Who's on your all-time Red Wings team?

by Casey Richey on Mar 18, 2010 8:26 AM CDT in Opinion

There's been a lot talk recently about which numbers from the current era will be retired. Be it Osgood, Holmstrom, Federov, Draper, etc. the talk has been really good. It got me thinking about who the all-time team would roll out on the ice and the lines to follow. A lot of the top six is pretty much "well, duh." but as it gets down into the later lines it gets interesting.

Starting six:

Goalie: Terry Sawchuk: Clear cut choice who's number one for this department.
Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom: Like Sawchuk, no doubt about number one here. Lidstrom's not only the best defenseman Detroit has had, he might be the best ever.
Defense: Vladimir Konstantinov: Seems like it could be a case of the sentimental choice at first but Vlad was incredible in his short time in Detroit. 9th for points by defensemen, 2nd in +/- with +185. Vlad was on pace for a potential Hall of Fame career before the accident that ended his career.
Left Wing: Ted Lindsay: Terrible Ted won an Art Ross Trophy and four Cups with the Wings while racking up 728 career points in Detroit.
Center: Steve Yzerman: Nothing needs to be said about Yzerman that already hasn't been said. The example of leadership and determination.
Right Wing: Gordie Howe: The greatest hockey player pre-modern era and consider by some still as the greatest player to play the game, Howe helped define the Red Wings and is symbolic of the franchise.

On the bench:

Forwards

Norm Ullman-Alex Delvecchio-Pavel Datsyuk
Brendan Shanahan-Sergei Federov-Henrik Zetterberg
Tomas Holmstrom-Sid Abel-Mickey Redmond

Defense

Chris Chelios-Larry Murphy

Red Kelly-Reed Larson

Goalie

Chris Osgood

I had a hard time putting Zetterberg, Datsyuk , Holmstrom in there over Kris Draper but the numbers don't lie. It's weird seeing so many modern players in that line-up but sometimes we forget exactly how big of contributors these guys are. For example, Datsyuk's already 9th in all-time points for Detroit and Zetterberg/Holmstrom at 16/17th respectively. Weird looking at some of the line combinations, that's for sure: imagine Homer playing with Mickey and Sid.

I'm sure there are some spots where people will disagree with me so go ahead and post your top 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and two goalies.

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Comments

Libett, Ogrodnick, Bergman?

I really can’t disagree with the selections here, but what about those grinder type guys from some of the teams in the 60s & 70s – solid players, good numbers (Johnny O), and real “team” guys. I don’t know who they’d replace – maybe Z and Homer.

Oh, and what about the Big M – Frank Mahovolich?

Just some random thoughts….

Smitty

by Kendal on Mar 18, 2010 8:47 AM CDT reply actions

Fetisov over Murphy

Ooops, I forgot one. I’d take Slava Fetisov over Larry Murphy – Murph didn’t play in Detroit for that long, and he is really only on the list because he was paired with Nicky. Hell, Rafalski is HOF material when he’s paired with Nicky. Lids could make cardboard look good on D.

Smitty

by Kendal on Mar 18, 2010 8:52 AM CDT reply actions

i had trouble deciding between Fetisov and Murphy

Maybe they’re like Meech/Ericsson/Lebda rotating haha

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Mar 18, 2010 8:59 AM CDT up reply actions

What about

Paul Coffey? I know thye majority of his great career was with Beantown, but he won a cup with the wings. I’d have to throw Bob Probert on mine, the all-time enforcer & could put the puck in the net, he was the OG Holmstrom-style player, but most were a little aprehensive about tryin 2 move him from out in front of the net. I always liked the hard-nosed play of Ricky Zombo 2. There’s so many!

by LTownDown on Mar 18, 2010 2:12 PM CDT up reply actions

must raise my hand on this for a correction.

Paul Coffey did not win a Stanley Cup with Detroit at any point in his career. In an ironic twist of fate, he was on the Flyers team that was swept by Detroit to break the drought. I liked him as a player, but there are SO many better Red Wings over the years.

by Detroitfantc on Mar 18, 2010 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Beantown? Is that what they're calling Edmonton (or Pittsburgh) these days?

Major fail on multiple levels. You’re probably thinking about Ray Bourque, who went from Boston to Colorado to win a cup.

Coffey won 3 or 4 Cups with Edmonton, and he was with Pittsburgh for the first Cup they won (1991). But as far as the Red Wings go, as Detroitfantc points out, his greatest contribution was stinking up the joint as a member of the Flyers when we swept that team in 1997.

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by ahtrap on Mar 19, 2010 1:10 AM CDT up reply actions

NO LOVE FOR CORY CROSS?

Just what kind of list is this without the mention of Cory Cross?!?!

by eight_legged_freaks on Mar 18, 2010 9:31 AM CDT reply actions

Roger Crozier?

I pretty much agree with your lineup but Roger Crozier should get consideration as well, he won the Conn Smythe trophy in a losing cause in 1966 and kept the Wings in games when Ned Harkness pretty much dismantled the team in the early 70s.
Nick Libett had a long but rather unspectacular career as a Wing, mostly on poor teams,Johnny Ogrodnick deserves consideration, as well as Gerrard Gallant,also defencemen such as Bill Gadsby, and Marcel Pronovost.

by nighthawk55 on Mar 18, 2010 9:50 AM CDT reply actions

Joey Kocur?

He helped break the drought… He also protected important people and punched all the JAs on the other teams.

by pzar11 on Mar 18, 2010 10:41 AM CDT reply actions

agreed

I was calling Joey Kocur’s number before I started reading the article. The Ultimate Enforcer.

by rabidrw26 on Mar 18, 2010 1:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Osgood

And once again Osgood has been benched! lol. Poor guy.

by pzar11 on Mar 18, 2010 10:48 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs

You stole my team

I saw the link and started thinking of my first team, and I click on the link and my work is done.

Back off man, I'm a scientist

Hockeytown USA has moved!
Hockeytown USA

by Ryan Weiss on Mar 18, 2010 12:58 PM CDT reply actions

igor larianoiv

by JOE CASH on Mar 18, 2010 4:29 PM CDT reply actions

Top 6 Red Wings

Sorry, but Stevie Y just was never a better player than Federov or Delvecchio. I know his numbers are better, but I saw all 3 play, and he is 3rd. I would also suggest that Glenn Hall was WAAAAAY better than Ozzie ever will be, and I love Ozzie. Lastly, and most off-base, Reed Larson. The guy was a bum with a big slapshot. We used to call him the human pylon. Ever heard of Red Kelley or Marcel Pronovost? Reed Larson couldn’t hang with them.

by wingsnut4ever on Mar 18, 2010 7:41 PM CDT reply actions

Federov may have more raw talent

but you can’t say Detroit hockey to anyone in the modern era without them thinking Steve Yzerman first, Federov second, third, fourth or even later. Sergei was incredible but Yzerman is “The Captain” for a reason.

As for Ozzie/Hall, I actually had some trouble with deciding on that but ended up choosing Osgood (obviously). Definitely goes either way though. It’s like choosing between diamonds, they’re all gonna be good.

I have Red Kelly on there too, although I think you were simply making a point about Larson, not calling me out.

Winging It In Motown

by Casey Richey on Mar 18, 2010 7:49 PM CDT up reply actions

Glenn Hall

to be fairr, he didnt really have much more than a couple of cups of coffee in Detroit, he was a great with Chicago, and helped the St Louis Blues along with Jacques Plante get to the finals the first couple of years they were in the league.

by nighthawk55 on Mar 18, 2010 8:14 PM CDT up reply actions

6th all-time in points is nothing to laugh at. Greatest captain in NHL history as well (in my humble opinion). And Federov also spent a lot of time elsewhere (Anaheim notably, more recently DC and Columbus).

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by red army line on Mar 21, 2010 6:10 AM CDT up reply actions

My top 6ish

Goalie—- Mike Vernon

Dmen—-Vlady or Lids, I can’t decide between the two.

Left Wing—- Slava Koslov

Center—-Stevie, but I would also like to throw Igor Larionov into the discussion because he is my favorite Wing of all time.

Right Wing—- Joey Kocur or Bob Probert because I like violence and blood.

by Wings3_26_97 on Mar 18, 2010 8:45 PM CDT reply actions

Gadsby>>>larsen

Fetisov wasn’t here that long but I would put an asterisk for the russian 5

Shanny was great but I’d take Ogrodnick over him

If you are talking big big heart on the ice, the scrappy Dennis Polonich is A1…would go into the corners vs Schultz

by waltdetroit on Mar 19, 2010 7:32 AM CDT reply actions

Defense

Marcel Pronovost was a far superior defenseman to Reed Larson and was probably better than Vlady as well. Bill Gadsby as well.

Is Terry Sawchuk the clearcut choice for goalie? If so, only because the Wings have never had a great goalie in the modern era. Sawchuk was a great competitor, but despite his longevity and shutout record, most hockey experts would probably not
rate him in the top 5 of all time for the league. That said, I agree he probably is the best the Wings ever had.

Holmstrom and Shanahan are very questionable choices on your 3rd team. Larionov would be a better choice and there are any number of players from the 50’s and 60’s who are ahead of these guys.

by JFHaze on Mar 19, 2010 7:38 AM CDT reply actions