The greatest team ever assembled

[MojoJojo]

I nominate the 2005-2006 Ottawa Senators.

If they had competed in the Olympics, all the commentators said they would have won a gold medal

 

[NyQuil]

I nominate the 2005-2006 Ottawa Senators.

If they had competed in the Olympics, all the commentators said they would have won a gold medal

Sadly, we'll never know for sure.

They probably would have beaten Canada.

 

[XploD]

yeh but thats like saying Italy was the best team at the world cup... sorry Im just an aussie who is still bitter about the penalty

Well unfortunately those cheating ****s were the best team. Let in only two goals if I'm not mistaken. One own goal and one penalty.

As much as I hate them more than anything in the world they were the best team this WC.

 

[canucksfan]

The '81 team was undefeated going into the final game; the '76 squad was shut out by the Czechs in the prelims.

Ya, I was wrong. I even have the DVD's and for some reason I thought it was 0-0. However, even though the 76' team lost and the 81' team didn't in the round robin the 76' team was still better than the 81' team. If you compare each team player by player it's not even that close.

 

[canucksfan]

Yeah, just your nice little average All-star game. Oh, c´mon! It was Team Canada in all but name (three Swedes don´t make much difference) and after the 3rd game Howie Meeker and Bobby Orr were acting like it was the funeral of Canadian/NHL hockey. So shocked they were! Actually, it is quite comical to watch how seriously they react to the loss!

Anyway, there´s no way NHL all-stars wanted to lose to the Soviets in their own rink with their best possible team and everyone (supposedly) in top condition.

I agree it wasn't an all-star game all I said was it was similar to one. It's a lot different playing for the NHL than playing for your country.

In the first game the NHL all-stars only used four defencemen. In the last game they only used five. They played three games in four nights.

 

[Sens Rule]

I nominate the 2005-2006 Ottawa Senators.

If they had competed in the Olympics, all the commentators said they would have won a gold medal

Hasek would have been injured 5 minutes into the Olympics anyway!

 

[VladNYC*]

79 Soviet Team Hands Down. What those guys did when they came over to play the nhl allstars and in the world championships and the olympics was beyond words. The only thing that tarnishes their record is " The Miracle " and lossing to the Flyers. I can live with a fluke and lossing 1 game to the the dirtiest peice of crap team in hockey history. Every time the Soviet team stepped on North American Ice it was a hockey revolution, it was electric, with people seeing something they never saw before everytime. These guys were the best of the best and i would take them over any team today or any team of yesteryear. I would take Kharlamov over Gretzky any day and Maltsev over Mario, Tretiak over any goalie ever. Look at the roster, Makhilov, Petrov, MAKAROV, etc etc. These are guys you would b e able to make franchises around even now.

When Bobby Orr and Howie Meeker were asked about the team they just played in 1979 this is what Meeker said:


"Every player on their team can stick handle and pass better than us. They skate lighter than we do and seem to have lighter contact with the ice. They skate differently and when they come over here I can always tell which ones are the Europeans because of the way they skate."

How any one who knows their hockey hostory can vote other wise is beyond me.

 

[theprogoalie777]

I think Canada's team in '02 was a very good team, they played awsome!! That is my opinion!

 

[tape-2-tape]

The only thing that tarnishes their record is " The Miracle " and lossing to the Flyers. I can live with a fluke and lossing 1 game to the the dirtiest peice of crap team in hockey history.

It seems that "dirtiest peice of crap team in hockey history" beat an over confident Russian squad who thought it would be a cake walk. To bad they couldn't figure out that it was the Gold Medal game and lived-up to thier rep.

I still hurts...huh?

 

[tape-2-tape]

How any one who knows their hockey hostory can vote other wise is beyond me.

I vote for the amateur college kids who beat the strongest team on the planet when it mattered most.

 

[chooch*]

79 Soviet Team Hands Down. What those guys did when they came over to play the nhl allstars and in the world championships and the olympics was beyond words. The only thing that tarnishes their record is " The Miracle " and lossing to the Flyers. I can live with a fluke and lossing 1 game to the the dirtiest peice of crap team in hockey history. Every time the Soviet team stepped on North American Ice it was a hockey revolution, it was electric, with people seeing something they never saw before everytime. These guys were the best of the best and i would take them over any team today or any team of yesteryear. I would take Kharlamov over Gretzky any day and Maltsev over Mario, Tretiak over any goalie ever. Look at the roster, Makhilov, Petrov, MAKAROV, etc etc. These are guys you would b e able to make franchises around even now.

When Bobby Orr and Howie Meeker were asked about the team they just played in 1979 this is what Meeker said:


"Every player on their team can stick handle and pass better than us. They skate lighter than we do and seem to have lighter contact with the ice. They skate differently and when they come over here I can always tell which ones are the Europeans because of the way they skate."

How any one who knows their hockey hostory can vote other wise is beyond me.

Challenge Cup was a meaningless contest because "Team" NHL had played together for 2 practices not since 16 years of age on the same line etc etc like the russians.

NHL destroyed Soviets in G1, G2 was almost even 5-4 Soveits and Soviets destroyed Cheevers and a tired defence in G3. Big deal - after Habs won their 4th Cup later that year I recall Trottier saying Habs would have swept the Russians on their own.

NHLers played like what they were, a collection of stars thrown together in midseason for 3 games.

 

[Zine]

Challenge Cup was a meaningless contest because "Team" NHL had played together for 2 practices not since 16 years of age on the same line etc etc like the russians.

NHL destroyed Soviets in G1, G2 was almost even 5-4 Soveits and Soviets destroyed Cheevers and a tired defence in G3. Big deal - after Habs won their 4th Cup later that year I recall Trottier saying Habs would have swept the Russians on their own.

NHLers played like what they were, a collection of stars thrown together in midseason for 3 games.

For every Trottier quote there are countless others that contradict him.

"We cant' say anymore that hockey is ours. We have to start teaching our young players the fundamentals again." - Serge Savard

They were intense. They knocked us off the puck every chance they got. They were simply better than we were. - Bobby Clarke

"Every player on their team can stick handle and pass better than us. They skate lighter than we do and seem to have lighter contact with the ice. They skate differently and when they come over here I can always tell which ones are the Europeans because of the way they skate. I don't know, maybe it's their teaching methods?" - Howie Meeker

....etc, etc, etc

The problem with your excuse is that the top players on Team NHL were also blown out by the Soviets in the '81 CC final -- not to mention they also had a young Gretzky playing with them. Any excuses for that loss? Heck, they had home ice advantage for both series.

I think the most impressive thing about the '79 and '81 Soviet teams is that they absolutely destroyed their opponents in clutch situations. They seemed to be able to elevate their game when it counted.

 

[tape-2-tape]

I think the most impressive thing about the '79 and '81 Soviet teams is that they absolutely destroyed their opponents in clutch situations. They seemed to be able to elevate their game when it counted.

There's no doubt that those were great Soviet teams 79-81 but what happened to thier clutch performance when it really counted in a Gold Medal game?

Sometimes it seems as if that Miracle team just dosen't get much credit for thier performance in Lake Placid on these boards and that's a damn shame IMO.

 

[chooch*]

For every Trottier quote there are countless others that contradict him.

"We cant' say anymore that hockey is ours. We have to start teaching our young players the fundamentals again." - Serge Savard

They were intense. They knocked us off the puck every chance they got. They were simply better than we were. - Bobby Clarke

"Every player on their team can stick handle and pass better than us. They skate lighter than we do and seem to have lighter contact with the ice. They skate differently and when they come over here I can always tell which ones are the Europeans because of the way they skate. I don't know, maybe it's their teaching methods?" - Howie Meeker

....etc, etc, etc

The problem with your excuse is that the top players on Team NHL were also blown out by the Soviets in the '81 CC final -- not to mention they also had a young Gretzky playing with them. Any excuses for that loss? Heck, they had home ice advantage for both series.

I think the most impressive thing about the '79 and '81 Soviet teams is that they absolutely destroyed their opponents in clutch situations. They seemed to be able to elevate their game when it counted.

You cant compare Team Canada 81 to Team NHL 79.

btw Team Caada 81 didnt lose much even with a weak goalie and aging stars.

 

[The_Eck]

The best team ever in the NHL is the '76-77 Canadiens. This is not a discussion whatsoever. 60-8-12 for 132 points. Lafleur wins the Hart, the Art Ross, Shutt leads the NHl in goals, Robinson wins the Norris, Dryden wins the Vezina. Plus this team sweeps a very good Bruins team in the Finals.

But the best team ever assembled is the 1976 Canada Cup team for Canada. I like the '87 Team with Gretzky and Lemieux but Vachon is no worse at the time than Fuhr, and the '76 defence kills the '87 one. The '87 team has Bourque, Coffey and Murphy. Pretty damn good. But after that its Patrick, Crossman, hartsburg and Rochefort. The '76 team has Orr, Robinson, Potvin, Lapointe, Savard and a seldom used Watson.

Then up front there's Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Gilmour, Hawerchuk, Goulet, Anderson, Propp, Sutter, Tocchet, C. Lemieux, Dineen

Compare that to '76. Lafleur, Clarke, Perreault, Sittler, Dionne, Barber, Hull, Esposito, Mahovolich, Leach, Shutt, McDonald, Martin, Gainey, Gare.

I mean the worst forward might be Gare. The guy had 50 goals that year. That says something. Gretzky and Lemieux were at or near their primes and no one on '76 is as good but Lafleur, Perreault, and Clarke were the best players in the game at the time. I'll take '76 over any team ever!

That is true, the '76 team did have more depth than the '87 version of team canada. But you can't deny the greatest power play unit ever assembled came from the '87 team with Bourque, Coffey, Lemieux, Messier and Gretzky.

 

[The_Eck]

The game wasn't meaningless. The winner of that game got to play the USA instead of the Czechs.

The 8-1 score is misleading a bit. Canada dominated the first period. The second period was even and the third period the Soviets dominated. Canada was down 3-1 after the second period. It's not like the Soviets dominated the whole game. Tretiak was outstanding. He was the main reason why the Soviets won. Liut was average and in an important game like that you can't be average. The last goal the Soviets scored he didn't even move.

Perreault was so important to Canada in that tournament. In four games he had nine points. He was playing some of his best hockey in that tournament. Gretzky, Perreault and LaFleur were the top line in the tournament. Canada needed to score in the final game and Perreault might have made a difference.

The Challenge Cup was more like an all-star game. The NHL players were playing for the NHL instead of for their country.

Like I said earlier the the Soviets didn't dominate Canada like the score says. The 1981 Team Canada wasn't Canada's best ever. The 81' team wouldn't crack the top three.

A score of 4-1 can be misleading, but 8-1??? That's just a complete embarassment.

 

[Zine]

There's no doubt that those were great Soviet teams 79-81 but what happened to thier clutch performance when it really counted in a Gold Medal game?

Sometimes it seems as if that Miracle team just dosen't get much credit for thier performance in Lake Placid on these boards and that's a damn shame IMO.

I'm an American but I have to admit that the 1980 U.S. team wasn't that good (compared to other teams we're talking about here). I mean if they really were that good they wouldn't have call it a Miracle.

It was simply one of those weird and special things that happen in sports. For those 2 weeks they were unbeatable -- but in the big picture, that team had no business being on the ice with the Soveits, Czechs or whoever. Heck, they were getting pounded by NHL teams earlier in the season.

All the other teams mentioned on this thread would've been dominant whenever and wherever they played. The '80 team was not. Sure, they showed up when it counted but so did Switzerland in this year's olympics when they beat the Canadians and Czechs. Yet, I don't think anybody really thinks the Swiss are in Canada or the Czechs league.

 

[tape-2-tape]

I'm an American but I have to admit that the 1980 U.S. team wasn't that good (compared to other teams we're talking about here). I mean if they really were that good they wouldn't have call it a Miracle.

Very good points that you made but I still feel that the 80 team was very deserving and pretty much beat the Russians at thier very own game. Even they said that the 80 Miracle team totally outskated them throughout the game and they basically were waiting for them to fold up the tents but it never happened. Call it an emotional wave, pride, speed, discipline, goaltending, ect.....ect.....they handled that team and yes, held on to win. Brooks knew how to get it out of his players and used national pride as a key motivator but regardless, they performed under enormous odds.

 

[therealdeal]

I'm surprised that many people for the 02 Canada team, it wasn't all that good.

 

[Zine]

You cant compare Team Canada 81 to Team NHL 79.

btw Team Caada 81 didnt lose much even with a weak goalie and aging stars.

You can't put the blame of an 8-1 slaughter on weak goaltending; and even if you did, the goalie IS part of the overall team.

Some Soviet supporter could say the same thing about the '87 CC. That CCCP squad skated neck & neck with arguably the greatest Canadian team ever despite having 2 goaltenders who couldn't stop beach balls. If the '87 Soviets had clutch goaltending would they have won? Good chance. But they didn't and lost - and because of it Canada was the better team.

 

[Marcus-74]

Challenge Cup was a meaningless contest because "Team" NHL had played together for 2 practices not since 16 years of age on the same line etc etc like the russians.

NHL destroyed Soviets in G1, G2 was almost even 5-4 Soveits and Soviets destroyed Cheevers and a tired defence in G3. Big deal - after Habs won their 4th Cup later that year I recall Trottier saying Habs would have swept the Russians on their own.

NHLers played like what they were, a collection of stars thrown together in midseason for 3 games.

Yes, and the Moon is made out of cheese. If the game 2 of the Challenge Cup was close, why the shots were so heavily in the Soviets´ favour (31-16)? Why even Scotty Bowman and Bobby Clarke admitted that they were outclassed in that game? And why are Orr, Meeker and Irvin making such a big deal out of a meaningless contest?

And the most important question: Why do I even bother? I know it´s like talking to a wall...
Hell, I won´t. After this one

 

[Peter25]

I have the 3rd game of the Challence Cup on tape. Larry Robinson was interviewed in the first intermission (when the score was still 0-0). He was asked how he felt about this game. Robinson said something like this: "For me this game is more important than the 7th game of the Stanley Cup final." He also said he felt like he was playing for the honor of his country even if he represented the NHL.

According to Robinson this series was a VERY big deal back then. Heck, it was called "The series of the century" before the games started.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

76 Team Canada

NHL---no question '76 Habs.


What about the 5 year run by our WJ squad. Of the many different teams, which was greatest?

BTW to the poster above talking about our college kids......you must mean Alberta's Bears

 

[Marcus-74]

Actually, the Soviets downplayed the Challenge Cup too. I think Tikhonov´s party line at the time was something like "This is just a test for us before the World Championships blabla"...

So basically we had two unmotivated teams in a meaningless contest... Well, the Soviets still won (and easily, in the end).

And whatever anyone says, it was the first time both had (almost) their best possible teams against each other.

 

[nik jr]

It seems that "dirtiest peice of crap team in hockey history" beat an over confident Russian squad who thought it would be a cake walk. To bad they couldn't figure out that it was the Gold Medal game and lived-up to thier rep.

I still hurts...huh?

that's referring to the flyers, not team usa.