for me he’d just be in the next bracket down.
The thing with Stone , and Chinn, is the late age they actually started skating, then playing.
Imagine if they started skating at 5/6/7 etc and had a good coaching from a young age.
We could possibly been looking at a draft prospect, especially Chinn imo.
Maybe I’m getting carried away with it lol
Not a chance for me, his ability is nowhere near the others. Other than a season in the BNL when he was with Burgoyne I can’t think of any other season in the EIHL or ISL where he was in the top 2 D pairings.
A club legend in longevity and dedication but can’t put him on that bracket at all. Josh Batch is a better D man than Stone was IMO.
A club legend in longevity and dedication but can’t put him on that bracket at all. Josh Batch is a better D man than Stone was IMO.
Granted he was ahead of Stephen Cooper, but he played for the Storm who were awful that year, whereas we obviously won the league. I’m also fairly sure they were the only two British D men who played regular minutes that season, so it was essentially one or the other. One or two others were bit part players but most teams had import D. Jonathan Weaver was still a forward at this point I think.