[boogerz]

I was originally favoring Macoun for this spot, but I didn't get to see him play in the 80s/early-90s and he doesn't look any better than Brodie on paper. The fact that he was trusted to ride shotgun to MacInnis in the late-80s is really impressive though.



Jaybouw could be in consideration if Brent Sutter didn't criminally misuse him. As it stands today though, his tenure with the Flames wasn't better than Macoun, Brodie, Housley, or Phaneuf.



Housley and Phaneuf were better than all three, but it's a hard choice between these two, imo.



Housley was really, really good offensively in both stints he was here. Even in his second stint when he was pushing mid-30s, his skating/shot/hockey sense was still top-notch, he was playing big minutes, and he was a consistent scoring threat on the ice. Was he soft and questionable on defense...sure, but he was still top 10 in AST voting two times while he was a member of the Flames. In 98-99, Housley was one of three defensemen to get a 1st place Norris vote... the other two were MacInnis and Pronger. Housley would probably get more recognition if he wasn't forced into being paired with guys like Zarley Zalapski and almost-retired Steve Smith.

Phaneuf is impressive on paper, but he doesn't get those accolades if the NHL isn't in transition between the late-90s stars and the current crop of all-star defensemen. He was in the right place at the right time to be a Norris runner-up... beating Gonchar, Green, Markov, Campbell isn't that impressive compared to MacInnis/Suter/Housley/McCrimmon competing against Bourque/Leetch/Chelios/Coffey. Still though, Phaneuf was a breathe of fresh air coming out of the Young Guns era and when he was wasn't missing the net with this shot or getting out of position for a hit, he was damn good.

I'd go with Housley by a hair on this one.