Cheli v Nieder, the Great Debate

Hey, it's all subjective, but it's too grand an argument NOT to try and tackle.  Who was better, the supreme skating Scott Niedermayer, of the gritty iron man Chris Chelios.  Canadian junior v USA College kid; the mountains and ocean of British Columbia v the urban grind of Chicago; the bespectacled diplomacy of Niedermayer v the outrageously brash Chelios whose comments toward commissioner Bettman during the 2005 lockout bordered on a threat; the greatest thing these two Hall of Famers have in common is their greatness.

One cannot discuss Scott Niedermayer's career without looking back on the greatest minute in sports, ever, period. And no, this is NOT about the Kentucky Derby.  Over the course of approximately sixty seconds in June of 2007, Niedermayer experienced the following: he won arguably hockey's greatest individual award, the Conn Smythe as the NHL playoff MVP. The reason it is the greatest is because it almost always precedes the Stanley Cup, which is really the only thing that matters to these men.  About forty five seconds after receiving the Smythe, the guys with the white gloves bring out the Holy Grail, prompting the suited Commissioner to beckon for Nieder once again, because he happened to be wearing the C for the cup winning club.  So he places down Conn and picks up Lord Stanley, and that's one of the happiest endings imaginable to a hockey story, but it only gets better.  Hockey, as you readers know, is one of the ultimate clan games.  Every teammate is a brother in arms as you go to battle. The NHL has an inordinate amount of real siblings playing this game, the same brothers that spend countless hours on frozen ponds whacking at your shins and occasionally spilling blood and spitting chicklets.  One of the great honors of being the Captain and hoisting the Stanley Cup is the joy of choosing whose life to light up by handing off the Silver Chalice to the next joyous comrade.  And

in this case, Niedermayer, Scott, handed off 32 pounds of hockey immortality to Niedermayer, Rob, his adoring brother, to complete the mindblowing hockey fantasy triple.  Anything else in the sport pales in comparison.  Smythe-to Stanley-to brother.  Sixty seconds of a hockey dream that one would be embarrassed to wish for.

Puck Love Cemented in Silver

Maintaining the embarrassment theme, Nieder had already won three previous Cups with the NJ Devils, and in two of them you could make an argument could that he played better than when he won his playoff MVP.  In 1995 and 2000 his rink-length skating with the puck was so damned fast and dangerous that neither Detroit nor Dallas had a solution, and certainly no equivalent.  His wheels, as far as defensemen carrying the puck, belong in a class of three, for all time.  Pretend you are in a small pickup truck with no back cab,  and the only people allowed in this ride are Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey and Scott Niedermayer.  All multiple cup winners, all offensive demons listed as defenders.  Guys like Ray Bourque and Nick Lidstrom and Doug Harvey are all the on the outside pounding on the glass, but locked out. Heady company indeed.

Now let's revisit that 2007 triple, an amazing feat that culminated a career so overflowing with riches that it's almost absurd, but in the interests of comparing Nieder and Cheli, you have to get them out on paper, because the other guy has a sick list, too.  Scott Nieder is a member of the Triple Gold Club, a fraternity that means a bit more to Europeans than to North Americans, but a tremendous feat nevertheless: Stanley Cup (4), Olympic Gold (2), and World Championship Gold (1). North Americans AND NO ONE ELSE.   Here's the golden resume: Memorial Cup, World Junior, World Cup, World Championship, Olympics, Stanley Cup. Forget the cute li'l pickup, he's on a unicycle on this one.  The guy has been on  more hockey mountaintops than anyone, ever. This deserves a pause. Pretend you are in a snowy peak in British Columbia with the two Nieders, celebrating their Cup, overlooking the vast beauty of western Canada. Wow, it really is a nice view.  Too bad it's the view of the guy in last place in this two man comparison.  Cue the scratched record sound effect.

Hockey's Midas

consider the World Championship the N.I.T. of hockey, but still it remains a very cool club.  In fact, Niedermayer has every major hockey title that he has ever competed for, creating a list that includes himself

Chris Chelios...America's Gordie Howe. And don't think for a second that the Big Fella objects for a second being mentioned in the same breath as Cheli. He even did the ambidextrous thing occasionally like Gordie, shooting left off the rush. They share the NHL record having each played 26 NHL

Old Schoolers

seasons. Like Gordie, Cheli was more than tough, he was downright mean.  Wasn't that big, under 6 feet tall, but was a sick intimidator. Ask the Flyers who lost the '89 Eastern finals to the Habs and Cheli 'cause Hexi was the only guy to willing to stand up to Chris after he conked Brian Propp in the noggin.

So, how does one argue that Cheli is a better player than the most decorated hockey player of all time? Systematically.  Cheli had 3 Cups instead to Nieder's four, but three is nothing to sneeze at.  And while Nieder did win to Olympic golds, he did it with vastly superior clubs.  Cheli won a silver, captained Team USA at age 44, and broke the record between Olympic appearances (22 years).  Furthermore, Cheli never missed an Olympic appearance while Nieder was cut in his prime, twice (1998, 2006).  Regarding the World Cup of Hockey, Cheli was the best defenseman on USA's Miracle team of 1996, the team that beat powerhouse Canada. And all for all those glorious titles that Nieder won, he never captured NCAA gold, something Cheli did for Badger Bob in 1983 at Wisconsin.

But it was his play in the best league in the world, the NHL, that separates Cheli from Nieder.  Scott won a Norris to highlight his 3 first-team end of year All-Star selections, along with one spot on the second team.  Chelios captured three Norris Trophies, and six first team selections, two second team honors, doubling Nieder's All-Star totals, tripling up on his Norris Trophy.  As a 40 year old in the final chapter of his hockey career in Detroit, Cheli was a first team All-Star. Whoa, that deserves a pause. His late life success (2 Cups) wasn't by accident. The reason Cheli was able to play in the NHL at age 46 was not because the Hartford Whalers were trying to draw fans into a mall.  Cheli stayed in the show because he worked harder than any one outside the rink with the possible exception of Zdeno Chara.

A favorite off-season ritual for NHL stars is to spend the summer on the beach in southern Cali, and work out in Venice with the little dicator (and part time sadist) T.R. Goodman.  The king of Gold's Gym would humble the most macho players in the NHL with vicious circuit training at 6 AM.  Cheli showed up at 5:30.  No one worked harder, and this from a guy who pushed the fun button at night with the best of 'em.  It was that maniacal work ethic that kept Chelios at the top of his game longer than anyone. He played nine more pro hockey seasons than Nieder, he was a post season All-Star twice as many times.

The Greek Captain America

When you combine the length of his career along with the excellence that had him a the top of the toughest league of them all for over two decades, you have to go with Cheli.  The king of American hockey. The guy dominated his position for three Original Six clubs was asked what jersey he wants to wear when he's enshrined..."USA." 'Nuf said.