Hi. My
name is Joey Tomaselli, but you can call me "Joey Stats." I'm the new hockey
history and stats guy for TFP.
As my introductory project, I give to you my All-Time NHL Dream Team, which
includes NHL players playing from 1980-2012 and a little position juggling. I
decided to include those players of whom I've actually seen play (but I'd love
to have witnesses the likes of Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr).
Obviously, not everybody reading this will agree with my assessments, but last
time I checked, I wrote this.
I put
my two best shut-down defensemen together: Bourque and Lidstrom. From 1987 to
2012, these two studs won 11 out of the last 25 Norris Trophies, and Ray left
the NHL in 2001. Their combined plus-minus rating is an incredible +959. That's
higher than a lot of kids' S.A.T. scores. Ray is the highest point scoring
defensive player of all-time and to me, and if you had to clone a perfect
blueliner, you would have to use Lidstrom as your choice.
 |
RAYMOND BOURQUE |
|
1983-84 (career year) |
|
G |
A |
PTS |
Awards |
|
31 |
65 |
96 |
1 Stanley Cup |
| |
|
5 Norris Trophies |
Ray Bourque... What else can I say? He has the most goals for a defenseman with
410, and ranks fourth all-time in assist (1,135) and 11th all-time with 1,579
points. He also has the best plus-minus on this team and second all-time with a
+528; that's better than my credit score. Ray played in 19 All-Star games. With
five Norris Trophies, second only to Lidstrom, he was truly amazing. Although it
took him until his last year in the NHL and last game to win his first Stanley
Cup, I bet if you asked him if he cared he would say that it was like this
article... well worth the wait.
 |
NICKLAS LIDSTROM |
|
2005-06 (career year) |
|
G |
A |
PTS |
Awards |
|
16 |
64 |
80 |
4 Stanley Cups |
| |
|
|
7 Norris Trophies |
| |
|
|
1 Conn Smythe Trophy |
| |
|
|
1 Olympic Gold |
After God asked himself, "How can I make the perfect defenseman", he made
Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom ranks sixth all-time in points for defenceman and is
fifth all-time in points with 1,142, second in all-time in plus-minus (+450),
and has won four Stanley Cups and six Norris Trophies. When Lidstrom didn't win
a Norris, I'm pretty sure he just called the NHL and said, "Do you mind if
someone else wins it for once?" Like my hair, he never had an off day. He always
makes the smartest and best play. Lidstrom has been the best defensemen in the
last 30 years.
|
