Speculation: Detroit Red Wings - all time team?

[Eye of Ra]

Thought it would be fun to combine the best player's in Wings history onto one team. In their prime.


Brendan Shanahan - Steve Yzerman - Gordie Howe
Ted Lindsay - Sergei Fedorov - Brett Hull
Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsuyk - Vyacheslav Kozlov
Bob Probert - Kris Draper - Tomas Holmstrom


Nicklas Lidstrom - Reed Larsson
Niklas Kronwall - Paul Coffey
Brian Rafalski - Vladimir Konstantinov


Dominik Hasek
Chris Osgood


Have I missed anyone? I guess this team would dominate in todays NHL?

Click to read more...

 

[Frk It]

Do they have to have been in their prime when they were on the Wings?

Looks like not with some of your players.
If that's the case Chelios should definitely be on there.
Probably Robitaille too.

 

[waltdetroit]

I would add the following but maybe more if I thought about it more

Red Kelley for Coffey

Ogrodnick for Kozlov

Sawchuk period

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Thought it would be fun to combine the best player's in Wings history onto one team. In their prime.


Brendan Shanahan - Steve Yzerman - Gordie Howe
Ted Lindsay - Sergei Fedorov - Brett Hull
Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsuyk - Vyacheslav Kozlov
Bob Probert - Kris Draper - Tomas Holmstrom


Nicklas Lidstrom - Reed Larsson
Niklas Kronwall - Paul Coffey
Brian Rafalski - Vladimir Konstantinov


Dominik Hasek
Chris Osgood


Have I missed anyone? I guess this team would dominate in todays NHL?

If you include guys weren't in Detroit for their primes, but did play for Detroit.

Shanahan-Yzerman-Howe
Kozlov-Larionov-Fedorov
Lindsay-Delvecchio-Hull
Probert-Draper-Kocur
Zetterberg Datsyuk

Lidstrom-Kelly
Konstantinov-Fetisov
Coffey-Chelios
Salming

Hasek
Sawchuk

Osgood is good, but he's not Sawchuk or Hasek. And he'd be pretty solidly behind CuJo as well

Defense had multiple other options that would be as good, but I feel pretty good about that one.

With the forwards it was tempting to run four scoring lines, but would you want to play rough against this team knowing that Probie and Kocur are waiting for you if you get out of hand? Or hell, Shanny and Howe on the first line and Ted Lindsay waiting on the third?

 

[InjuredChoker]

have we decided to forget all about marcel dionne?

 

[mindfly]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

I think the greatest players of all time, in any sport can succeed during any era. You give Howe all the tools that today's athlete's have and he would still be amazing. I think the fact that the NHL is a much deeper league today than it was 50 years ago would hurt him. But there is no shame in that.

Money is what allows today's players to be so great. They can focus only on their game and nothing else.

 

[Bench]

I think the greatest players of all time, in any sport can succeed during any era. You give Howe all the tools that today's athlete's have and he would still be amazing. I think the fact that the NHL is a much deeper league today than it was 50 years ago would hurt him. But there is no shame in that.

Money is what allows today's players to be so great. They can focus only on their game and nothing else.

Howe would be an elite superstar. He had the hockey IQ and the body. It's not like he wouldn't adapt.

He makes a modern star like Toews look like a little punk.

He'd be fine and then some.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

well if he would be transformed in to today's game, he would get to play against better competition as a kid, better coaching and would develop way differently. gretzky would have been and would be god no matter what time period he plays. 150+ points in these days. no way someone like crosby is even close to him. prime great one would never ever ever lose scoring race to henrik sedin. sedin is nice player but that's it.

100 years from now, maybe depth dman can play at higher level than lids. i wouldn't call them better, though.

domination against peers is the best way to compare players imo.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

If we are putting together an all time team with everyone in their primes... I don't think its unfair to assume that all members would have access to all of the up to date training and equipment advances. So yes. Gordie Howe would still be an All Star.

 

[SoupNazi]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

One of the greatest players of all-time? I sure do think he would be an All-Star. There is ZERO doubt in my mind.

 

[iwtb*]

If the same Cordie Howe who played long time ago played now in his prime he wouldn't be super star. Of course not.

But if he was born now and he had the change to train like all others why he wouldn't? The same talent would be there.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Yeah Bench i agree with that. I just think that he would look a tad worse just because the NHL's talent pool is bigger than it was when Howe played. I certainly think he would still be an elite all star.

 

[Frk It]

Do you really think Gordie Howe in his prime would be an all-star in todays game? lol The game has changed.

Hard to compare players from different eras. What's most important is how much they dominated the era that they played in.

 

[mindfly]

If the same Gordie Howe who played long time ago played now in his prime he wouldn't be super star. Of course not.

^This is what I meant

But if he was born now and he had the change to train like all others why he wouldn't? The same talent would be there.

So, this was the "disclaimer" then

 

[Bench]

^This is what I meant



So, this was the "disclaimer" then

In either scenario you're involving time travel. I'm not sure there's a clear line to be drawn on which is more reasonable.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

A bunch of guys that I didn't list that clearly also belong.


Pat Verbeek
Luc Robitaille
Marcel Dionne
Marcel Pronovost
Larry Murphy
Reed Larson
Dino Ciccareli
Mike Modano
Adam Oates
Sid Abel
John Ogrodnick
Jack Stewart
Norm Ullman

Oh and Marian Hossa could probably find his way onto this team too.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

If I'm making a real team, my top three lines are basically set:

The Production Line
Shanahan-Yzerman-Fedorov
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull/Homer

Those 3 lines all actually played together as top lines, and in doing so they all won a Cup together. I can't not have them as my top 3 lines.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I would add the following but maybe more if I thought about it more

Red Kelley for Coffey

Ogrodnick for Kozlov

Sawchuk period

Some of the names. Clearly all the retired jersey types where Red Kelly should be but obviously his ties to the Leafs have hampered that. The idea that Abel and Delvecchio wouldn't make this team is pretty bad. Sid Abel was a league MVP. When Syd Howe retired he was the all-time leading scorer in NHL history if I remember right.

But Ebbie Goodfellow (won a Hart Trophy) and Bill Quackenbush were big time players in terms of that back-end and are absolutely in this discussion.

I like Vladdy and other guys as much as the next guy, but this is a proud franchise with some of the greatest players ever. Making this list won't be as heavily tilted towards this generation as it is when we do it at least if you were to ask Hockey historians to do it.

 

[Frk It]

A bunch of guys that I didn't list that clearly also belong.


Pat Verbeek
Luc Robitaille
Marcel Dionne
Marcel Pronovost
Larry Murphy
Reed Larson
Dino Ciccareli
Mike Modano
Adam Oates
Sid Abel
John Ogrodnick
Jack Stewart
Norm Ullman

Oh and Marian Hossa could probably find his way onto this team too.

Daniel Alfredsson too.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

If I'm making a real team, my top three lines are basically set:

The Production Line
Shanahan-Yzerman-Fedorov
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Hull/Homer

Those 3 lines all actually played together as top lines, and in doing so they all won a Cup together. I can't not have them as my top 3 lines.

I would rather have the Russian Five together but I get what you're saying.

I would love to see a Russian Five line including Dats too.

Datsyuk-Fedorov-Larionov
Konstantinov-Fetisov

Or

Kozlov-Datsyuk-Larionov
Konstantinov-Fedorov

That would have been ridiculous.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Also there is no need for Probert on this team no matter how much you like him. A team with Shanahan, Howe, Lindsay and probably a prime Chelios if we are using the guys prime years has absolutely no need of an enforcer. Even perhaps the greatest enforcer in NHL history. You have the toughest star to play the game in Howe and probably three of the top five in terms of forwards in that category when you consider that makeup.

Prime Fetisov and Prime Lidstrom is a scary notion, they might not lose a game. Probably better to do this in terms of a Wings jersey so they at least have some tenure with the team. Otherwise this gets very complex. It isn't talked about much because he didn't play in NA when he was, but Fetisov is firmly in the Top 10 D-man all-time to play the game in my opinion if you take out just being in the NHL as a requirement and examine his total career.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

This entire topic has shown me how ridiculous the Wings history is.

They could almost ice two entire 23 man rosters of HoFers. And if you were to cut it down to Red Wing lifers or guys that you associate with the Wings most of all (Shanny for one), you could still fill out a roster with guys from the Hall.

I mean, there are Hart winners and 600 goal scorers who are being left off of an all time team. Yeah there is a modern bias, but even the modern guys are completely worthy of being on an all time best roster.

A guy with 400 career wins is at best the 4th goalie in line for a roster spot and is likely more around 8 or 9.

 

[waltdetroit]

have we decided to forget all about marcel dionne?

OMG & Gary IronMan Unger

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

I don't think anybody has a better All Time team. Maybe Toronto, but that's about it.