Discussion Quarter Century Top Team.

[Iron Fist]

NHL is making every teams top players list from Jan 1, 2000- Jan 1, 2025.

 

CRITERIA

 

-6 FORWARDS

-4 DEFENSEMEN 

-2 GOALTENDERS.

 

 

MY TEAM:

 

FORWARDS:

1. Henrik Sedin

2. Daniel Sedin

3. Ryan Kesler

4. Markus Naslund

5. Elias Petterson 

6. JT Miller

 

DEFENSEMEN:

1. Quinn Hughes

2.Alex Edler

3. Mattias Ohlund

4. Kevin Bieksa

 

GOALTENDERS:

1.Roberto Luongo

2. Thatcher Demko

 

Thoughts? What is everyone's list? 

 

Post below.

[Canuck You]

.

 

 

Edited Friday at 08:36 AM by Canuck You

[SuchaNuxtalgia]

From the title, had assumed some journo was asking the question: "Which team/franchise has been the best over the past 25 yrs?"

 

Think it's an interesting angle..sadly the Cdn teams are left in the dust.

 

Pitt, TBay, Det, Chi..dunno?

 

Bonus: How would one rank the 7 Cdn teams since 2000?

[Jess]

I'll assume this is not just best at any single moment but more of a "greatest" where longevity counts too.

 

FORWARDS:

1. Henrik Sedin

2. Daniel Sedin

3. Markus Naslund

4. J.T. Miller

5. Elias Petterson 

6. Ryan Kesler

 

Others: B. Horvat, B. Boeser, A. Burrows--lots of really good names from the early 2000s to consider too.

 

DEFENSEMEN:

1. Quinn Hughes

2. Alex Edler

3. Mattias Ohlund

4. Sami Salo

 

Others: K. Bieksa, E. Jovanovksi

 

GOALTENDERS:

1. Roberto Luongo

2. Thatcher Demko

 

Others: J. Markstrom

[Jess]

9 minutes ago, SuchaNuxtalgia said:

From the title, had assumed some journo was asking the question: "Which team/franchise has been the best over the past 25 yrs?"

 

Think it's an interesting angle..sadly the Cdn teams are left in the dust.

 

Pitt, TBay, Det, Chi..dunno?

 

Bonus: How would one rank the 7 Cdn teams since 2000?

 

Straight up best franchise is interesting. You got me interested and I made a list haha:

 

My top 10:

 

1. Lightning

2. Penguins

3. Avalanche

4. Blackhawks

5. Red Wings

6. Golden Knights

7. Ducks

8. Bruins

9. Hurricanes

10. Kings

 

As for Canadian teams, here are how they rank (overall NHL in parantheses)

1. Senators (18)

2. Oilers (20)

3. Canucks (22)

4. Canadiens (23)

5. Maple Leafs (24)

6. Flames (27)

7. Jets (31) - Including Thrashers

 

I also made a list of the three greatest playoff chokers and greatest playoff surprisers for teams that disappointed when making the playoffs and teams that were surprisingly good when they made the playoffs.

 

Biggest Chokers:

 

1. Wild

2. Jets

3. Predators

 

Biggest Surprisers:

1. Blackhawks

2. Ducks

3. Sabres

[Jess]

1 hour ago, Canuck You said:

Messier.....................J/K

 

Bure

Bertuzzi

Brock

J.T Miller

Linden

Nazzy

 

Bieksa

Hughes

Ohlund

Edler

 

McLean

Demmer

 

Gino - Honorable Mention

 

 

 

Bure, McLean and Gino never played for the Canucks in the 21st century and Linden was well past his prime in his second stint.

[Canuck You]

.

[Canuck You]

5 minutes ago, Jess said:

 

Bure, McLean and Gino never played for the Canucks in the 21st century and Linden was well past his prime in his second stint.

Thanks..My bad, Read it wrong....blame it on mary jane.

[IBatch]

1.  Hank

2.  Daniel

3.  Naslund

4.  Kesler

5.  JT Miller

6.  Petey

 

HM  Bertuzzi, Burrows, Brock

 

D.

 

1. QH's 

2. Ohlund

3. Jovo 

4. Bieksa 

 

HM Edler, Hamhuis, Salo 

 

1. Luongo 

2. Demko 

 

HM Miller, Markstrom, Schneider 

 

Miller and EP move up the ranks of course,  two playoffs just isn't enough. 

[Alflives]

Pens, Hawks

 

Huggy Bear

Twins

Bobby Lou

 

lots of other good players, but clearly these four are the cream. 

[Kevin Biestra]

Henrik Sedin

Daniel Sedin

Markus Naslund

JT Miller

Ryan Kesler

Todd Bertuzzi

 

Quinn Hughes

Alexander Edler

Mattias Ohlund

Ed Jovanovski

 

Roberto Luongo

Thatcher Demko

 

 

HM / Close calls...

 

Elias Pettersson, Kevin Bieksa, Jacob Markstrom, Cory Schneider.

 

HM 2nd tier...

 

Alexandre Burrows, Brendan Morrison, Sami Salo, Dan Hamhuis, Brock Boeser.

 

Edited Friday at 08:00 PM by Kevin Biestra

[wai_lai416]

goalie wise i prolly put kirk behind luongo everyone else haven't really proven much just the 94 run prolly puts kirk in there ahead of demko schneider or any other

[Kevin Biestra]

2 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

goalie wise i prolly put kirk behind luongo everyone else haven't really proven much just the 94 run prolly puts kirk in there ahead of demko schneider or any other

 

The thread was for the years 2000-2025 so Kirk is disqualified.  But anyway I would have Luongo, McLean and Brodeur as the top three all time.  Demko is certainly starting to make his case though.

[wai_lai416]

20 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

The thread was for the years 2000-2025 so Kirk is disqualified.  But anyway I would have Luongo, McLean and Brodeur as the top three all time.  Demko is certainly starting to make his case though.

oh right quarter century haha my bad

[denice johnette]

Your "Quarter Century Top Team" for the Canucks looks great! Here’s a quick breakdown:

Forwards:

• Henrik & Daniel Sedin – No-brainers, both legends.
• Ryan Kesler – Great choice for his two-way play and leadership.
• Markus Naslund – A skilled and beloved star.
• Elias Pettersson – Still young but already a key player.
• JT Miller – Been a great addition to the team’s offense.

Defensemen:

• Quinn Hughes – Best offensive defenseman Vancouver’s had in years.
• Alex Edler – Longtime steady presence on the blue line.
• Mattias Ohlund – Tough and reliable, a great pick.
• Kevin Bieksa – Tough, gritty, and a fan favorite.

Goaltenders:

• Roberto Luongo – The clear choice as the best goalie in team history.
• Thatcher Demko – A solid pick, given his recent performances, though some might argue for Kirk McLean.

Overall, it’s a strong team with a great mix of skill, leadership, and grit. There’s room for debate, but you’ve captured the top players really well! Would love to see others’ lists too.

[RJCF96]

My list:

 

6 Forwards:

• Henrik Sedin
• Daniel Sedin
• Markus Naslund
• Ryan Kesler
• Elias Pettersson
• JT Miller

HM: Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, Alex Burrows, Bo Horvat & Brock Boeser

 

4 Defenseman:

• Quinn Hughes
• Mattias Ohlund
• Alex Edler
• Dan Hamhuis

HM: Kevin Bieksa, Ed Jovanovksi, Sami Salo, Chris Tanev

 

2 Goaltenders:

• Roberto Luongo
• Thatcher Demko

HM: Ryan Miller & Jacob Markstrom

 

IMO: Defense is the hardest to choose. Hughes is hands down #1 and got that locked up pretty handily. However, it was really tough to choose 3 out of Mattias Ohlund, Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo & Chris Tanev. In the end I went with Mattias Ohlund, Alex Edler and Dan Hamhuis. Ohlund was imo the best defenseman in Canucks history before Quinn Hughes in terms of overall game. Alex Edler because he has been the longest tenure Canucks defenseman in this quarter of the the century, been through ups and downs and was always a rock for us. Edler also currently the franchise leader in scoring among Defenseman (soon to be overtaken by Hughes), and for that alone, it's hard to take Edler off the list.

 

Among Hamhuis, Bieksa & Jovanovski, I voted Hamhuis in for the last spot. Because he solidified our D core and was one of the final missing piece to get us to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. He also made on Team Canada's 2014 Olympic roster for a gold medal win. I wouldn't argue if you put Jovo ahead of Hamhuis because Jovo was on the 200 Team Canada Olympic gold medal team. He was also a complete defenseman that brings offese, defense and an edge to the game. Chris Tanev is still one of the best shut-down defenseman in the league. He broke into the team as a rookie and have always been calm & cool under pressure. He gradually become one of the best shut-down defenseman for us, but was underrated league wide until he left the Canucks. If he had better health with us or if we could give him a better team during the majority of his tenure here, he would've been more recognized league wide. Salo because he is lay his balls on the line (literally) to help us win, and those one timer from the point on the powerplay is legendary. Can't really argue Salo to make the list above the aforementioned D but, he definitely deserves a honourable mention.

Edited Saturday at 07:59 AM by RJCF96

[Kevin Biestra]

10 hours ago, RJCF96 said:

My list:

 

6 Forwards:

• Henrik Sedin
• Daniel Sedin
• Markus Naslund
• Ryan Kesler
• Elias Pettersson
• JT Miller

HM: Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, Alex Burrows, Bo Horvat & Brock Boeser

 

4 Defenseman:

• Quinn Hughes
• Mattias Ohlund
• Alex Edler
• Dan Hamhuis

HM: Kevin Bieksa, Ed Jovanovksi, Sami Salo, Chris Tanev

 

2 Goaltenders:

• Roberto Luongo
• Thatcher Demko

HM: Ryan Miller & Jacob Markstrom

 

IMO: Defense is the hardest to choose. Hughes is hands down #1 and got that locked up pretty handily. However, it was really tough to choose 3 out of Mattias Ohlund, Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo & Chris Tanev. In the end I went with Mattias Ohlund, Alex Edler and Dan Hamhuis. Ohlund was imo the best defenseman in Canucks history before Quinn Hughes in terms of overall game. Alex Edler because he has been the longest tenure Canucks defenseman in this quarter of the the century, been through ups and downs and was always a rock for us. Edler also currently the franchise leader in scoring among Defenseman (soon to be overtaken by Hughes), and for that alone, it's hard to take Edler off the list.

 

Among Hamhuis, Bieksa & Jovanovski, I voted Hamhuis in for the last spot. Because he solidified our D core and was one of the final missing piece to get us to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. He also made on Team Canada's 2014 Olympic roster for a gold medal win. I wouldn't argue if you put Jovo ahead of Hamhuis because Jovo was on the 200 Team Canada Olympic gold medal team. He was also a complete defenseman that brings offese, defense and an edge to the game. Chris Tanev is still one of the best shut-down defenseman in the league. He broke into the team as a rookie and have always been calm & cool under pressure. He gradually become one of the best shut-down defenseman for us, but was underrated league wide until he left the Canucks. If he had better health with us or if we could give him a better team during the majority of his tenure here, he would've been more recognized league wide. Salo because he is lay his balls on the line (literally) to help us win, and those one timer from the point on the powerplay is legendary. Can't really argue Salo to make the list above the aforementioned D but, he definitely deserves a honourable mention.

 

 

I find myself often overlooking what Jovanovski accomplished.  It's easy to forget for some reason.  Five NHL All Star Games (three for the Canucks) and twice as a Canuck he was 6th place for the Norris Trophy.  The previous best any Canuck had accomplished was about the same (Dave Babych and Paul Reinhart) but in other jerseys before joining us.  And nobody ever reached that level again until Quinn Hughes.  I think maybe his memory just gets overshadowed by the WCE and maybe Cloutier on the back end for other reasons.

[RJCF96]

2 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

 

I find myself often overlooking what Jovanovski accomplished.  It's easy to forget for some reason.  Five NHL All Star Games (three for the Canucks) and twice as a Canuck he was 6th place for the Norris Trophy.  The previous best any Canuck had accomplished was about the same (Dave Babych and Paul Reinhart) but in other jerseys before joining us.  And nobody ever reached that level again until Quinn Hughes.  I think maybe his memory just gets overshadowed by the WCE and maybe Cloutier on the back end for other reasons.

Honestly, now that you bring up these accomplishments, I would have no problem replacing Hamhuis with Jovanovski on my list. But over the past quarter of the century, we have had some really good blueliners suit up for us, just haven't had a truly elite #1 D like Quinn Hughes until now. This current Canucks team would love to have atleast 2 of Ohlund, Jovanovski, Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa or Tanev to help with the blueline.

[EB43]

Forwards:

Daniel

Henrik

Naslund

Bertuzzi

JT Miller

Pettersson

 

Defense:

Hughes

Jovanovski

Ohlund

Hamhuis 

 

Goalies

Demko

Luongo

 

 

 

[Jess]

4 hours ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

 

I find myself often overlooking what Jovanovski accomplished.  It's easy to forget for some reason.  Five NHL All Star Games (three for the Canucks) and twice as a Canuck he was 6th place for the Norris Trophy.  The previous best any Canuck had accomplished was about the same (Dave Babych and Paul Reinhart) but in other jerseys before joining us.  And nobody ever reached that level again until Quinn Hughes.  I think maybe his memory just gets overshadowed by the WCE and maybe Cloutier on the back end for other reasons.

 

1 hour ago, RJCF96 said:

Honestly, now that you bring up these accomplishments, I would have no problem replacing Hamhuis with Jovanovski on my list. But over the past quarter of the century, we have had some really good blueliners suit up for us, just haven't had a truly elite #1 D like Quinn Hughes until now. This current Canucks team would love to have atleast 2 of Ohlund, Jovanovski, Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa or Tanev to help with the blueline.

 

I think Jovo was very likely the best defenseman in Canuck history prior to Hughes--he finished 6th in Norris voting twice with the team, higher than anyone else. Only issue is his stint here, while reasonably long, wasn't as long as others like Ohlund, Edler, Bieksa, or Salo. 

[Kevin Biestra]

40 minutes ago, Jess said:

I think Jovo was very likely the best defenseman in Canuck history prior to Hughes--he finished 6th in Norris voting twice with the team, higher than anyone else. Only issue is his stint her, while reasonably long, wasn't as long as others like Ohlund, Edler, Bieksa, or Salo. 

 

 

I think Babych and Reinhart in their primes were probably a little better than Jovanovski.  Both were on the back nine of their careers when they joined the Canucks, although Paul Reinhart was like Mike Bossy or Pavel Bure and was cut down by injuries before age really slowed him down.  He was close to a point a game guy for the Canucks in his two seasons.  I remember there was a 20th Anniversary official Canucks history book that had artwork of five players on the cover.  The first four were Smyl, Brodeur, Snepsts and I think Gradin...all of them longtime Canuck legends by the time 1990 had rolled around.  Reinhart made that cover on the strength of two seasons as his body was falling apart.

 

Jovanovski was really good though.  And if somebody wanted to say he was the best defenceman in Canucks history pre-Hughes, I couldn't really disprove the claim.

 

And yeah he is a guy like Babych with an extremely long career where had it been in one spot, he might well have had his jersey retired.  Instead Babych had separate reasonably lengthy careers (400 games) with three different teams, just no stay long enough to have become one with the city.  Jovo was kind of the same.  But I guess that's still better than being a very good player (e.g. Brent Ashton or Terry Ruskowski) who was hard pressed to stay on one team for two seasons in a row.

 

Edited Saturday at 10:48 PM by Kevin Biestra

[Kevin Biestra]

2 hours ago, RJCF96 said:

Honestly, now that you bring up these accomplishments, I would have no problem replacing Hamhuis with Jovanovski on my list. But over the past quarter of the century, we have had some really good blueliners suit up for us, just haven't had a truly elite #1 D like Quinn Hughes until now. This current Canucks team would love to have atleast 2 of Ohlund, Jovanovski, Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa or Tanev to help with the blueline.

 

Yeah we have had some very good defensemen who really get overlooked by history now, especially if you go back to before 2000...

 

I think all of these pre-2000 guys would still be the second best defenseman on the current Canucks lineup if they were to be teleported into the present from their heyday.  It's a shame a lot of these names aren't known by fans today...

 

Doug Halward

Doug Lidster

Dennis Kearns

Rick Lanz

Kevin McCarthy

Garth Butcher

Dale Tallon

Jocelyn Guevremont

King Korab (very brief stay)

Tom Kurvers (very brief stay)

Paul Reinhart (easily)

Bob Dailey

 

Possibly:  Michel Petit, Lars Lindgren, Jiri Bubla, Jim Benning, Adrian Aucoin, Gary Doak

 

That's just off the top of my head and leaving out the entire 1994 defense corps which had several guys who would be #2 behind Hughes in the lineup right now.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 10:36 PM by Kevin Biestra

[Jess]

8 minutes ago, Kevin Biestra said:

 

 

I think Babych and Reinhart in their primes were probably a little better than Jovanovski.  Both were on the back nine of their careers when they joined the Canucks, although Paul Reinhart was like Mike Bossy or Pavel Bure and was cut down by injuries before age really slowed him down.  He was close to a point a game guy for the Canucks in his two seasons.  I remember there was a 20th Anniversary official Canucks history book that had artwork of five players on the cover.  The first four were Smyl, Brodeur, Snepsts and I think Gradin...all of them longtime Canuck legends by the time 1990 had rolled around.  Reinhart made that cover on the strength of two seasons as his body was falling apart.

 

Jovanovski was really good though.  And if somebody wanted to say he was the best defenceman in Canucks history pre-Hughes, I couldn't really disprove the claim.

 

Babych was in his prime prior to joining the Canucks, but maybe in his older days, he was closer. I don't think he could compare in his Vancouver days. There's a stronger case with Reinhart, but he was also getting all those points when getting those point levels was a lot more common for defensemen. He finished 12th in Norris voting in his first season in Vancouver, but got no votes in the following year. I do wonder if he had played all 80 games and finished with maybe 70 points in 1988-89 if he would've been considerably higher though.

[Kevin Biestra]

13 minutes ago, Jess said:

Babych was in his prime prior to joining the Canucks, but maybe in his older days, he was closer. I don't think he could compare in his Vancouver days. There's a stronger case with Reinhart, but he was also getting all those points when getting those point levels was a lot more common for defensemen. He finished 12th in Norris voting in his first season in Vancouver, but got no votes in the following year. I do wonder if he had played all 80 games and finished with maybe 70 points in 1988-89 if he would've been considerably higher though.

 

 

I think Reinhart would have received substantial Norris votes in both Canuck seasons had he played 80 games instead of 65.  In an era where Linden and McLean had just arrived and become the faces of the franchise, Reinhart did the same as an older player just arrived in two seasons.  I think that will have been largely forgotten if people weren't around and watching during those two seasons, same as how it might be forgotten how Cliff Ronning set the city on fire during his first couple of playoffs after arriving from St. Louis (he was kind of like Pavel Bure for a couple years before the actual Pavel Bure showed up and took over).

 

Reinhart was an absolute playoff monster for Calgary during the 80s.  He had some mind boggling playoffs...  17 points in 11 games one year.  Had he been a Canuck I think he would be behind only Trevor Linden for playoff scoring in his career.

 

As for Babych...  He had a similar career trajectory to Trevor Linden.  Linden was an ironman and 65-80 point player right up until he blew his knee out in 1996 or so.  Babych was a little below the Phil Housley / Larry Murphy tier of scoring for defensemen of his day, behind Ray Bourque and then Paul Coffey was in the Bobby Orr stratosphere.  But Babych started accumulating injuries in Hartford (his stop between Winnipeg and Vancouver) and transitioned more to a super solid defensive guy who was good for 40ish points.  He basically did the Steve Yzerman transition where Steve went from a 150 point player to something more like 90ish but now a Selke Trophy candidate every year.  I think during his time in Vancouver Babych could be argued to have stealthily actually been the team's best defenseman but he was part of a logjam (kind of like 1982 and 2011) of four or five guys who were pretty close and all could have been the #2 defenseman on a lot of teams.  (Lumme, Lanz, McCarthy, Brown, Edler, Salo, Hamhuis, Bieksa, Snepsts, Halward, etc.).

 

 

Edited Saturday at 10:51 PM by Kevin Biestra