Decade rewind: Devils, Red Wings shine in tainted 2000s
Whatever else there is to say about the first decade of the new millennium, its impact will be felt around the league for a long time to come. Credit the 2004-05 lockout for that.
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| Boyd Devereaux (left), Brett Hull and Pavel Datsyuk of the awesome 2001-02 Wings raise the Cup. (Getty Images) |
You can debate whether the kind of overall parity that exists as the decade ends is desirable, especially if you rue the fact that the ability to create a dynasty now seems like a quaint 20th century notion. But since the work stoppage ended, almost every team is in contention annually for the playoffs and despite a number of trouble spots on the league map, the business is far more lucrative than it ever was.
The Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils have done the best job of transitioning the eras, winning two Stanley Cups each and managing 16 100-point seasons between them in the decade. That's largely because of the way they have drafted, developed and inserted talent in their lineups. As the decade draws to a close existing conditions lend themselves best to organizational cycles, leaving limited windows of opportunity for success. Maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins will change that after winning the last Cup of the decade and locking up their core young players for the long-term. We'll find out 10 years from now. In the meantime, here's a look back at the best and worst of this decade.
Players of the decade (aka the 2000s All-Stars)
Goaltender: A no-brainer. Martin Brodeur is still going strong at 37 and already owns every important record there is.
Defensemen: See above. Nicklas Lidstrom won the first of his six Norris trophies in 2001, after finishing as runner-up in the previous three seasons.
Scott Niedermayer has only one Norris, but three Stanley Cup rings and an Olympic Gold Medal this decade.
Right wing: Jaromir Jagr dealt with injuries for the first time in the 2000s, but was always a force when healthy. He won a pair of scoring titles and revitalized the Rangers franchise.
Center: Joe Sakic. Sid the Kid often transcends the sport these days, but Sakic was arguably the quietest superstar of his generation. Injuries caught up with the Avs captain in his last two seasons, but Sakic's body of work in the decade was unparalleled.
Left wing: Alex Ovechkin is in only his fifth season, but he's already put up numbers some guys would happy with for their entire careers. He's the most dominant individual in the game today.
Best (and worst) of the rest
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| Lindy Ruff has been more than a survivor in Buffalo. (Getty Images) |
Team of the decade: The 2001-02 Red Wings had four players who are now in the Hall of Fame, and five more have good shots at getting there when they become eligible. They won the Presidents' Trophy that season in a runaway, were second on offense without a top 10 scorer, and had the third stingiest defense. They capped it off with their third title in six seasons, but only after outlasting defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in a memorable conference finals.
Draft of the decade: The level of talent available in 2003's first round was remarkable. The New York Rangers, meanwhile, used the 12th pick on Hugh Jessiman, who never played an NHL game. All 29 other first rounders have spent at least some time in the bigs. Many have become stars including Marc-Andre Fleury, Eric Staal, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Dion Phaneuf and Braydon Coburn to name a few. There were some gems in later rounds like Shea Weber, Patrice Bergeron and Joe Pavelski as well.
Best deal of the decade: Anaheim got rid of a bad contract and discovered a hidden gem when the Ducks pawned Sergei Fedorov off on Columbus in 2006. Fedorov was overpaid and over the hill after the lockout, and the deal landed the Ducks a journeyman defenseman named Francois Beauchemin, who has become one of the league's top defensemen, and won a Stanley Cup a year later.
Worst deal of the decade: The honor goes to the New York Islanders, although it's a tough choice between them dealing away Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen at the 2000 draft, or Zdeno Chara and the second overall pick that became Jason Spezza in 2001. The latter deal landed them Alexei Yashin, which was a disaster in every respect, particularly the money he cost New York. Chara had yet to blossom, and a high draft pick is a crap shoot, which suggests that the Luongo deal set the Isles back even further. GM Mike Milbury got Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha in the trade because he had the top-overall pick and wanted to draft Rick DiPietro. Milbury got a goalie even though he already had one, and left Dany Heatley and Marian Gaborik on the table.
Best moment: What's better than a blast from the past, especially when it's as good as it ever was? Penguins owner Mario Lemieux did it all during his career and was already in the Hall of Fame, but his failing franchise needed a boost and he provided it by un-retiring as Y2K drew to a close. Lemieux showed he still had the magic by scoring a goal on his first shift back on Dec. 27, 2000, and picked up 76 points in 43 games the rest of the way. He remained active for one season after the lockout.
Worst moment: Unfortunately for the NHL, most of its mainstream attention in the last decade tended to be off the ice, but on-ice incidents like stick swingings tended to get on news loops as well. Nothing though shocked more than the blindside attack Todd Bertuzzi perpetrated on Steve Moore in 2004. Moore suffered a broken neck among other injuries and has not played since, while Bertuzzi was suspended and has been dealing with lawsuits since.
Story of the decade: The lockout. Unfortunately.
