talex 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I just watched my wings dvd set again and remembering the Russian 5, I thought to myself wow, has there ever been a better team than we had that year. The I remembered the 2002 team and well I still cannot believe the team we had back then, our current team is good and has a solid core from that 02 team still in Lids, Draps, Malts and Pavel... but man what a team... Brendan Shanahan Sergei Fedorov Brett Hull Nicklas Lidstrom Luc Robitaille Steve Yzerman Igor Larionov Chris Chelios Pavel Datsyuk Kris Draper Tomas Holmstrom Boyd Devereaux Kirk Maltby Mathieu Dandenault Steve Duchesne Darren McCarty Jiri Fischer Jason Williams Sean Avery Dominik Hasek Curtis Joseph Manny Legace If there has ever been a better team in NHL history, I cannot think of 1... I am sure this topic has come up before however since I just watched the 97,98,02 previous cup run dvds I could not resist... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dabura 12,232 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) I maintain that some of these Wings rosters in the Babcock era could put away the '02 team. In terms of name recognition and sheer talent, yes, that team is untouchable. But I'm not sure I'd call it the best (i.e. hardest to play against). Edited February 15, 2009 by Dabura Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norrisnick 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 The '77 Habs are fairly unanimously the greatest team ever assembled. They scored 216 more goals than they allowed. That is obscene. As for strictly Wings... I'd say the '08 team was better than the '02 Wings. But the '50s Wings of Howe, Kelly, Lindsay, Sawchuk, etc... would give the more recent squads a serious run for their money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heroes of Hockeytown 694 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 The '77 Habs are fairly unanimously the greatest team ever assembled. They scored 216 more goals than they allowed. That is obscene. Producing the hilarious +120 sported by Larry Robinson. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
interminded 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 The '93 Sharks were fun to watch... But the greatest team ? The Canadiens in the '76 and '77 seasons and let's not forget the Oilers in '84. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nev 1,085 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 Producing the hilarious +120 sported by Larry Robinson. However, don't forget that the late 70s and early 80s had some truly appalling expansion teams (and a horrid Redwings) which in an era of high scoring and no concept of team defence led to those ridiculous +/- totals. I think Potvin put up similar +100 numbers. You can be sure that if those dreadful teams of that era knew how to trap that those goal differentials would not be so great. Not to diss the 70s Canadiens because they were truly one of the greatest teams of all time, but Scotty Bowman, who coached those 70s Canadiens, and the 91 Penguins (Lemiuex, Jagr, Francis, Toccet, Murphy, Mullen etc etc etc) and of course the 97, 98 and 02 Wings said that the best team he ever coached was - the 2002 Detroit Redwings. When Brett Hull is RW on your 4th line, and Pavel Datsyuk is his centre, then you know you've got one hell of a team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,804 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 The 132 points that the '77 Canadiens had are remarkable, because that was before the league even had overtimes. Truly amazing that they did all that in regulation games only. The '02 Wings did have tremendous Hall of Fame power, but it must be remembered that most of those players were past their primes by the time that team was assembled. Nicklas Lidstrom was really the only Hall of Famer on that team who was in his prime back then. Now if you give me a prime Chelios, Yzerman, Hasek, Robitaille, Fedorov, Shanahan, Larionov, Hull along with Lidstrom, then you have the best team ever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VM1138 1,921 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 However, don't forget that the late 70s and early 80s had some truly appalling expansion teams (and a horrid Redwings) which in an era of high scoring and no concept of team defence led to those ridiculous +/- totals. I think Potvin put up similar +100 numbers. You can be sure that if those dreadful teams of that era knew how to trap that those goal differentials would not be so great. Not to diss the 70s Canadiens because they were truly one of the greatest teams of all time, but Scotty Bowman, who coached those 70s Canadiens, and the 91 Penguins (Lemiuex, Jagr, Francis, Toccet, Murphy, Mullen etc etc etc) and of course the 97, 98 and 02 Wings said that the best team he ever coached was - the 2002 Detroit Redwings. When Brett Hull is RW on your 4th line, and Pavel Datsyuk is his centre, then you know you've got one hell of a team. Agreed. We've had some damngood teams the past few years, but it's hard to beat 2002, except maybe with one of the teams from the 1950s. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
softshoes 83 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 That '02 team was just plain fun to watch. The star power was amazing. Watching them take the Av's out that year is one of my best hockey memories. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barrie 900 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I think the 2008 Red Wings is the best of our 4 recent Championships. Best team ever, my vote goes to the 1976-1979 Montreal Canadiens. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rick zombo 3,739 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I just watched my wings dvd set again and remembering the Russian 5, I thought to myself wow, has there ever been a better team than we had that year. The I remembered the 2002 team and well I still cannot believe the team we had back then, our current team is good and has a solid core from that 02 team still in Lids, Draps, Malts and Pavel... but man what a team... Brendan Shanahan Sergei Fedorov Brett Hull Nicklas Lidstrom Luc Robitaille Steve Yzerman Igor Larionov Chris Chelios Pavel Datsyuk Kris Draper Tomas Holmstrom Boyd Devereaux Kirk Maltby Mathieu Dandenault Steve Duchesne Darren McCarty Jiri Fischer Jason Williams Sean Avery Dominik Hasek Curtis Joseph Manny Legace If there has ever been a better team in NHL history, I cannot think of 1... I am sure this topic has come up before however since I just watched the 97,98,02 previous cup run dvds I could not resist... Not to nitpick, but CuJo wasn't on that team. He signed the summer after the Wings won the cup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talex 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I understand the arguments about being past prime, however it is also hard to comprehend wings fans putting to much weight on that because we have had some teams with many 35+ players who perform extremely well, the 02 team also happen to have won the cup and if that is past your prime then bring it on! I realize that not all the players were at their peaks as well, but most of them not in their peak were still better than the majority of players in the nhl. As some of that core nears retirement age and even though it will almost certainly not happen for anyone except lids... I would like to see D acknowledge #18,#25,#33 and #96 in the rafters... I mean how many cups do they need to win in order to get their numbers retired? 4 is good enough for me, I cannot even image if they pull it off this or next year... 5!! all with one team... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
talex 1 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 Not to nitpick, but CuJo wasn't on that team. He signed the summer after the Wings won the cup. I know, he just was on the official roster... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 (edited) I don't know if the Wings will ever have as successful of a year as 2007-2008. -President's Trophy. -Western Conference Champions. -Nick's Norris Trophy. -Osgood and Hasek's Jennings Trophy. -Pav and Z Selke Trophy Nominees. -Pav's Selke Trophy. -Pav's Lady Byng Trophy. -Z's TSN Player of the Year award. -Z's Conn Smythe Award -The most important one, Stanley Cup Champions. Am I missing anything? Edited February 15, 2009 by titanium2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightthelamp13 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I don't know if the Wings will ever have as successful of a year as 2007-2008. -President's Trophy. -Western Conference Champions. -Nick's Norris Trophy. -Osgood and Hasek's Jennings Trophy. -Pav and Z Selke Trophy Nominees. -Pav's Selke Trophy. -Pav's Lady Byng Trophy. -Z's TSN Player of the Year award. -The most important one, Stanley Cup Champions. Am I missing anything? Hank's Conn Smythe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Barrie 900 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I don't know if the Wings will ever have as successful of a year as 2007-2008. -President's Trophy. -Western Conference Champions. -Nick's Norris Trophy. -Osgood and Hasek's Jennings Trophy. -Pav and Z Selke Trophy Nominees. -Pav's Selke Trophy. -Pav's Lady Byng Trophy. -Z's TSN Player of the Year award. -The most important one, Stanley Cup Champions. Am I missing anything? Yea I called the 2008 NHL Awards, "The Red Wings Show". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
titanium2 867 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 Hank's Conn Smythe. Noted. Thanks. You know I can't believe I forget about that one but I guess for the most part that comes with the Stanley Cup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wingsallwin 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I think the Best Wings was 96-97, well because we had not won the cup before that time for long period but Yzerman, Shanhan, Fedorov, Larionov, etc players were younger so I guess it was. And the best team might be 76-77s Canadiens, late 70s to early 80s Islanders, and middle of 80s to late 80s Oilers. These three were just dominating the league. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C-TownWing 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 The 132 points that the '77 Canadiens had are remarkable, because that was before the league even had overtimes. Truly amazing that they did all that in regulation games only. The '02 Wings did have tremendous Hall of Fame power, but it must be remembered that most of those players were past their primes by the time that team was assembled. Nicklas Lidstrom was really the only Hall of Famer on that team who was in his prime back then. Now if you give me a prime Chelios, Yzerman, Hasek, Robitaille, Fedorov, Shanahan, Larionov, Hull along with Lidstrom, then you have the best team ever. See, I was going to say sort of the opposite. Yeah, a lot of those guys were towards the end, but in a lot of cases, it's almost like they saved their last shot of greatness for that team. * Cheli was a first-team all star and led the league in +/-. * Yzerman probably should've won the Conn Smythe. He was actually a point-per-game player during the regular season when healthy too. * Hasek had six shutouts in the playoffs, I think that's a record. * Shanahan, Fedorov, Robitaille and Hull all scored 30 goals. Shanahan led the team in scoring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,804 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 See, I was going to say sort of the opposite. Yeah, a lot of those guys were towards the end, but in a lot of cases, it's almost like they saved their last shot of greatness for that team. * Cheli was a first-team all star and led the league in +/-. * Yzerman probably should've won the Conn Smythe. He was actually a point-per-game player during the regular season when healthy too. * Hasek had six shutouts in the playoffs, I think that's a record. * Shanahan, Fedorov, Robitaille and Hull all scored 30 goals. Shanahan led the team in scoring. Those guys were still All-Star calibur players, but many of them were far past their Hall of Fame primes. That's really the point I was making. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yzermania 156 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 Yah on paper, that 02 team is unreal but I have never seen dominance like the wings demonstrated night after night last season, it was amazing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwfan007 18 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 it is hard to compare one years teams to another, especially teams from decades ago. the game has changed so much, I don't even know what teams of the 50's or 60's would do with today's game. players are faster and stronger now, and with the "new NHL" the holding and impeding that was a cornerstone of the game years ago is gone, and now the emphasis is on skill rather than physicality. Someone mentioned the '77 Habs. Who knows what kind of team they would have had in today's NHL. Would today's Wings skate circles around them, would they be able to keep up without hooking or holding? It is almost impossible to compare teams from different decades, it is all a matter of speculation and "what-ifs" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reilly 24 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 If there has ever been a better team in NHL history, I cannot think of 1... I can think of plenty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alowicious 0 Report post Posted February 15, 2009 I can think of plenty. Reilly, I think that you left off a large part of your post. Ya know, the part where you list the teams that you think are better and why. You can edit your post instead of replying if you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cusimano_brothers 1,655 Report post Posted February 16, 2009 Best DRW Club: 1951-52 70G: 44W-14L-12T - 100 points in the regular season, 2nd time in Club history - winning percentage of 0.714; second highest in DRW history, in pre-expansion era (prior to 1967-68) - a 1-2 finish in League scoring: Howe & Lindsay - Terry Sawchuk plays in all 70 games, recording 12 shutouts (11W & 1T) and posting a GAA of 1.90 - 22 1-goal game record: 13W-9L - 19 2-goal game record: 16W-3L - 14 shutout game record: 11W-2L-1T - in their 14 losses, they are outscored by a total of only 22 goals. But it's what they did in the playoffs that sets them apart from the rest: - a 4-game sweep of Toronto in the Semi-Finals - a 4-game sweep of Montreal in the Finals, to win their 5th Stanley Cup - first time 2 sweeps win the Cup in League history - 2 1-goal wins - 2 2-goal wins - 4 wins by 3 or more goals - one of the greatest goaltending performances in Stanley Cup history, as Terry Sawchuk gives up only 5 goals for a GAA of 0.63 and registers 4 shutouts, all in home games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
