All-Time Teams

[Prophecy35]

I know this was already in the general NHL discussion board, but I was told it would be okay to post this here, since I'm letting the other two threads (main thread, and a Capitals thread) die. I feel this is the right place for this thread, and you guys seem to know your hockey history, which is a must here. I'm running a simulator, with all 30 of the NHL All-Time teams and I'm going to see who comes out on top, and see how the players do (ex. I'll choose trophy winners, or get opinions) and then I'll run the playoffs, to see who will win the cup (No, Montreal is not an absolute lock, although they are favorites). For those who didn't see my main thread, I'll throw out a few questions and guidelines.

1. The simulator is restrictive. For each player, they have a set position for them, with very few players having multiple positions. I tried to do my best to work around this. Also, I can have a max of two subs total between forward and defense, but if I only use two goalies, I get an extra sub.

2. Should former WHA teams (Oilers, Hurricanes, Avalanche, and Coyotes) have WHA greats included? That has sparked some debate among people I have asked that question to, and I would like to see what you think.

3. Should the 92-present Senators be merged with the 17-35 Senators, or should the present Senators be left as their own team, leaving the old Sens without one?

4. Should I include playing time in the NHA?

I'll post three teams for now.

Edmonton Oilers

Tikkanen-Gretzky-Kurri
Simpson-Messier-Anderson
Smyth-Weight-Hemsky
Moreau-Marchant-Buchberger

Ex: MacTavish

I realize that I left off Semenko, and it's a toss up between him Dave Hunter and Moreau for my 4th line LW spot.

Coffey-Huddy
Lowe-Gregg
J.Smith-S.Smith

Ex: Fogolin

Fuhr
Ranford
Moog

Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques (WHA included)

Goulet-Sakic-Hejduk
Stastny-Stastny-Stastny
Tardif-Forsberg-Cloutier
Kamensky-Hunter-Bernier

Ex: Deadmarsh, Tanguay

Deadmarsh can play both LW and RW (Stats significantly better as a LW), and Tanguay can play both LW and C (Stats are about even for both).

Foote-Blake
Gusarov-Ozolinsh
Tremblay-Rochefort

Roy
Bouchard
Aebischer or Tugnutt

Washington Capitals

Ovechkin-Oates-Bondra
Khristich-Ridley-Gartner
Konowalchuk-Pivonka-Gustafsson
Miller-Hunter-Christian

Ex: Carpenter, Maruk

Bondra can play both LW and RW (his ratings are significantly better on RW), and Konowalchuk can play both C and LW (ratings are slightly better for C).

Murphy-Stevens
Gonchar-Johansson
Hatcher-Langway

Ex: Cote

Kolzig
Beaupre

Most of these lines I threw together, and the order isn't established (ex. Langway being on the last pairing in Washington). I'll post more soon, but I don't want to fill this first post with teams. Please offer any suggestions you feel are necessary. Even post your own teams if you want, but since I'm conforming to a simulator here, that has positional issues (which they are in the process of fixing at the moment) I may not be able to use your teams or players. Fire away.

Click to read more...

 

[Prophecy35]

No advice or changes? Here are three more teams.

Chicago Blackhawks

Hull-Mikita-Wharram
Hull-Savard-Larmer
Bentley-Bentley-Mosienko
Gottselig-Roenick-Nesterenko

Ex: Martin

I'm not sure to put in Martin or Roenick. I also have Amonte, Pappin, and Koroll to consider for RW, and Secord to consider on LW.

Pilote-Seibert
Chelios-Wilson
Stapleton-Magnuson

Ex: Murray

This was a tough one. I still have Gadsby, Mohns, Vasko, and White without a spot.

Hall
Esposito
Belfour

I felt that Hall deserves the starting spot over Esposito.

Calgary Flames

Roberts-Nieuwendyk-Fleury
Vail-Chouinard-Iginla
Ranheim-Nilsson-Loob
Bennett-Otto-McDonald

Ex: Peplinski, Lysiak

I had a hard time finding a place for Mullen (RW), Makarov (RW), Gilmour (C) and Reichel (C). The depth at LW isn't that good, so please suggest any LW's that suit the team better than Ranheim and Bennett if you can.

MacInnis-Suter
Macoun-Reinhart
Regehr-Phaneuf

Vernon
Kiprusoff
Bouchard

I keep wondering whether to start Kiprusoff or Vernon. Advice?

New York Rangers

Hadfield-Ratelle-Gilbert
Vickers-Tkaczuk-Bathgate
Prentice-Messier-Hextall
Bun Cook-Boucher-Bill Cook

Ex: Graves

I know I probably left off a few great players, but it's never easy with the Original Six.

Leetch-Patrick
Park-Johnson
Greschner-Howell

Ex: Neilson

Not totally satisfied here.

Richter
Giacomin
Rayner, Worsley, Vanbiesbrouck

I really can't figure out the third goalie. Rayner won a Hart, Vanbiesbrouck won a Vezina, and Worsley played with them for a long time, and is a HoF goalie.

 

[TonyBabagan00sh]

i guess the only changes i'd make so far are adding Gilmour to Calgary's 4th line, and moving Messier up to the 2nd line of the Rangers. just some minor stuff.

 

[Prophecy35]

i guess the only changes i'd make so far are adding Gilmour to Calgary's 4th line, and moving Messier up to the 2nd line of the Rangers. just some minor stuff.

I really want to add Gilmour, but it's extremely difficult. Nieuwendyk is a lock, and Chouinard and Nilsson were great with the Flames. Otto is the question mark, but he was a great faceoff man and a great defensive player. He wasn't too shabby of a scorer either. Gilmour probably deserves a spot, but I'll have to look into it more. I'm looking over my Blues team (which Gilmour made) to see if he makes it or not. I'm trying to avoid duplicates as much as possible, but in many cases, you really can't avoid it.

So you think the line should be Vickers-Messier-Bathgate?

 

[canucks4ever]

Roy Conacher won an art ross with the blackhawks, I think he should make that team.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Maybe this is nitpicking, but Cook-Boucher-Cook, known as the "Bread Line" in their time, should definitely be the number one line for the Rangers. Boucher is easily the top center in Rangers history, and Bill Cook quite likely the best RW (I've seen people prefer Bathgate though).

On the Blackhawks team I'd consider Paul Thompson over Dennis Hull or Johnny Gottselig at LW. Not too certain about intangibles for any of these three players, but Thompson is the best scorer amongst them.

Also, Langway would be on the top pairing of any Capitals team. Stevens was a lot more offensive in Washington, not the rock solid defender that he became in New Jersey, so Langway is definitely the Caps top all time d-man.

 

[Prophecy35]

Roy Conacher won an art ross with the blackhawks, I think he should make that team.

Over who though? Roy Conacher was a LW. Bobby Hull is a lock, and so is Doug Bentley. That leaves you with Dennis Hull, and Johnny Gottselig. Both are not overly remarkable players, but I think both deserve their spot on the team. I know Conacher won an Art Ross, but points aren't everything. He did have fairly good competition for it though. Hm. I'm not sure what to do there. I'm still against including him, but I'll see what others think. Good suggestion though.

 

[Prophecy35]

Maybe this is nitpicking, but Cook-Boucher-Cook, known as the "Bread Line" in their time, should definitely be the number one line for the Rangers. Boucher is easily the top center in Rangers history, and Bill Cook quite likely the best RW (I've seen people prefer Bathgate though).

On the Blackhawks team I'd consider Paul Thompson over Dennis Hull or Johnny Gottselig at LW. Not too certain about intangibles for any of these three players, but Thompson is the best scorer amongst them.

Also, Langway would be on the top pairing of any Capitals team. Stevens was a lot more offensive in Washington, not the rock solid defender that he became in New Jersey, so Langway is definitely the Caps top all time d-man.

Fair enough on that line. Like I said, the lines aren't really in order. I don't really need to be convinced of how good they were, and I'll make it the top line for sure.

Tough call on Thompson. I don't really know what to do there. Looks like there's some serious competition in LW now with mentions of Conacher and Thompson. I'll have to think about it.

Oh Langway does deserve to be there. Like I said, the lines (especially defense pairings) aren't final. I was planning on putting him up there anyway, I just didn't change it.

 

[canucks4ever]

Over who though? Roy Conacher was a LW. Bobby Hull is a lock, and so is Doug Bentley. That leaves you with Dennis Hull, and Johnny Gottselig. Both are not overly remarkable players, but I think both deserve their spot on the team. I know Conacher won an Art Ross, but points aren't everything. He did have fairly good competition for it though. Hm. I'm not sure what to do there. I'm still against including him, but I'll see what others think. Good suggestion though.

I'm pretty sure conacher will make the top 100 when the list is finalized, dennis hull isnt even a top 300 player, gottselig isnt even top 500,

 

[Prophecy35]

I'm pretty sure conacher will make the top 100 when the list is finalized, dennis hull isnt even a top 300 player, gottselig isnt even top 500,

What top 100 list? The one in HoH? Fair enough, but I'm not quite convinced. What matters to me here is not how great the players career was, but how great their impact was with the Blackhawks. One thing about Conacher. You could argue that he wasn't all that amazing alone. Here's a quote just from his Legends of Hockey bio that makes me weary to include him.

Charlie placed Roy on a line with Bill Mosienko and Doug Bentley, replacing the departed Snuffy Smith, who had set scoring records with the talented playmakers.

Clint Smith was a decent scorer before he played with them, but in his first season in Chicago he scored 72pts in 50gp. He then continued to produce with them for the next two years. I also don't think it's a coincidence that once Max Bentley came back, Smith's numbers were consistent for one season, but the next season he dropped 24pts. I just think, that Conacher was made better by them, not the other way around (although, I'll admit that Conacher was good beforehand). So, maybe Conacher is slightly overrated? I'm by no means saying he is worse than Hull or Gottselig though.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Gottselig was much better than outside the top 500.

That said, the player who should replace Denis Hull is Paul Thompson.

 

[pappyline]

Blackhawks

Not sure how you are handling players that played for more than one team. Assume it is where they had their best years. Anyway, I would make the following changes:

On RW replace Nesterenko with Litzenberger. Litz was a much better player. He was the star when Nester was just a support guy.

On LW, replace Dennis Hull & Gottslieg with Paul Thompson and Roy Conacher for the reasons discussed.

On D, Magnussen definitely does not belong. Could be replaced by Gadsby, White, Lionel conacher or Vasko (probably there are others). Gadsby is by far the best although you could argue his best seasons were as a Ranger.

In goal, Chuck Gardiner has got to be there ahead of Belfour. The guy is a hockey legend.

 

[Prophecy35]

Not sure how you are handling players that played for more than one team. Assume it is where they had their best years. Anyway, I would make the following changes:

On RW replace Nesterenko with Litzenberger. Litz was a much better player. He was the star when Nester was just a support guy.

On LW, replace Dennis Hull & Gottslieg with Paul Thompson and Roy Conacher for the reasons discussed.

On D, Magnussen definitely does not belong. Could be replaced by Gadsby, White, Lionel conacher or Vasko (probably there are others). Gadsby is by far the best although you could argue his best seasons were as a Ranger.

In goal, Chuck Gardiner has got to be there ahead of Belfour. The guy is a hockey legend.

I don't think it's wrong to assume you are a Blackhawks fan? haha. Great suggestions.

I'm having trouble parting with Nesterenko's 16 seasons and solid, consistent play. Litzenberger wasn't amazing, but he was much better offensively, although he only played 7 seasons. It's a tough call for me. People seem to go with the offensive players over players like Nesterenko.

Take out both Gottselig and Hull? I kind of like Hull on the team to be honest. Sure, he was sent down to the minors for a time, but he could score, and he has good offensive numbers. This is one of the reasons I want to keep him on.

His offensive numbers became increasingly solid as many began to wonder who had the hardest slapshot, brother Bobby or perhaps Dennis. The consensus seems to ride with the latter of the two siblings. It is also thought that by the time Dennis had matured as a major leaguer, he would have been considered a star on most other teams across the league. But in Chicago, there was that huge shadow cast by "The Golden Jet."

IMO, he was extremely underrated. Also, I had Gottselig there as a "filler" because he played so long and put up decent numbers. I'm more than willing to take him off for one of Thompson or Conacher, but, I'm leaning toward Thompson even though Conacher has the Ross.

I didn't think Magnuson belonged either, but upon discussing it with some others, we felt thet he should be on the team in some fashion because of his retired jersey. I agree with you though. Gadsby is a difficult one, as he didn't make either my Rangers or Blackhawks but is "borderline" right now for both. I don't know what team he will end up on, if any. I think the best fit for him is New York though, where I'm considering getting rid of Neilson and Patrick if I can find suitable replacements. What are your views on Bob Murray making the team as a sub? Personally I would pick Vasko to take Magnuson's spot.

Wow...I'm ashamed. I forgot about Gardiner. I'll put him on the team. Belfour is just the most common one that comes to mind after Hall and Esposito. I should have known better.

Also, since you are a Hawks fan, who would you have on the team? Roenick or Martin?

Thanks for the great suggestions.

 

[lextune]

Boston Bruins

Bucyk - Esposito - Middleton
Dumart - Schmidt - Bauer
Cashman - Oates - Neely
Cain - Thornton - Hodge

Subs - Weiland, O'Reilly

Bourque - Clapper
Orr - Shore
Park - Chara

Brimsek
Thompson
Cheevers

Basically three first lines, and the greatest Defense corp of all time. 80-0, lol.

 

[pappyline]

I don't think it's wrong to assume you are a Blackhawks fan? haha. Great suggestions.

I'm having trouble parting with Nesterenko's 16 seasons and solid, consistent play. Litzenberger wasn't amazing, but he was much better offensively, although he only played 7 seasons. It's a tough call for me. People seem to go with the offensive players over players like Nesterenko.

Take out both Gottselig and Hull? I kind of like Hull on the team to be honest. Sure, he was sent down to the minors for a time, but he could score, and he has good offensive numbers. This is one of the reasons I want to keep him on.



IMO, he was extremely underrated. Also, I had Gottselig there as a "filler" because he played so long and put up decent numbers. I'm more than willing to take him off for one of Thompson or Conacher, but, I'm leaning toward Thompson even though Conacher has the Ross.

I didn't think Magnuson belonged either, but upon discussing it with some others, we felt thet he should be on the team in some fashion because of his retired jersey. I agree with you though. Gadsby is a difficult one, as he didn't make either my Rangers or Blackhawks but is "borderline" right now for both. I don't know what team he will end up on, if any. I think the best fit for him is New York though, where I'm considering getting rid of Neilson and Patrick if I can find suitable replacements. What are your views on Bob Murray making the team as a sub? Personally I would pick Vasko to take Magnuson's spot.

Wow...I'm ashamed. I forgot about Gardiner. I'll put him on the team. Belfour is just the most common one that comes to mind after Hall and Esposito. I should have known better.

Also, since you are a Hawks fan, who would you have on the team? Roenick or Martin?

Thanks for the great suggestions.

I like Dennis Hull but Conacher has to be on either the Chicago or Boston all-time teams. The guy was not over-rated. He was a scoring machine throughout his career. 8 times top 10 in goals and 3 times top 10 in points and he missed 3 prime years(age 26-28) due to WW II.

Litzenberger has to be in over Nesterenko. I was a big Hawk fan in the 50's & 60's. Litz was the star in the mid to late 50's & captained the 61 cup winner. Litz was top 10 in goals 4 times (3 times top 5) and top 6 in points three times). Nester was never top 10 in any category. IMO, playing a long time with one franchise should not be a deciding factor. Also, Litz played centre & LW so you could put him at one of those positions.

I prefer Martin over Roenick as I think Roenick is over-rated. Couple of big seasons & thats it.

Gadsby not on either Hawks or rangers? Makes no sense whatsoever. He is easily a top d guy with both teams & likely Detroit also. But please replace Magnussen. Probably had his number retired because of the circumstances of his death. He is not an all time Hawk D great.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Boston Bruins

Bucyk - Esposito - Middleton
Dumart - Schmidt - Bauer
Cashman - Oates - Neely
Cain - Thornton - Hodge

Subs - Weiland, O'Reilly

Bourque - Clapper
Orr - Shore
Park - Chara

Brimsek
Thompson
Cheevers

Basically three first lines, and the greatest Defense corp of all time. 80-0, lol.

I think Bill Cowley gets the nod over Oates or Thornton especially. That defense corp is insane. Quackenbush and Flaman are in the HOF and don't make the cut. That defense will be the equivalent of Montreal's goaltender position, where one of Plante, Roy, Dryden, or Durnan won't make the team.

 

[lextune]

I think Bill Cowley gets the nod over Oates or Thornton especially.

Even though his Hart's get devalued a little due to the War, I agree completely. I can't believe I forgot him actually; thanks.

Corrected:

Bucyk - Esposito - Middleton
Dumart - Schmidt - Bauer
Cashman - Oates - Neely
Cain - Cowley - Hodge

Subs - Weiland, O'Reilly

Bourque - Clapper
Orr - Shore
Park - Chara

Brimsek
Thompson
Cheevers

 

[Prophecy35]

I like Dennis Hull but Conacher has to be on either the Chicago or Boston all-time teams. The guy was not over-rated. He was a scoring machine throughout his career. 8 times top 10 in goals and 3 times top 10 in points and he missed 3 prime years(age 26-28) due to WW II.

Litzenberger has to be in over Nesterenko. I was a big Hawk fan in the 50's & 60's. Litz was the star in the mid to late 50's & captained the 61 cup winner. Litz was top 10 in goals 4 times (3 times top 5) and top 6 in points three times). Nester was never top 10 in any category. IMO, playing a long time with one franchise should not be a deciding factor. Also, Litz played centre & LW so you could put him at one of those positions.

I prefer Martin over Roenick as I think Roenick is over-rated. Couple of big seasons & thats it.

Gadsby not on either Hawks or rangers? Makes no sense whatsoever. He is easily a top d guy with both teams & likely Detroit also. But please replace Magnussen. Probably had his number retired because of the circumstances of his death. He is not an all time Hawk D great.

Fair enough on all points. I'll take out Gottselig and put in Conacher and I'll put in Litzenberger over Nesterenko.

I agree with your opinion of Roenick. I'll put Martin on the team and make Roenick a sub, unless you think Gottselig or Nesterenko deserve that more.

He isn't on both as of now. I try not to duplicate as much as possible, so I didn't put him on because I still haven't figured out where he belongs. He will make one or the other for sure though.

That is the reason I was thinking he had his jersey retired as well. I'll take him off the team, as I said in my last reply.

Even though his Hart's get devalued a little due to the War, I agree completely. I can't believe I forgot him actually; thanks.

Corrected:

Bucyk - Esposito - Middleton
Dumart - Schmidt - Bauer
Cashman - Oates - Neely
Cain - Cowley - Hodge

Subs - Weiland, O'Reilly

Bourque - Clapper
Orr - Shore
Park - Chara

Brimsek
Thompson
Cheevers

Cashman-Esposito-Hodge
Bucyk-McNab-Middleton
Cain-Cowley-Neely
Dumart-Schmidt-Bauer

Ex: O'Reilly

Pretty much the same, except you have Oates and I have McNab. I could go either way there, but I like McNab on a line with Middleton, who was actually his linemate.

The defense is what annoys me. As you will notice, I have one notable player left off.

Orr-Shore
Bourque-Boivin
Flaman-Quackenbush

Ex: Hitchman

In the simulator, Clapper is only listed as a forward. I messaged the tech people, and they said that within a month they will have that changed. I left off Park because he is on the Rangers, although, since he was such a dominant player with both, I think I should include him. I disagree with Chara as I don't think he deserves a spot yet, even though he has the Norris. I'll give him a few years yet, because the depth is already amazing.

Thompson
Brimsek
Cheevers

I went with Thompson as the starter, but I could go for Brimsek as well. Doesn't matter to me.

 

[lextune]

Pretty much the same, except you have Oates and I have McNab. I could go either way there, but I like McNab on a line with Middleton, who was actually his linemate.

Oates-Neely is irresistible.

And even without Neely, Oates' peak was with the Bruins. I loved McNab, but he was not in the same ballpark with Oates. Seriously. It is not even remotely close.

 

[Prophecy35]

Oates-Neely is irresistible.

And even without Neely, Oates' peak was with the Bruins. I loved McNab, but he was not in the same ballpark with Oates. Seriously. It is not even remotely close.

Fair enough on Oates and Neely. I'm still not sure, even though Oates was better, but if I do, I'm removing Oates from my Washington team and putting Maruk in his place. Oates did have his best years in Boston after all

 

[Prophecy35]

Here are some more teams

St. Louis Blues

Sutter-Federko-Hull
Shanahan-Berenson-Mullen
Petterson-Unger-Babych
Tkachuk-Turgeon-Demitra

Ex: Patey

Gilmour is now off, because I wanted to put Turgeon on, and because I've decided to add Gilmour to Calgary.

MacInnis-Pronger
Plager-Roberts
Ramage-Plager

Ex: Jackman

Liut
Joseph
Fuhr

Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets

Lukowich-Hawerchuk-MacLean
Hull-Nilsson-Hedberg
Smail-Steen-Selanne
Tkachuk-Roenick-Doan

Ex: Lindstrom, Mullen

Numminen-Olausson
Carlyle-Ellett
Watters-Babych

Essensa
Khabibulin
Burke

 

[JaymzB]

Montreal Canadiens:

Moore-Beliveau-Geoffrion
Blake-Lach-M. Richard
Joliat-Morenz-Lafleur
Gainey-H. Richard-Provost
Ex. Lalonde

Johnson-Harvey
Savard-Robinson
Lapointe-S. Cleghorn
Ex. S. Mantha

Plante
Roy
Dryden

Sorry everyone else, but there no team that could defeat that collection of players. Bostons defence is defiantly better, but Montreal trumps them in both forwards and especially goaltending.

 

[pappyline]

I really like using players from the WHA Jets on Phoenix. Good selections but you really should add Lars-Erik Sjoberg on defence. He is better than anyone you have listed.

 

[Prophecy35]

Montreal Canadiens:

Moore-Beliveau-Geoffrion
Blake-Lach-M. Richard
Joliat-Morenz-Lafleur
Gainey-H. Richard-Provost
Ex. Lalonde

Johnson-Harvey
Savard-Robinson
Lapointe-S. Cleghorn
Ex. S. Mantha

Plante
Roy
Dryden

Sorry everyone else, but there no team that could defeat that collection of players. Bostons defence is defiantly better, but Montreal trumps them in both forwards and especially goaltending.

Montreal Canadiens

Blake-Lach-Richard
Shutt-Richard-LaFleur
Moore-Beliveau-Geoffrion
Joliat-Morenz-Cournoyer

Ex: Lemaire, Gainey

I still have trouble including Lalonde. No matter how many times I look it over, he just doesn't fit over any of the C I already have. I know how amazing he was, but there is so much talent already on Montreal. Even after saying that, I'll still try and figure out if he has a spot, once again.

Harvey-Bouchard
Robinson-Lapointe
Savard-Laperriere

This D seems good, but with your inclusion of Cleghorn and Mantha, I'll consider them, although this defense is already solid enough.

Plante
Roy
Dryden

Also, anything can happen in a simulator. Sure, Montreal are the favourites, and should get the most wins, but you can look at it in comparison to current hockey. If a team wins a President's trophy, and dominates one year, we expect the same to happen next year, however, some teams can surprise us, and I think it would be rash to consider Montreal a lock to win. And this is coming from a big Habs fan.

I really like using players from the WHA Jets on Phoenix. Good selections but you really should add Lars-Erik Sjoberg on defence. He is better than anyone you have listed.

Thanks. I felt that WHA greats should be included, since they have as much of a place as NHL players do on these teams. This isn't best all time NHL teams, it's simply the best players to play for that franchise (best has many definitions, but as you could probably tell, I don't include great players that just played a season. They have to have a great impact with the team over a few seasons, not just one). I also included WHA players on my Avalanche (posted earlier), and Hurricanes teams (going to be posted soon), but, no WHA greats have made the cut for Edmonton, or they are borderline.

Ah, another simulator problem. This is an NHL only sim, so I have to use players that also played well in the NHL. Sjoberg played one season in the NHL, and the simulator doesn't give him a great rating for it. In comparison, he is worse than all the defencemen on the team because of that. Not really a fault of the sim, since it's only meant for the NHL, and his NHL season wasn't amazing at all. I wanted to include him though, and I still do. I'll include him if people really think he deserves that spot, but it may make their defence worse. Tough call there.

Also, quick update/problem for my Rangers team.

Leetch-Patrick
Park-Johnson
Greschner-Howell

Ex: Neilson

I don't like the look of this defensive lineup, and I have many players that could possibly deserve a spot. Barry Beck, Bill Gadsby, Ott Heller, Dave Maloney, Babe Pratt, Reijo Ruotsalainen, Rod Seiling, and Phil Watson.

All are fairly well known Ranger greats for the most part, except for one player. Ruotsalainen. After discovering him just a couple of days ago, and looking at his stats, and reading some bios, it seems as though he was actually a great defenceman. Here's a few things that were said about him:

Paul Coffey was Ruotsalainen's most comparable peer. Like Coffey, Rexi's skating ability was simply phenomenal.

"Rental Rexi," as the wags called him in the NHL, is perhaps the greatest skater ever to play Finnish hockey, but because he was a small defenseman, he has been underestimated, especially in pro circles.

Ruotsalainen's main asset was his skating. Herb Brooks, who coached him with the Rangers, claimed that the Finn was the best skater in the NHL at the time.

I also think there was a Gretzky quote about Ruotsalainen similar to the Brooks quote. I know he probably won't make it, but he is an intriguing case nonetheless.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Fair enough on all points. I'll take out Gottselig and put in Conacher and I'll put in Litzenberger over Nesterenko.

I agree with your opinion of Roenick. I'll put Martin on the team and make Roenick a sub, unless you think Gottselig or Nesterenko deserve that more.

He isn't on both as of now. I try not to duplicate as much as possible, so I didn't put him on because I still haven't figured out where he belongs. He will make one or the other for sure though.

That is the reason I was thinking he had his jersey retired as well. I'll take him off the team, as I said in my last reply.



Cashman-Esposito-Hodge
Bucyk-McNab-Middleton
Cain-Cowley-Neely
Dumart-Schmidt-Bauer

Ex: O'Reilly

Pretty much the same, except you have Oates and I have McNab. I could go either way there, but I like McNab on a line with Middleton, who was actually his linemate.

The defense is what annoys me. As you will notice, I have one notable player left off.

Orr-Shore
Bourque-Boivin
Flaman-Quackenbush

Ex: Hitchman

In the simulator, Clapper is only listed as a forward. I messaged the tech people, and they said that within a month they will have that changed. I left off Park because he is on the Rangers, although, since he was such a dominant player with both, I think I should include him. I disagree with Chara as I don't think he deserves a spot yet, even though he has the Norris. I'll give him a few years yet, because the depth is already amazing.

Thompson
Brimsek
Cheevers

I went with Thompson as the starter, but I could go for Brimsek as well. Doesn't matter to me.

For Bruins forwards, I like:

Cashman - Esposito - Hodge
Bucyk - Oates - Neely
Dumont - Schmidt - Bauer
Cain - Cowley - Middleton

And historically, Brimsek is almost always considered better than Thompson.