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.

Lucky Number 13, as in the combined number of Stanley Cups won by these three
legends (and like a bank, this line makes sense). Having Gretzky and Kurri
together on the same line is like Nutella on Wonder Bread... it's the perfect
combination. Having Bossy on the right side makes this an even scarier line to
defend. Simply put, if Gretzky was a plane, his two wings would be named Kurri
and Bossy.
 |
JARI KURRI |
|
1984-85 (career year) |
|
G |
A |
PTS |
Awards |
|
71 |
64 |
135 |
5 Stanley Cups |
No one played better with Gretzky than Kurri. Watching these two play together
is like watching Chris Angel or David Blane, it's pure magic. In his NHL career,
Kurri is 20th all-time in (1,398 points) and ranks 18th all-time with 601 goals.
He's won 5 Stanley Cups and when the games matter most, he came through in Finn
form, scoring 106 playoff goals and totaling 233 playoff points, leaving this
legend third all-time in both categories. "Kurri" in Finnish must mean "playoff
hero" because his two records include 19 goals in one post-season campaign and
12 playoff goals in one series alone.
 |
WAYNE GRETZKY |
|
1985-86 (career year) |
|
G |
A |
PTS |
Awards |
|
52 |
163 |
215 |
4 Stanley Cups |
| |
10 Art Ross Trophies |
|
9 Hart Trophies |
|
5 Ted Lindsay Trophies |
|
2 Conn Smythe Trophies |
The Great One (no, ladies, not me) is my first line center because his 2,984
total points say so. He led the league in points in both the '80s and '90s and
broke the 200-point mark in a single season four times, something that three of
the top players playing in the NHL on the whole first line are not able to do...
combined. He was the best passer of all-time, PERIOD! He has a 970 point lead
over Mark Messier, the current second place holder of points. If you only took
into account his 1,963 career assists and disregarded his 894 career goals
(which will NEVER be broken), his point total would still not be beaten.
Put it this way, if you want to beat Gretzky's records of most Goals, Assist and
Points all-time, and I am basing this on the fact you played a solid 20 years in
the NHL, you would have to average 44.7 goals, 98.1 assist, and 142.8 points per
season. Are you fu**in kidding me?! Good luck! He has more records than Elvis.
His playoff record of 382 playoff points is so sick, it gives me the flu. I have
to stop talking about Gretzky before I get too excited.
 |
MIKE BOSSY |
|
1981-82 (career year) |
|
G |
A |
PTS |
Awards |
|
64 |
83 |
147 |
4 Stanley Cups |
| |
|
|
1 Conn Smythe Trophy |
I know a lot of you are probably wondering why the hell Bossy is on my first
line, but this is my article and I'm the Boss-y. In his first nine
seasons in the NHL he scored 50 goals or more; he averaged 59 goals per year in
his 10-year career, scored in 76 per cent of his regular-season games (an NHL
record), and had a 65 per cent chance of scoring in every playoff game that he
played. He is first on this team with a 21.18 shooting percentage. In the last
32 years, there was no other goal-scorer better than Bossy. If Bossy worked for
the army, his job would be a SNIPER.
|