07/31/2023
-DET
When thinking of some of the greatest NHL teams assembled a few come to mind the 1984-1985 Edmonton Oilers, the 1976-1977 Montreal Candians, the 1991-1992 Pittsburgh Penguins just to name a few but to me the greatest team of all time is the 2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings. This team had ten Hall of Famers on it.(nine players,one coach) The 2001-2002 Red Wings also had a solid role players like Steve Duchense,Kris Draper and one of the best backup goalies ever in Manny Legace.The Red Wings payroll was at $65 million,and boasted three 500 goal scorers and added a fourth with Brenden Shanahan. This Red Wings team had five All-Stars, eleven Olympic representatives, and a Norris Trophy winner in Nicklas Lidstrom. This team was huge on star power and grit and this is why this team was the best team to ever be put on ice.
To start you had nine Hall of Fame players starting with The Captain Steve Yzerman. Yzerman, who battled a knee injury through the 2001-2002 season led this team on and off the ice. While not producing a high amount of points Yzerman scored when it mattered and helped lead this Red Wings team to the finals. Next you had Brendan Shanahan who had seventy-five points that led the team in points. Following Shanahan in points was fellow Hall of Famer Sergei Fedorov with sixty-eight points and who won a Bronze Medal with Russia in the Olympics. Following the pack came Brett Hull who was signed in the off-season after leaving the Dallas Stars,Hull had sixty-three points and filled a third line role with Pavel Datsyuk and Boyd Devereaux. Next came Norris Winner Nicklas Lidstrom who had fifty-nine points and added a Conn Smythe Trophy to end his season.Luc Robitaille left the Los Angeles Kings in search of a Stanley Cup,signing a two year deal.Robitaille had fifty points and played a pivotal role on the second line. Igor Larionov, who was Robitaille’s center on the second line, collected his third Stanley Cup with the Red Wings.Chris Chelios who was acquired by the Red Wings in 1998 finished as a runner up in the Norris Trophy to his fellow defenseman Nicklas Lindstrom. Dominik Hasek who also wanted to be on a contender was traded to the Red Wings from the Buffalo Sabers,Hasek ran the net most of the season and was a solid backstop to a even better Red Wings team.To round out the Hall of Famers was Coach Scotty Bowman who led the Red Wings to their third Stanley Cup in six years.
Rounding out the rest of the Red Wings line up was the complete Grind Line of Kris Draper,Darren McCarty,and Kirk Maltby. The Grind Line was the fourth line on paper but played second line minutes helping the Red Wings out in the long run. Rookie Pavel Datsyuk came from Russia and shattered expectations out of the gate finishing fourth that year in Calder voting.Also Tomas Holmstrom played a pivotal part on offense as he played in front of the net and battled night in and night out. The Defense had players Fredrik Olausson,Steve Duchesne,Jiri Fisher and Mathieu Dandenault to round out the line up. Backing up Hasek was always clutch Manny Legace who when called on was solid in net and later became a starter and All-Star in his career. Even without the superstars on this Red Wings team was solid and filled with role players.
This Red Wings team finished the season with one hundred and sixteen points and were the solid first seed in the Western Conference. The Wings played the Canucks in the first round and dropped the first two games,leading to a panic through the fanbase. But after a players only meeting the Red Wings went on to win four straight and beat the Canucks four games to two in the first round. The following round the Red Wings faced off against the Blues making short work of them winning the series four games to one. The Red Wings faced the reigning Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals.The Red Wings were down three games to two in this series before a big game six win sending the series back to Detroit for game seven. In that game seven the Red Wings dismantled the Avalanche by scoring seven goals and shutting the Avalanche out.This led the Red Wings back to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes,after taking game one the Red Wings won four straight games and raised the cup in front of a sell out Joe Louis Arena crowd.
This Red Wings team was bound for greatness no matter what and after a lackluster performance in the 2000-2001 playoffs this Red Wings team came back with a vengeance,adding multiple pieces to the puzzle and building the greatest team to ever wear the winged wheel.I would go as far to say this is the greatest team to ever play in the NHL. This team did not break tons of records or clean house in regular season awards but they played their hearts out when it mattered most and brought home the cup not only for the city of Detroit but for many players for the first time. A Stanley Cup can be a deciding factor for a player getting or not getting into the Hall of Fame and this team helped so many players cement their status as greats of the game. I believe this team is the greatest to ever play in the NHL,there's many arguments as to why or why not they are so please sound off in the comments and let's hear your opinions on the greatest team in the NHL.
