Best Cup Teams of the Decade

[Buppy 1,720]

So here's a hypothetical:

Say Datsyuk had been healthy. Add a normal start to the series instead of the silly back to back on short rest...giving some of our banged up players further time to heal. Also add a healthy Lilja...Wings win the Cup.

Where would you rank that team?

Personally, I'd put them 4th, '08 Wings 5th, followed by the Ducks. The rest stay the same.

[Barrie 900]

I have no disagreements with the list. If I put it together I would have ranked them the same way.

I the 2002 team! It's my favorite of our 4 championships.

[HenryMalredo 2]

The 2002 team may have had flashier names, but honestly, I think the 2008 team was better.

[Nev 1,085]

I'm inclined to agree. We racked up what, 115 points in 2008? And that includes February when we went 4-8-2. Of course we had 10 (Ten) starters out injured, including our top-4 defencemen. Lest we forget, our top D-pairing was Lilja-Lebda, and that was the old turnover-whipping boy Lilja to boot. Without that we would have been 125+ points.

[skyphoenix 153]

Great list IMO. I think the 07-08 Wings were much better than the 08-09 Penguins. Its kind of hard to say, but in my opinion, the Wings were too battered last year and they still took the series to 7 games. In 07-08 they were just dominating in the post-season and Osgoods GAA was 1.55. However, like the list says no team will top the Wings 01-02 team. Just to look at that roster is astonishing.

[blues_demitra38 11]

I'm surprised that no one's brought up the issue that the 2002 Wings are better than the 2008 Wings. Personally, I think it's close and could be considered a toss-up.

[9-HoweFan 2]

Puckdaddy?!?!?

What kind of lame thing is that. With his article he's probably forced to call Bettman, daddy.

LAME A$$ NHL PARTY-LINE SLAPPY, P.O.S. .........

[thedatsyukian 7]

Puckdaddy?!?!?

What kind of lame thing is that. With his article he's probably forced to call Bettman, daddy.

LAME A$$ NHL PARTY-LINE SLAPPY, P.O.S. .........

Take your pills.

That's probably the same list I would have save for putting the '08 wings ahead of the '07 ducks.

[thegerkin 189]

The 9 best NHL teams of the last decade

9. 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes

8. 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning

7. 2002-03 New Jersey Devils

6. 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins

5. 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings

An incredible regular season that saw the Wings win the President's Trophy with 115 points ended with the team's second Stanley Cup of the decade. Henrik Zetterberg's 27-point playoff run, combined with shutdown defense, was subtly astonishing.

The question we know you're asking: Why is this team ranked ahead of a Penguins team that essentially defeated the same group the following season?

Top to bottom, this is a better team than the Penguins' squad that won the Cup, especially when you compare the blue lines. They were all a year younger, faster and more durable; and had the Chris Osgood that played in this run (14-4, 1.55 GAA) been the one that faced the Penguins in the rematch, we may have been talking about a third Detroit title in the 2000s.

Plus, no Marian Hossa. Hence, they won the Cup in 2007-08.

4. 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks

3. 1999-00 New Jersey Devils

2. 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche

1. 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings

Unless you're one of those fans that blindly hates everything with a Winged Wheel, this one is indisputable. These Red Wings were a 116-point monster in the regular season that finished second in offense and defense; touting four 30-goal scorers in Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille, with Nicklas Lidstrom winning this second Norris Trophy as best defenseman. The grand master, Scotty Bowman, orchestrated it all from the bench.

As we mentioned in the opening, it's almost unfair to compare this traveling all-star team with any from the capped era. They won the Cup with a payroll around $65 million, and the roster read like one a kid with a video game would put together: Along with the five players mentioned earlier, there was Steve Yzerman, considered on the wane until he led the team in playoff scoring; Igor Larionov, Chris Chelios, Tomas Holmstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. Their foot soldiers were in their prime, too, like Darren McCarty, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby.

Back-stopping it all was 37-year-old Dominik Hasek, who had a 2.17 GAA in the regular season and a 1.86 in the playoffs. How big-game was the Dominator? He had five shutouts in the regular season and six in the postseason.

The Wings teams in the 1990s that had Yzerman, Fedorov and Shanahan in their primes were a little better, but this 2001-02 Detroit team is clearly the best of the 2000s and one of the best of the last two decades. If you needed validation of that, visit the Hockey Hall of Fame in about 15 years and see how many players from this roster have entered into immortality.

Edited November 7, 2009 by thegerkin

[titanium2 867]

Why is the Ducks team so high?

[Viking_Erection 1]

How did they compile the list? Just pick the teams that won cup each year? I would argue Detroit was the better team than the Pittsburgh Penguins last year despite losing it all by only 1 goal.

[thegerkin 189]

Yeah, the teams were the 9 that won the cup from 2000 through last season, with the lockout taking out one of the seasons. The article didn't really say why the Ducks were so high, but it did mention why last years Red Wings were higher than the Penguins who beat them.

In my opinion, I would drop Anaheim to 6th, and bump up both Pittsburgh and Detroit to 5th and 4th, respectively.

Edit: Also, I would probably swap the 1999-00 Devils and the 2000-01 Avalanche. I had a chance to watch a live playoff game when the Devils hosted the Flyers during the Conference Finals in 2000, and I personally think that New Jersey team was better than Colorado.

Edited November 7, 2009 by thegerkin

[dropkickshanahans 463]

considering how tough a schedule Anaheim had compared to our recent cup championship, Anaheim's place is right where it should be.

Edited November 7, 2009 by dropkickshanahans

[KrazyGangsta 79]

Yeah, the teams were the 9 that won the cup from 2000 through last season, with the lockout taking out one of the seasons. The article didn't really say why the Ducks were so high, but it did mention why last years Red Wings were higher than the Penguins who beat them.

In my opinion, I would drop Anaheim to 6th, and bump up both Pittsburgh and Detroit to 5th and 4th, respectively.

Edit: Also, I would probably swap the 1999-00 Devils and the 2000-01 Avalanche. I had a chance to watch a live playoff game when the Devils hosted the Flyers during the Conference Finals in 2000, and I personally think that New Jersey team was better than Colorado.

I completely agree with you Duck team is over rated. We had them on our heels but if the reffing was actually good in the NHL we would of won that series anyways no point in dwelling from my part.

I also agree NJ > Colorado.

I would also like to make one more switch Tampa Bay with NJ switching 7-8.

[Finnish Wing 110]

How did they compile the list? Just pick the teams that won cup each year? I would argue Detroit was the better team than the Pittsburgh Penguins last year despite losing it all by only 1 goal.

The list is "Best Cup Teams of the Decade".