NHL All-Decade First & Second Teams

[CanadienShark]

Not sure Fleury deserves to be on the 2nd team, let alone 1st. Lundqvist probably deserves #1. Quick and Price are better picks for #2 than Fleury imo. Hell, even Luongo.

 

[that is unfortunate]

Did the Vegas cup run really change the perception of Fleury that much? Average regular season numbers and constant postseason choking such as getting benched in favor of a rookie or a retiring Vokoun.

I really don't get his popularity, he used to be the most laughed at goalie up until joining Vegas. That 2013 series agaisnt the Isles disqualifies him from any all decade list, he's not top 10 let alone 1st.

 

[LeHab]

Did the Vegas cup run really change the perception of Fleury that much? Average regular season numbers and constant postseason choking such as getting benched in favor of a rookie or a retiring Vokoun.

I really don't get his popularity, he used to be the most laughed at goalies up until joining Vegas. That 2013 series agaisnt the Isles disqualifies him from any all decade list, he's not top 10 let alone 1st.

Great guy in the dressing room aka intangibles.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

Team is fine outside of in net, Lundqvist was absolutely robbed and I'm someone that values Fleury higher than most. His advanced stats in net are incomparable amongst his peers. He's been objectively the best overall goaltender of the 2010's

 

[frisco]

Mine:

1st Team
F-Crosby
F-Ovechkin
F-Malkin
D-Doughty
D-Keith
G-Quick

2nd Team
F-Kane
F-Bergeron
F-Kopitar
D-Karlsson
D-Burns
G-Price

3rd Team
F-Toews
F-Stamkos
F-Giroux
D-Hedman
D-Chara
G-Lundqvist

-No distinction for positions by forward.
-All players are listed in order (Crosby is #1 forward, Giroux is #9)
-Only NHL (regular season and playoffs) stuff is accounted for.

My Best-Carey

 

[wetcoast]

Lundqvist not being on the first team is insane

Pretty much this , as for the position players in both the regular season and playoffs this is a pretty good list IMO.

 

[Voight]

When he was taken 1st OA the team was not in good shape. I know Crosby and Malkin were big parts of that too but Fleury was the guy at first and he was the backbone of the cup.

He was 1 lucky save away from not winning the cup..... it was a good save but to say he was the backbone is just plain wrong. Hell, he was significantly better in the playoffs the year before.

Malkin not being on the first team is a joke. Absolutely deserves to be in over Kane, even if one of his Art Ross trophies was in 2009. Still has a better PPG over the decade than Kane, and more impressive playoff play.

Fleury there makes this team selection even worse.

For one, they stuck with positions so no room for Geno on the first team.

Kane also has more top 10 finishes in goals & points, three good finals runs vs 2 and has the same number of scoring titles & Harts. They both peaked at 28 points in a single playoffs but Kanes next two cup runs beat Malkins other one.

 

[ScaredStreit]

Fleury over Lundqvist? Even as an Islander fan I know that's nothing short of ridiculous.

 

[ScaredStreit]

Yikesss. Dude gave everything he had for you guys and won you your first cup in decades and arguably saved your franchise and this is how you act?

Penguins 3rd Cup (first with Fleury) wasn't last decade. It's irrelevant to the all-star teams of the past decade.

The Penguins did not have a drought that was "decades" long. It was 17 years, which really isn't that long of a drought tbh (I'm sure as a Leafs fan you're well aware of this).

 

[The Sweetness]

Decent list but Fleury on the 1st team is so weird.

It’s arguable he’s top 5 IMO. Lundqvist is #1 for me and you could make a case for Price, Rask, Holtby and Rinne ahead of Fleury.

The guy lost his starting job multiple teams when it was crunch time and never even won a Vezina.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I'm surprised Toews didn't make it somehow....

 

[Regal]

There are players listed as top 100 all time that played in this decade and didn't make the decade team. Both lists by NHL

Toews is the only one whose peak was in the decade though. Datsyuk's was just before and Jagr's was well before. And I think Toews' career is being reevaluated as it's distanced from the cup wins. I'm assuming it's also different voters.

 

[Voight]

Decent list but Fleury on the 1st team is so weird.

It’s arguable he’s top 5 IMO. Lundqvist is #1 for me and you could make a case for Price, Rask, Holtby and Rinne ahead of Fleury.

The guy lost his starting job multiple teams when it was crunch time and never even won a Vezina.

Was never even nominated as a matter of fact

 

[Sparky206]

Quick

2x Jennings
2x Cups
1x Conn Smythe where he single handedly won them a cup with .946SV% and 1.41GA over 20 games

6 out of 10 years under 2.26GGA

Looks like a pretty good decade to me

 

[ColbyChaos]

Malkin not being on the first team is a joke. Absolutely deserves to be in over Kane, even if one of his Art Ross trophies was in 2009. Still has a better PPG over the decade than Kane, and more impressive playoff play.

Fleury there makes this team selection even worse.

Better PPG, Cup clinching goals, WCF clinching goal, 2nd round clinching goals, Conn smythe, playoff hat tricks, what has Malkin done in the playoffs more impressive over that span. Go ahead name it. Malkin hasnt been better than Kane since 2012

 

[newfy]

Malkin not being on the first team is a joke. Absolutely deserves to be in over Kane, even if one of his Art Ross trophies was in 2009. Still has a better PPG over the decade than Kane, and more impressive playoff play.

Fleury there makes this team selection even worse.

I definitely wouldnt have batted an eye if Malkin was ahead of Kane but I do think Kane deserves it a bit more. Points per game is really close but the total points isnt, advantage Kane. Individual hardware has Kane with the edge by one Conn Smythe. Kanes Conn Smythe makes it really hard to argue Malkin has a more impressive playoff resume as well. Just looking at playoff points per game might have Malkin with the edge but Kane has a Smythe, a cup winning goal and might have been the most clutc player of the decade. I remember a few years ago seeing his game 7 numbers being talked about and they were absolutely ridiculous. Dont see Malkins playoffs as more impressive at all.

So its pretty close but I would say the Smythe puts Kane over the top on Malkin.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Sure Fleury had some crap playoffs but lets not forget those "almost nominated for Vezina" regular seasons and the Gold medal he won in the 2010 Olympics, where he would have seen playing time if needed.

Seriously, was he ever Canada's best goalie?

 

[Phrazer]

Price, Rask and Lu all better choices than Fleury

 

[Dekes For Days]

This is about what I expected. They value cups very highly.

 

[rintinw]

He was 1 lucky save away from not winning the cup..... it was a good save but to say he was the backbone is just plain wrong. Hell, he was significantly better in the playoffs the year before.



For one, they stuck with positions so no room for Geno on the first team.

Kane also has more top 10 finishes in goals & points, three good finals runs vs 2 and has the same number of scoring titles & Harts. They both peaked at 28 points in a single playoffs but Kanes next two cup runs beat Malkins other one.

And that's why him and Stamkos are used as wingers in that 2nd team, right?

 

[Voight]

And that's why him and Stamkos are used as wingers in that 2nd team, right?

Didn't even realzie that

Anyways, Kane isnt exactly an awful pick.

Price, Rask and Lu all better choices than Fleury

Holtby & Rinne as well.

 

[Voight]

First team material right here.

 

[rintinw]

Didn't even realzie that

Anyways, Kane isnt exactly an awful pick.



Holtby & Rinne as well.

Obviously, he is clearly Top 4 forward of the decade. So in worst case scenario they missed by one.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

The funny part is that this is clearly about cups, but the two cups MAF won last decade he was a backup. He filled in admirably for Murray in 2017, but he still lost his job to a rookie the year before and rode the pine for the playoffs and won a cup on the bench and then won another on the bench giving the net right back to Murray once he came back from injury.

Compare Lundqvist's playoff stats in the decade to Fleury's, do the cups that were won as a backup really matter? If Lundqvist got traded tomorrow and won a cup with like Colorado on the bench behing Grubauer, would that change his legacy?

From 2010-current in the playoffs:

Lundqvist: 47-49 2.16 GAA .926SV%

Fleury: 40-38 2.64 GAA .911SV%



Hell, the time Fleury won the cup as a starter (2009) he was a2.61 GAA and .908 SV% goalie in those playoffs. That's insane, Lundqvist would've never won a round on the Rangers teams he carried let alone won the Cup with numbers like that.

All those years the Rangers had "great teams" you say? The great teams that averaged 2.2 goals per game scored in the playoffs from 2012-2017, the Rangers contention window? Talk about no margin for error for your goalie.

Ryan McDonagh was the Rangers' leading scorer in their cup run in 2014 with 17 points in 24 games. That's the leading scorer in their best playoff season. Lundqvist was 2.14 and .927 in those playoffs, back to back 2-1 game 7 victories in the first 2 rounds coming back from 3-1 down vs Pitt in round 2. Shutout in game 6 vs Montreal to win the conference. Lost 3 games in the Final in OT.

I really don't understand how people look back and say "well Lundqvist played on stacked Rangers teams for a while" maybe they just didn't pay attention that closely or it's just selective memory. As if the leading scorer on 2013-14 cup team in the regular season wasn't Zuccarello with 59 points. Or even when they won the President's trophy in 2015, the leading scorer was Nash with 69 points.

This is a team that over the last 15 years had no business ever being as good as they were or going as deep as they did and they only did because Lundqvist dragged them as far as he possibly could. His elimination game stats and Game 7 stats are absurd. He played on teams with weak offenses, let alone TWO generational talents like Crosby or Malkin.

Fleury, good guy everyone likes him and he's Canadian. All that working in his favor. Truth is, he was a talented goalie who when he was hot was amazing but the sum of his parts was a league average, slightly above league average goalie who was lucky to be on the teams he was on.

 

[Voight]

These idiots are going to vote Fleury into the HHoF...

Luckily, the writers have 0 say unlike in baseball. Otherwise, you'd be 100% correct.

Mind you the selection committee has inducted Andreychuk, Dick Duff, Dino Ciccarelli and Phil Housley over the years so anything is possible.....

The one thing that gives me hope is that they are already notoriously stingy when it comes to goalies and from MAF"s era you have multiple guys who were better.