Greatest Argo's Kickers of all time????

[argonaut11xx]

So, with the era of Noel (the Christmas kicker) coming to its end, who are the greatest kickers to wear the double blue?
Punter or place kicker, doesnt matter...who are your TOP 5.??

mine are

1- Zenon Andreshysn
2- Hank Illesic
3- Lance Chomyc
4- Noel Prefontaine
5- Mike Vanderjagt

Honerable mention to Dan Giancola...he was one super cool guy....

[paulwoods13]

It's hard to compare guys who both place-kicked and punted to those who did just one of the jobs. Chomyc only ever punted in an emergency, and Ilesic's career as a place-kicker was relatively short. I would say Chomyc was the best place-kicker we ever had, Ilesic the best punter and Prefontaine the best all-around kicker. Vanderjagt was probably a better talent than Prefontaine, but he was with the Argos for only two seasons so I'll take Pre for his combination of versatility, longevity and toughness. The Big Zee was good by 1970s standards but his FG percentage was very low compared with today's kickers, and he tended to miss at inopportune times.

[argonaut11xx]

Hey paulwoods13.... your comments are bang on about comparing kickers (but they are ONLY kickers..haha) actually even your comments about "the Big Z" make sence, when you think about it in terms of the "staright on" vs "the soccer style" f/g kickers.

so, take abit of eveything , even fan favorite into account,

[1argoholic]

Hard to put anyone down by placing them on the bottom of a great list and I was lucky enough to have seen all those guys. I'd have to say for all around kicker Pre. Lance was great to watch as was Hank with that thunderous leg. I really like Vandy as well. We have a artist friend in these parts who dated The Big Z back in the day.

[argonaut11xx]

Zenon is a pretty special person, he is running a ministry in the southern states these days.....

[Argoscflguy]

Lance chomyc baby!!!! He had the coolest haircut! Lol

[larz-7]

all 5 above were special.hard to pick but i will go with pre and i love the fact he was on the sidelines tonite , would be cool if they can get him to away games as well for awhile

[Nob]

All were great.

Personally I like them all, but Ilesic could be a game changer when he was on.

[Nob]

p.s. Plus if I'm not mistaken wasn't Vanderjagt perfect in his post season FG? How can you not like that!

[argolio]

Gotta give the late Dave Mann some love. I'm not sure about his specific stats, but based on his longevity his numbers must hold up pretty well compared to other kickers from the 60s.

[ArgoRavi]

I guess that the likes of Ivan MacMillan, Ian Sunter, Dean Dorsey, Wayne Lammle and Arek Bigos aren't going to get any love in this thread.

[Will]

I guess that the likes of Ivan MacMillan, Ian Sunter, Dean Dorsey, Wayne Lammle and Arek Bigos aren't going to get any love in this thread.

Ron hasn't made an appearance yet so just you wait!

[argonaut11xx]

I guess that the likes of Ivan MacMillan, Ian Sunter, Dean Dorsey, Wayne Lammle and Arek Bigos aren't going to get any love in this thread.

I'd give Dean Dorsey an honorable mention for sure...and Ian Sunter was awesome, but i relate to him more as a ti-cat than Argo...

[ArgoGabe22]

Chris Hardy who became an emergency kicker one game and then I think we signed Steve Chrisite who was 47.

[Hollaway]

Yeah great names through the years, in my opinion the top 3:

1- Mike Vanderjagt
2- Hank Illesic
3- Lance Chomyc

[AngeloV]

Hank Illesic IMO was the best punter this league has ever seen (at least post 1970). I've ranted about this before, but I think it's a shame that he's not in the Hall of Fame, and Bob Cameron is. That's not to take anything away from Cameron, because he was a great punter and had longevity on his side, but Hank did a lot more. Not only was he a great punter, but was also awesome on kickoffs getting great height and distance. Cameron only punted.

How many 17 year olds become professinal, and instantly are the best in their league at what they do? That was Hank. There must be somethig personal between him and the voters.

[ArgoRavi]

Hank Illesic IMO was the best punter this league has ever seen (at least post 1970). I've ranted about this before, but I think it's a shame that he's not in the Hall of Fame, and Bob Cameron is. That's not to take anything away from Cameron, because he was a great punter and had longevity on his side, but Hank did a lot more. Not only was he a great punter, but was also awesome on kickoffs getting great height and distance. Cameron only punted.

How many 17 year olds become professinal, and instantly are the best in their league at what they do? That was Hank. There must be somethig personal between him and the voters.

I know that Hank was close with Marty York which may have rubbed some of the other media the wrong way. I agree that it makes no sense for Ilesic not to be in the HOF today.

[Will]

Unless my CFL encyclopedia ls lying to me then Noel Prefontaine actually has the highest punting average in CFL history.

1- Noel Prefontaine 46.1
2- Joe Zuger 45.5
3- Ken Clark 45.1
4- Bernie Ruoff 44.88
5- Zenon Andrusyshyn 44.87
6- Hank Ilesic 44.75
7- Dave Mann 44.2
8- Mike McTague 43.2
9- Terry Baker 43.1
10- Bob Cameron 42.9

[argos1873]

Maybe its just the timing of when I first started following the Argos, but I always loved the Chomyc-Illesic combo in the 80s. Chomyc was a great placekicker, and Illesic had some booming punts. So I tie them for first. After that its Prefontaine, and then Vanderjagt. I didn't care much for Lammle, and don't really really remember any other kickers except for Baker playing for the Argos. Dean Dorsey was a great kicker too, but had most of his success in Ottawa. I still remember the summer when he had that FG streak going, and broke the record.

For the record, I thought Waters did some great punting in his debut. Hopefully, his FG accuracy picks up. I've always been against import kickers, but at the end of the day, its the performance that matters.

[OV Argo]

Unless my CFL encyclopedia ls lying to me then Noel Prefontaine actually has the highest punting average in CFL history.

1- Noel Prefontaine 46.1
2- Joe Zuger 45.5
3- Ken Clark 45.1
4- Bernie Ruoff 44.88
5- Zenon Andrusyshyn 44.87
6- Hank Ilesic 44.75
7- Dave Mann 44.2
8- Mike McTague 43.2
9- Terry Baker 43.1
10- Bob Cameron 42.9

Yep - and IMO - it can be argued on those stats alone - that Pre is the greatest punter in CFL history; and while he has been a dual kicker some or a lot of the time - he hasn't been consistent enough at that job IMO; Illesic was a great punter with a booming leg (also played a season in the NFL for those who are big on that); and while he had the great leg for deep kick-offs, he basically was a $h*tty FG kicker IMO. Dave Mann was a great punter who also place kicked; and Vanderjagt was a pretty good CFL punter, plus a very good FG kicker (before he went on to cement that deal as the all-time most accurate NFL FG kicker). The Big Z had a super strong leg too, but was very inconsistent at FGs.

SO - seems to me - the Argos have been graced with some all-time great kickers - Pre, Mann, Big Z, Hank and Vandy.

Pre also has the added value as a tough tackler on coverage; plus could also throw the odd pass on a fake kick play. And Mann was a superb athlete who also played offence (leading receiver type) plus some D in the CFL = one of the all-time greatest CFL players IMO.