Dang right this is true! Ron Francis is THE most underrated player ever in NHL. Both Lemieux & Jagr have both told plenty of credit how his play inteligence and support made the Penguins the offensive score machine they was for the whole 90's decade. And yet the Penguins after 7 highly productive and award winning seasons, they have still not retired his 10#. Francis was a true leader, a gentleman and a hard worker. Truly a great player who is carrying the title "Most Underrated NHL Player Ever".

@hugh2hoob668

3 ай бұрын

No he wasn't I'm from Pittsburgh and was 11 then he wasn't underrated at all

@WarioSaysSo

3 ай бұрын

@@hugh2hoob668 I also grew up with them and yes, outside of the city and state and on international perspective on NHL and the Pens, he was often looked-by in favour of Lemieux & Jagr. Sure no one said anything negative on Francis, but more then often did not get his praise for the skills and point deliverence he served to Jagr and Lemieux. And just the fact that his number is not offically retired and hanging in the rafters with Lemnieux & Jagr says a lot!

@mikenighbor4524

3 ай бұрын

​@hugh2hoob668 he was appreciated in Pittsburgh. That trade Pittsburgh got him forward insulting. I'm only a couple years older than you so my memory of Cullen probably isn't to accurate. Being so young. Dino Ciccerelli was super underrated to along with Adam oates. I would say outside of Pittsburgh Mario is starting to become under appreciated to a certain extent. With Crosby having one of the best careers in history, Gretzky point totals and McDavid brilliance and media coverage. He is starting to get lost to time.

1996, Francis-Lemiuex-Jagr line was must-see TV. The rest of the team was pretty good, too.

I actually agree, Ron Francis might be the most underrated player, at least from my era.

I bought a set of radio headphones from a yard sale back in the early 80s when I was about 11 and the first night I used them found the Hartford Whalers channel WTIC 1080 with Chuck Kaiton. Ron Francis was in either his first or second season back then. I have been a Whalers and Ron Francis fan ever since. He and Kevin Dineen are my 2 favourite players of all time. Edited to add....I also have 2 different Ron Francis hockey jerseys and agree that he was massively underrated even when he was playing, no one mentioned him as one of the top players in the league. He was just consistent every year.

@v4v819

4 ай бұрын

You know they did televise NHL games in the 80's. All in technicolor, too!

@Yellowtooth1

4 ай бұрын

@@v4v819 Yes I watched Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday nights but there were no games during the week and I got tired of watching Toronto or Montreal all the time ...understand?

As a Penguins fan starting in the late 80s , Ronnie was always one of my favorite players ! Yes we had Lemieux and Jagr , but Francis was the glue that helped hold that team together . With all of his scoring accomplishments let’s not forget how great he was defensively

Il just mention Sergei Zubov as highly underrated aswell

Excellent job for this video! Francis is my second all-time favorite player only behind Mario Lemieux. He was a big reason for the Pens success through 91-93.

I agree. Ronny Franchise was a solid player and doesn't get the love that he deserves.

I think it's crazy he did all that with Franklin gloves! That's like street hockey gear 😂

Francis was an amazing player, especially for longevity. He was part of a group of great players that lived in the shadows of Gretzky, Lemieux and powerhouse teams of Islanders, Oilers, flames, Canadians etc. Another player under the radar has to be Mike Gartner, a quiet 700 goal scorer.

I'll tell you who hasn't forgotten Ron Francis. I haven't. A legend among those of us who lived in the Raleigh/Durham area during the late 90s and early 00s.

Thank you for putting this put there. He was one of my favorites growing up being a Whalers fan. He is so underrated & undervalued. He's f***ing 5th all time in points. 5TH!! A guy put up a video about the best NHLers by number & nobody even mentioned him. The guys was a magnificent. Totally underrated.

Ron Francis was my favorite of all. Great video. Very underrated for sure.

I totally agree with this, i put Rod Brindamour in this catagory also, both were good enough to be 1st line centers but often played on the 2nd lines.

Francis' problem was that he either played for and captained a team nobody cared about (Hartford and Carolina at the time) or he was in Lemieux's shadow. On any other team in the early 90s, he was a top line centre, but he was #2 behind Mario. Adam Oates, one of the best pure passers in the game, got at least some recognition because he was a top line centre in St Louis and Boston. Ron Francis put up a ton of points, but he was a forgotten guy. I remember as a Canucks fan in the 90s, he wasn't a guy I wanted to play against.

Thai man was an absolute stud and you’re 100% on point he is the most underrated player in the history of the show

He definitely was and i add in the 80s Dale Hawerchuk

He was a pretty good face off guy too

Yes !! Been saying this for a while how many players are so gifted offensively that they're 5th all time in points but still good enough defensively to win a Selke as well as multiple cups with multiple teams

No one is ever gonna touch Gretzky's assist record. It's one of the most unbreakable records in all of sports and Ron Francis retired still being over 700 assists shy of it... But to be able to say that you retired (and still remain) 2nd to The Great One in the most dominant area of his game? Yeah. Francis deserves the title of the NHL's most underrated player ever. Incredible video!

@les6447

4 ай бұрын

Not to mention he ended his career 5th in total points, ahead of the likes of Dionne, Yzerman, Sakic, and Lemieux! Not bad for a guy who played 3rd fiddle to the likes of Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr 😂 in the prime of his career.

@hugh2hoob668

3 ай бұрын

He was on a dynasty in a garbage era dude Ovechkin and Crosby are way better 😂

@hugh2hoob668

3 ай бұрын

That's cause 80s goalies were GARBAGE outside Roy 😅

Crazy to think francis wore TML jersey time flies

underrated in a big way great video.

Ronny Francis the man the myth the legend

I remember the '93 playoffs. I think it was Adam Graves who broke Mario's hand (I thought it was his wrist, probably misremembering). Being 2nd fiddle to 'The Other Great One' is no shame.

I got to see him play alot back in the 80s

Ron Francis was one of favorite players when I was growing up.

He’s great for hockey trivia because everyone sort of forgets he’s up there with the greats.

I would probably agree with your points here. I was recently talking with my co worker about points totals and he hadnt even heard of Ron Francis, 2nd all time in assists, to Gretzky which is untouchable. Francis is the only other player to get over 1200 assists. Definitely legendary and yes underrated. I'm a Red Wings fan btw so I grew up worshiping Yzerman and Lidstrom and Fedorov.

His nickname was Ronnie Franchise. Because franchise player.

Who else rocked the Armadillo Thumb

Can I put in a vote for Lucky Luc Robataille as a close second? He wasn't even drafted and he's in the Hall.

@moharikram1687

2 ай бұрын

False. He was drafted in the 9th round. He was by no means underrated. He was touted as possibly the best LW ever in the game before Ovi came.

@christophermerlot3366

2 ай бұрын

@@moharikram1687 My bad. But if he was so highly touted how did he fall to the ninth round? (I forgot that the draft used to go to nine rounds.)

@moharikram1687

2 ай бұрын

@@christophermerlot3366 well, he was drafted in the 80's. Mindset back then - "if you're small, then you fail. NHL is a tough league!" Yeah..

Hey you should make a video about what happened to Brian Finley he was a 6th overall pick in 1999 as a goalie never played

Ronny "Franchise".

Anyone that knows anything about the NHL, knows Ron Francis is/was one of the best ever

I agree, great player and leader

My man has all the receipts

@wethecaptainnow8111

3 ай бұрын

He is my father. Thank you!

One of the best 2 way players to ever live

Im 39 and from Pittsburgh Francis wasnt underrated at ALL The grinders for Pittsburgh were Peter Taglianete was underrated

Dale Hawerchuk is the most underrated player of all time, he was not even put among 100 Greatest players of all time unlike Francis

@basketball_historian23

3 ай бұрын

Francis is on the NHL 100 list

@lancelotvox6933

3 ай бұрын

Or Geno

The Rodney Dangerfield of Hockey

Before you even begin, yes Francis was extremely underated.

I loved the Whalers and was gutted when they traded him to Pittsburgh. I have always said that no one achieved more with less fan fare than Ron Francis.

Francis was a victim of timing. Gretzky, Mario, Messier, Yzerman, Hawerchuk in the 80s and beyond, then Sakic, Modano, Oates, Lindros, Forsberg all stealing the spotlight. I'm not even including all the flashy wingers on highlight reels. I honestly can't even think of a huge goal he ever scored. Ironically if he was a defence man with the exact same numbers, he'd probably have godlike status.

Ronnie Franchise!

Rod Frankist deserves more credit!

There are many. Ron Francis would be a candidate. Others could include... Rick MacLeish Dennis Maruk Michel Goulet Dale Hawerchuk Neal Broten Bernie Nicholls Al MacInnis Joe Sakic Paul Kariya Pavel Datsyuk These are all examples of what happens when you don't play for the Rangers or the Maple Leafs.

i think it's probably the goal scoring why he doesn't get that credit he deserves which is why you probably see people wank over players like bure and mogilny, who were great players but nowhere near as good as francis on a consistency and longevity level and all round game as a two way forward, which to a lot of people aint as sexy as somebody that once scored 76 goals

Fact

Ziggy Palffy was imo

I don’t know of Any Underrated NHL Players “In” The Hall of Fame.

Ron Francis is my father. I love you Dad.

With all due respect I disagree with the Francis selection...personally I think this may be Peter Mahovlich.

Are you really underrated if everyone in the know, knows how good you are and have openly spoken about it to anyone when asked? There's professionally underrated and there's public/media underrated, both very different and one is far more important than the other.

Canadian accents certainly have changed since the pandemic! Francis was never underrated by anyone who followed hockey or his opponents. The problem was he played in Hartford.

Nah JOE MULLEN was underrated if any Penguin was underrated

The way the conversation has been going, soon Wayne Gretzky will be the most underrated player 😮😮

@justinpederson2217

3 ай бұрын

Lol no. With the nick name “the great one” he will never be underrated. He is undisputed.

hmmm interesting take. I agree he was an excellent player, I get why this video was made, although I thought a serie of players was going to be listed. I'm slightly skeptical about the fact to easily establish one guy that was more underrated than all others. Depends on so many ways to look at it. I get so many underrated players coming to my mind... Instinctively, also a very unsuspected one pops : Pierre Larouche. I heard by more than one guy that played with him claiming he was on Gretzky level, hockey IQ and skill wise to turn a game around, but got so unfortunate with serious injuries. Then, I guess his story would be better explained in another type of video, since ultimately he didn't put among the greatest stats.

His nickname is Ronnie Franchise. That doesn't sound underrated 😂

Malkin not being on the top 100 is the biggest injustice in hockey...

How is he underrated he was a well respected player lol

Bruh…your overuse of the word potted is ridiculous. Seriously.

@wingman4717

3 ай бұрын

Go on…

He was a boring player to watch, thats why. Skilled, talented, intelligent and productive... but not exciting to watch, like many other greats at his position. Playing his early years in Hartford took attention and spotlight awa, they really sucked back then. All that aside.... Ron Francis was inducted to the HOF on a first ballet, not underrated. He was Captain on many teams, played in All Star games, not underrated. He wasnt chosen on Team Canada much, but competition was stiff at C.

Is it just me, or does something sound really wrong when hockey is commentated by someone with a British accent? Just doesnt work for me...

You're right on point! He was snubbed from so many Canada national teams can't believe he was not on that 1998 squad an instead we had Rob Zamuner... I said it back in the 90s and even today Ron Francis is the most underrated player in NHL history, that season 1995-96 Lemieux (161), Jagr (149), Francis (119) and Neved had (99) points what a team!!! Great career and what a treat to have watched him, great video!

@lukestrachan3677

3 ай бұрын

Canada just had too many options at centre during his career-Gretzky, Messier, Lemieux, Hawerchuk, Yzerman, Sakic, Lindros. Even Yzerman got snubbed a few times. He might not have ever been a top 4 Canadian centre during his career even though he's 5th in career points. I believe he was on the 96 World Cup roster initially, but got injured.

He’s the Curtis Martin of the NHL.

Ronnie Franchise!