NHL teams with only European defensemen

[vadim sharifijanov]

i saw this while looking up the '04 flyers, who traded a young justin williams to rent danny markov. i'm sure they would have liked to have williams, and also patrick sharp, later on when both became borderline star level scorers with good two-way ability, and then even later when they split five cups in six years. but danny markov was a good rental. an amazing +17, when the next highest guy on his team was +11, in a run that left them two game 7 goals short of the stanley cup finals.

that team's defense, in order of icetime:

kim johnsson
vladimir malakhov
danny markov
marcus ragnarsson
mattias timander
with rookies joni pitkanen getting the lion's share of the #6 role and fellow rookie denis seidenberg picking up a few games

i don't think i've ever noticed a team with no north american defensemen before, let alone one that was so competitive.

Click to read more...

 

[MXD]

i saw this while looking up the '04 flyers, who traded a young justin williams to rent danny markov. i'm sure they would have liked to have williams, and also patrick sharp, later on when both became borderline star level scorers with good two-way ability, and then even later when they split five cups in six years. but danny markov was a good rental. an amazing +17, when the next highest guy on his team was +11, in a run that left them two game 7 goals short of the stanley cup finals.

that team's defense, in order of icetime:

kim johnsson
vladimir malakhov
danny markov
marcus ragnarsson
mattias timander
with rookies joni pitkanen getting the lion's share of the #6 role and fellow rookie denis seidenberg picking up a few games

i don't think i've ever noticed a team with no north american defensemen before, let alone one that was so competitive.

Well... They did have one NA D-Men, but I'm sure you already know that...

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Well... They did have one NA D-Men, but I'm sure you already know that...

you mean eric desjardins? so yeah, i'm only counting the playoffs.

Injuries plagued Desjardins late in his career. A broken foot knocked him out the 2003 playoffs. He missed nearly three months with a broken forearm during the 2003-04 season, and on the eve of the 2004 playoffs, the plate that had been surgically implanted in the arm broke, causing him to miss the postseason.

but here's something i forgot about:

The Flyers advanced to the Eastern Conference Final but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games. Decimated by injuries, the Flyers resorted to playing rookie Joni Pitkanen and forward Sami Kapanen for long stretches on defense.

https://www.nhl.com/news/desjardins-inducted-into-flyers-hall-of-fame/c-754162

poor sami kapanen. that was the year darcy tucker concussed him so he didn't know up from down right? i remember he was good back there, though.



interesting to look back at that flyers roster. i didn't realize that near the deadline they traded chris therien to dallas and eric weinrich to st. louis, both for practically nothing, then also sending jim van der meer to chicago to rent alexei zhamnov. that's while picking up markov, timander, and malakhov in the second half of the season. three canadian guys out, two russians and a swede in. markov was the toughest SOB of the bunch and was much needed to make up for the loss of yushkevich, but still, how's that for a bobby clarke team?


i think the team for the first half of the season looked like this:

desjardins
johnsson (SWE)
ragnarsson (SWE)
therien
pitkanen (FIN)
vandermeer

and then after the trades and desjardins' injury became:

johnsson (SWE)
malakhov (RUS)
markov (RUS)
ragnarsson (SWE), then kapanen (FIN) after ragnarsson got hurt
timander (SWE)
pitkanen (FIN), with seidenberg (DEU) getting spot duty when pitkanen was scratched

 

[Brodeur]

Malakhov was great when he was on, but that only seemed to happen during contract years during the later half of his career. With Stevens out in 2004, Lou tried to Malakhov from the Rangers but there was more or less an unstated trade embargo between the two clubs. If I recall correctly, Lou tried to get Atlanta to be the middle man to get it done.

Malakhov was solid against us in the playoffs that year. Unfortunately that led to Lou signing him to that two year deal coming out of the lockout. And then we were all introduced to the new 35 and over deal.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

2004 flyers, after the trade deadline.

desjardins out for the year and they traded away chris therien so their d was all-european: kim johnsson, marcus ragnarsson, vlad malakhov, matthias timander, rookie joni pitkanen, rookie dennis seidenberg getting a few games, deadline pickup danny markov. sami kapanen played a bit at d too when they were short.

up front, an entire line of americans (leclair, roenick, amonte), and three slovakians who may or may not have played together (radovan somik, handzus, and branko radivojevic). add the russian zhamnov, the american brashear, and the finnish kapanen and you’re left with just primeau, recchi, gagne, and rookie patrick sharp, who didn’t play all the games.

the other canadian was backup sean burke. american robert esche was the starter.

i did a little digging and the story of this team's non-canadianness is deeper.

checking center claude lapointe checked himself into the substance abuse program two months into the season. after two months in the program, he returned to the lineup but ended up relapsing after the first game of the playoffs, ending his career. -1 canadian

after a long audition, youngster eric chouinard wasn't ready (he would never be) and was sent down to the AHL. he was soon traded to minnesota for a draft pick. -1 canadian / tally: -2

their first major transaction actually added a canadian. down two centers, they traded prospects and picks to add mike comrie, who was -- you guessed it -- holding out. +1 canadian / tally: -1

the big thing is their best defenseman, and arguably their best player, eric desjardins, was out for the playoffs. desjardins broke his arm in january and missed three months, then came back right before the playoffs but apparently broke it again playing catch with his son. -1 canadian / tally: -2

the original desjardins injury, combined with an injury to marcus ragnarsson, pushed the flyers to get deeper on d. they traded the young, promising justin williams, who was stuck behind mark recchi, sami kapanen, and tony amonte at RW, to carolina for danny markov. they also sent a draft pick to the islanders for matthias timander. -1 canadian / tally: -3

with primeau and roenick both out with longterm head injuries, bobby clarke picked another center, alex zhamnov, who had proven chemistry with tony amonte from chicago. they had to give up young defenseman jim vandermeer in a package that also included prospect colin fraser and the pick that became bryan bickell. -1 canadian / tally: -4

starting goalie jeff hackett mysteriously stops being able to play goalie, or even stand up straight, like charles barkley in space jam. it turns out he has vertigo and he retires from the game. they trade comrie, whom hitchcock predictably hated, to phoenix to pick up sean burke, as well as a third big slovakian in branko radivojvic, and prospect ben eager, who was a couple of years away. +1, -2 canadians / tally: -5

they added a third russian at the deadline, vlad malakhov. due partially to salary concerns and partially to give veteran soldiers nearing the end of their careers an opportunity to play on playoff teams, they then shipped out eric weinrich and the longest-serving flyer, chris therien. (weinrich is american, but the all-european defense corp they had in the playoffs is a bizarre thing, so i wanted to point it out.) -1 canadian / tally: -6

the lines were all over the place, partially due to injuries and kapanen having to play defense, partially because this was a really versatile team, but the final roster, after lapointe departed after game one of the playoffs:

leclair (LW, usa), gagne (LW, can), handzus (C/LW, svk), zhamnov (C/LW, rus), brashear (LW, usa), somik (LW, svk), primeau (C, can), roenick (C, usa), sharp (C, can), recchi (RW, can), kapanen (RW/D, fin), amonte (RW, usa), radivojevic (RW, svk), johnsson (D, swe), malakhov (D, rus), markov (D, rus), ragnarsson (D, swe), timander (D, swe), pitkanen (D, fin), seidenberg (D, deu), esche (G, usa), burke (G, can).

seidenberg only got into the lineup for three games, dressed as the 7th defenseman in case another d went down or kapanen was having trouble.

ironically, nik antropov of all people talked about exploiting the flyers' defense physically because it was too european. that series was, of course, a bloodbath.

and speaking of the team being really euro but capably bloodthirsty, let us not forget about the bloodbath against ottawa during the regular season to avenge havlat sticking recchi in the face.

i suppose i should also mention canadian goon todd fedoruk here, who got into one single playoff game against the leafs and didn't fight anyone (though he did get a boarding penalty). he also finished a team worst -2 in less than seven minutes of the 4-1 loss. he didn't play in the ottawa game either, so i guess the flyers didn't need him to be the big and bad.

and a random sidenote: a lot of guys on that team went on to win multiple cups with the kings and blackhawks. justin williams, simon gagne, patrick sharp, colin fraser (won cups on both teams), bryan bickell. other than gagne, they all were unceremoniously dumped. and right before the '03-'04 season started, philly also drafted two more guys who would win multiple cups with the kings: jeff carter and mike richards.

EDIT: oh and i forgot that handzus also played on both the kings and the blackhawks (twice), winning a cup with the blackhawks in 2013. weird.

okay more weird stuff with the 2004 flyers, who came within a goal of forcing OT in game seven of the ECF. ironically, one of the two goals scored against them in that 2-1 loss was by ruslan fedotenko, whom they traded a year earlier for the fourth overall pick (which they used to select finnish defenseman joni pitkanen)--

simon gagne, 1 cup, LA, 2012. traded to tampa for almost nothing in 2010 to shed cap

dr. mark recchi, 1 cup, boston, 2011. let go as a UFA, after which he signed in pittsburgh, who at the deadline would trade him to carolina, where he would win his second cup.

michal handzus, 1 cup, chicago, 2013. traded to LA for the laughably bad kyle calder, who a few months later was traded to detroit for jason white chocolate williams.

kim johnsson, 1 cup, chicago 2010 (kind of). let walk as a UFA, after which he signed with minnesota.

justin williams, 2 cups, LA 2012 and 2014. traded to carolina (where he won his first cup) for danny markov.

patrick sharp, 3 cups, chicago 2010, 2013, 2015. traded for nothing because hitchcock wouldn't play him.

dennis seidenberg, 1 cup, boston 2011. also played against chicago in the 2013 SCF. traded to phoenix to rent petr nedved.

colin fraser, 2 cups, chicago 2010 and LA 2012. traded to chicago with jim vandermeer and the bickell pick to rent alex zhamnov.

bryan bickell, 3 cups, chicago 2010, 2013, 2015. drafted by chicago using philly's 2nd round pick, acquired with jim vandermeer and colin fraser for zhamnov.

ben eager, 1 cup, chicago 2010. traded to chicago to reacquire jim vandermeer.

jeff carter, 2 cups, LA 2012, 2014. traded because he was a party boy to columbus for jake voracek and the sean couturier pick.

mike richards, 2 cups, LA, 2012, 2014. traded because he was a party boy to LA for wayne simmonds and brayden schenn.

20 cups over six seasons:

2010: sharp, eager, fraser, bickell, johnsson

2011: recchi, seidenberg

2012: williams, richards, carter, fraser, gagne

2013: sharp, bickell, handzus

2014: williams, richards, carter

2015: sharp, bickell

the flyers, of course, lost in the 2010 stanley cup finals against the blackhawks.