Which single-season roster would be the greatest team with players in their primes?
- Thread starter kmad
- Start date
Czech Your Math
I am lizard king
Going to be tough to beat a team with Hasek at goalie... but wouldn't mind seeing a match with the 1990-91 Penguins squad if they were all in their primes:
G- Tom Barrasso
Defensemen
---------------
Paul Coffey
Grant Jennings
Larry Murphy
Gordie Roberts
Ulf Samuelsson
Peter Taglianetti
(Zarley Zalapski)
Forwards
------------
Phil Bourque
Bob Errey
Ron Francis
Jiri Hrdina
Jaromir Jagr
Mario Lemieux
Troy Loney
Joe Mullen
Barry Pederson
Mark Recchi
Kevin Stevens
Tony Tanti
Bryan Trottier
Scott Young
(Rob Brown)
(John Cullen)
(traded before playoffs)
G- Tom Barrasso
Defensemen
---------------
Paul Coffey
Grant Jennings
Larry Murphy
Gordie Roberts
Ulf Samuelsson
Peter Taglianetti
(Zarley Zalapski)
Forwards
------------
Phil Bourque
Bob Errey
Ron Francis
Jiri Hrdina
Jaromir Jagr
Mario Lemieux
Troy Loney
Joe Mullen
Barry Pederson
Mark Recchi
Kevin Stevens
Tony Tanti
Bryan Trottier
Scott Young
(Rob Brown)
(John Cullen)
(traded before playoffs)
Big Phil
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- Nov 2, 2003
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- 4,146
Anyone care to try and fight off the 1967 Leafs in their primes? I'm going to adjust Red Kelly to defense on this team. Unbelievable this team would be. Sawchuk, Bower, Kelly, Horton, Stanley, Pronovost, Keon, Armstrong, Pulford, Mahovlich, Pappin. Nicely done.
And take your pick with the 1971 or 1973 Canadiens. The '71 team had Beliveau. The '73 team had Robinson, Shutt and Lafleur by then. Both teams had Dryden, both Mahovlichs, Laperriere, H. Richard, Cournoyer, Savard, Lapointe, Lemaire. Crazy.
Or an underrated team that didn't win would be the 2004 Leafs. Belfour, Leetch, Francis, Roberts, Nieuwendyk, Sundin, Renberg, Reichel, Mogilny, Nolan, McCabe, Kaberle. I remember thinking that if this were 1995 this team would be a lock to win the Cup. Come to think of it, those Leaf teams were very good teams and this was one particular team that could have won and no one would have batted an eyelash
And take your pick with the 1971 or 1973 Canadiens. The '71 team had Beliveau. The '73 team had Robinson, Shutt and Lafleur by then. Both teams had Dryden, both Mahovlichs, Laperriere, H. Richard, Cournoyer, Savard, Lapointe, Lemaire. Crazy.
Or an underrated team that didn't win would be the 2004 Leafs. Belfour, Leetch, Francis, Roberts, Nieuwendyk, Sundin, Renberg, Reichel, Mogilny, Nolan, McCabe, Kaberle. I remember thinking that if this were 1995 this team would be a lock to win the Cup. Come to think of it, those Leaf teams were very good teams and this was one particular team that could have won and no one would have batted an eyelash
Czech Your Math
I am lizard king
Also, the Rangers have a number of good "prime" teams from in the late '90s until the lockout.
Some of the players from '98 to '04 Rangers that never made the playoffs:
Richter, Leetch, Gretzky, Messier, Lindros, Bure, LaFontaine, Fleury, Kovalev, Nedved, M.Savard, Graves, K.Stevens, Holik, Kamensky
Some of the players from '98 to '04 Rangers that never made the playoffs:
Richter, Leetch, Gretzky, Messier, Lindros, Bure, LaFontaine, Fleury, Kovalev, Nedved, M.Savard, Graves, K.Stevens, Holik, Kamensky
Franck
eltiT resU motsuC
Are the dynasty era Edmonton Oilers disqualified from this? 
I'd say their 1987 cup winning team would fit in well in a discussion like this.
I'd say their 1987 cup winning team would fit in well in a discussion like this.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Canadiens Fan
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- Oct 3, 2008
- 737
- 8
Agree.
Jean Beliveau - 1st team all star (6 times), 2nd team all star (4 times)
Maurice Richard - 1st team all star (8 times), 2nd team all star (6 times)
Bert Olmstead - 2nd team all star (2 times)
Bernie Geoffrion - 1st team all star (1 time), 2nd team all star (2 times)
Dickie Moore - 1st team all star (2 times), 2nd team all star (1 time)
Doug Harvey - 1st team all star (10 times), 2nd team all star (1 time)
Henri Richard - 1st team all star (1 time), 2nd team all star (3 times)
Ken Mosdell - 1st team all star (1 time), 2nd team all star (1 time)
Claude Provost - 1st team all star (1 time)
Jean Guy Talbot - 1st team all star (1 time)
Tom Johnson - 1st team all star (1 time), 2nd team all star (1 time)
Donnie Marshall - 2nd team all star (1 time)
Butch Bouchard - 1st team all star (3 times), 2nd team all star (1 time)
Jacques Plante - 1st team all star (3 times), 2nd team all star (4 times)
I haven't checked but I think you would be hard pressed to find a single team in NHL history that had 14 players that at one point in their career had been named to at least one postseason first or second all star team, much less a combined 38 first all star team selections and 27 second all star team selections.
Last edited:
Kyle McMahon
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- May 10, 2006
- 13,301
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Are the dynasty era Edmonton Oilers disqualified from this?
I'd say their 1987 cup winning team would fit in well in a discussion like this.
Was going to say the same thing. The same applies to the early 80's Islanders. Both of these teams had pretty much all of their key players peaking at the same time, no need for much fantasizing.
Blades of Glory
Troll Captain
Dreakmur
Registered User
1919 Senators had Clint Benedict, Eddie Gerard, George Boucher, Spregue Cleghorn, Harry Cameron, Frank Nighbor, Cy Denneny, Jack Darragh, Punch Broadbet, Skene Ronan.
quesosauce
Registered User
TheDevilMadeMe
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Nalyd Psycho
Registered User
Less teams has no barring on who the best player is. Use some logic please. Your line of thinking states that Daniel Sedin magically becomes better than Alex Ovechkin if we reduce the amount of teams. More to the point, it means the lesser players are in the minors.
cynicism
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- Aug 13, 2008
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Not as big a powerhouse as some others mentioned, but I've always felt that the 03-04 Leafs would've gone far in the playoffs if you could've used a time machine and replaced the vets with younger and healthier versions of themselves:
Roberts-Sundin-Mogilny
Nolan-Nieuwendyk-Antropov
Renberg-Francis-Fitzgerald
Domi- Reichel-Tucker
ex: Kilger, Stajan
Mccabe-Leetch
Kaberle-Johanssen
Klee-Marchment
ex: Berg
Belfour
Kidd
Roberts-Sundin-Mogilny
Nolan-Nieuwendyk-Antropov
Renberg-Francis-Fitzgerald
Domi- Reichel-Tucker
ex: Kilger, Stajan
Mccabe-Leetch
Kaberle-Johanssen
Klee-Marchment
ex: Berg
Belfour
Kidd
unknown33
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- Dec 8, 2009
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I don't know about the greatest of all-time, but I remember thinking the 2004 Rangers had a pretty impressive list of players who were really good in their primes. I believe at one time, the Rangers had Jagr, Bure, Lindros, Fleury, Kovalev, Leetch, and Messier.
Fredrik_71
Registered User
The 55-56 Habs take the price for shure if in context of the period. And thats what this forum is about. But the 50-mile limit rule gave non-canadian teams a disadvantage for shure considering where the talentpool laid in those years. The NHL was basically a canadian league.
/Cheers
Fish on The Sand
Untouchable
By 2004 none of those players, save Sundin really warranted being in the NHL. If that team won the cup it would have been a miracle.
Fish on The Sand
Untouchable
How about the 2002 Detroit Red Wings?
Yzerman
Fedorov
Robitaille
Hull
Holmstrom
Datsyuk
Larionov
Draper
Shanahan
Lidstrom
Chelios
Olausson
Duchesne
Hasek
Throw in Bowman behind the bench and that's a really tough team to top.
Yzerman
Fedorov
Robitaille
Hull
Holmstrom
Datsyuk
Larionov
Draper
Shanahan
Lidstrom
Chelios
Olausson
Duchesne
Hasek
Throw in Bowman behind the bench and that's a really tough team to top.
Fish on The Sand
Untouchable
The 50 mile limit only applied to to players that weren't already signed by NHL clubs. The best players were all signed at young ages though, and those players were free to sign with whoever they wanted.
norrisnick
The best...
- Apr 14, 2005
- 29,229
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Not so much a top to bottom contender for this thread, but I imagine the '80 Whalers would have loved Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Dave Keon in their primes.
Another interesting one that popped to mind, the '95 Wings would have had a ridiculous D if they had matching primes.
Nick Lidstrom, Slava Fetisov, Paul Coffey, Vladimir Konstantinov, Mark Howe, and Mike Ramsey.
Another interesting one that popped to mind, the '95 Wings would have had a ridiculous D if they had matching primes.
Nick Lidstrom, Slava Fetisov, Paul Coffey, Vladimir Konstantinov, Mark Howe, and Mike Ramsey.
BobbyAwe
Registered User
Tom Johnson, when coach of the 1970-71 Bruins, said that Bruin team was better than the 5 cup Canadien's teams, and that Bruin's team, even though my sentimental favorite, pales in comparison to the dynasties that came later.
Time marches on...athletes get better, not worse...legends die hard.
raleh
Registered User
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