DarkHorse
Go Banana!
- Jul 15, 2003
- 4,145
- 1
Puck Daddy has a neat little dog-days feature called National Hockey League of Nations, where they choose each franchise's best player from the major hockey countries. I thought we could take a shot at predicting our players. This is for the franchise's history.
Canada:
Czech Republic:
Finland:
Russia:
Slovakia:
Sweden:
US:
Rest of the World:
--------------------------
Here are my picks:
Canada: Mike Bossy. Trottier may be considered the more complete player, but Bossy was the man. Maybe one day JT takes over (but I doubt it.)
Czech Republic: A surprisingly strong fight despite there being few options. The nod goes to David Volek, largely due to his goal against the Penguins, but Robert Reichel was a big scorer in his limited time on the Island, and Hamrlik and Martinek both were quality defensemen.
Finland: Mikko Makela. This wasn't the most competitive category. Makela is far and away the best Finn we've seen in the blue and orange, scoring at a decent clip in the post-Glory Days. The next best is probably Sean Bergenheim. Oof.
Russia: Alexei Yashin. Again, a category with little competition. The next best Russian is Vlad Malakhov. Yashin could never live up to his contract, but he was a solid player.
Slovakia: If Chara played on the Island longer he may have taken this, but it's obviously Ziggy Palffy, our brightest light in our darkest days.
Sweden: Stefan Persson. Yes, he benefitted from playing on one of the greatest teams ever, but he was no passenger. Kenny Jonsson is a close second. Though born there, Bobby Nystrom doesn't count.
US: Without a doubt it's Patty LaFontaine. It's just sad how things ended up.
Rest of the World: I would have given this to England's Steve Thomas, but like Nystrom, he grew up in Canada. Frans Nielsen and Mark Streit may have been better players, but the Polish Prince Mariusz Czerkawski was all we had for a good long time, with four 20-goal seasons and two 30-goal seasons.
Canada:
Czech Republic:
Finland:
Russia:
Slovakia:
Sweden:
US:
Rest of the World:
--------------------------
Here are my picks:
Canada: Mike Bossy. Trottier may be considered the more complete player, but Bossy was the man. Maybe one day JT takes over (but I doubt it.)
Czech Republic: A surprisingly strong fight despite there being few options. The nod goes to David Volek, largely due to his goal against the Penguins, but Robert Reichel was a big scorer in his limited time on the Island, and Hamrlik and Martinek both were quality defensemen.
Finland: Mikko Makela. This wasn't the most competitive category. Makela is far and away the best Finn we've seen in the blue and orange, scoring at a decent clip in the post-Glory Days. The next best is probably Sean Bergenheim. Oof.
Russia: Alexei Yashin. Again, a category with little competition. The next best Russian is Vlad Malakhov. Yashin could never live up to his contract, but he was a solid player.
Slovakia: If Chara played on the Island longer he may have taken this, but it's obviously Ziggy Palffy, our brightest light in our darkest days.
Sweden: Stefan Persson. Yes, he benefitted from playing on one of the greatest teams ever, but he was no passenger. Kenny Jonsson is a close second. Though born there, Bobby Nystrom doesn't count.
US: Without a doubt it's Patty LaFontaine. It's just sad how things ended up.
Rest of the World: I would have given this to England's Steve Thomas, but like Nystrom, he grew up in Canada. Frans Nielsen and Mark Streit may have been better players, but the Polish Prince Mariusz Czerkawski was all we had for a good long time, with four 20-goal seasons and two 30-goal seasons.
