Many will best remember Valeri Kharlamov for his role in the 1972 Summit Series versus Team Canada. So effective was the high-flying winger that in Game Six, Canada's Bobby Clarke took an aggressive chop at his ankle. Although he finished the game, Kharlamov's ankle was cracked. He missed Game Seven and was clearly playing injured in the pivotal final game. Still, Valeri scored three goals and four assists in the seven games he played. Kharlamov also played in the 1974 Pro Classic against the WHA stars, scoring two goals and six assists in the eight-game tournament. In 40 games played against North American professionals, Kharlamov collected 19 goals and 29 assists for 48 points.
For our next pick, we're going off the board (somewhat).
Since every D-man who's ever won a Norris trophy (or whose name appears in a Google search of the "all-time top nhl defensemen") is already taken... My options were to either pick some obscure D-man from the 50s that I've never seen play, or forget about career stats, annual awards and HHOF ballots - and pick someone who I know will make my team a pain in the ass to play against.
And so... The Flying Elbows are proud to select our #1 Defenceman. From Trenčín, Slovakia...
With 79th pick in the CP All-Time Hockey Draft, StrayBullet selects, Borje Salming.
A true European pioneer for the NHL, Borje was was one of the best defensemen in his era. +1100 games and 16 seasons, Salming was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1996.
With 79th pick in the CP All-Time Hockey Draft, StrayBullet selects, Borje Salming.
A true European pioneer for the NHL, Borje was was one of the best defensemen in his era. +1100 games and 16 seasons, Salming was inducted into the Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1996.
I thought I was in the wrong thread here and someone had drafted Keith Richards.
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With our next selections we are happy to bring into the fold a pair of Centermen.
#16 La-la-la-la-la--la La Fontaine
LaFontaine exploded offensively in the 1992–93 season with a personal-best and team-record 148 points (53 goals and 95 assists). The 148 points are also the most points ever scored by an American-born player in one season.
LaFontaine finished as runner-up to Mario Lemieux in the scoring race and earned a spot on the postseason NHL All-Star Second Team. He was also a finalist for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Lady Byng Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player.
In the 1994–1995 season he was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.
LaFontaine is one of three players in NHL history to skate for all three teams based in the state of New York. LaFontaine once joked about it, saying "I got to play for three great organizations in my career and never once had to buy new license plates."
865 Games played
468 Goals
545 Assists
1013 Points
All his Quebec holdout and trade stuff aside, the guy was a Monster (when healthy).
Along with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg he played on the dreaded "Legion of Doom" line. He scored over 40 goals in each of his first two seasons and won the Hart Trophy as MVP in the lockout-shortened season of 1995 by scoring 29 goals and 41 assists in 46 games.
Named to NHL All-Rookie Team - 1993
Hart Memorial Trophy - 1995
Lester B. Pearson Award - 1995
First Team All-Star For the Eastern Conference 1995
Played in 8 All-Star Games - 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
Won Olympic Silver Medal with Team Canada in 1992 Winter Olympic Games
Won Olympic Gold Medal with Team Canada in 2002 Winter Olympic Games
Games Played 760
372 Goals
493 Assists
865 Points
1398 PIM
With the 82nd pick in the CP All-Time Hockey Draft, StrayBullet selects, Dale Hawerchuk.
Dammnit... No natural shots.
A great centerman with over 1400 points including 6, +100 point seasons, Dale Hawerchuk was a scoring machine. Winnipeg's "saviour" when he arrived, Dale Hawerchuk was the #1 Overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.
Last edited by StrayBullet; 01-13-2009 at 02:26 AM.
With 82nd pick in the CP All-Time Hockey Draft, StrayBullet selects, Dale Hawerchuk.
Dammnit... No natural shots.
A great centerman with over 1400 points including 6, +100 point seasons, Dale Hawerchuk was a scoring machine. Winnipeg's "saviour" when he arrived, Dale Hawerchuk was the #1 Overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.
Hawerchuk doesn't play defence
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
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Again, avoiding career stats and awards, instead opting for a player that will make any game against us a living hell...
Rounding out my top Defensive pairing with our #2 Defenceman... from Edmonsuck, Alberta...
The Flying Elbows will see your Wayne Gretzky, and raise you a Zdeno Chara and a... Dion Phaneuf!
Quote:
Dion Phaneuf was drafted ninth overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames and completed his run in the Western Hockey League for the Red Deer Rebels in the spring of 2005.
Phaneuf was named to the CHL First All-Star team for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons, selected from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL. In 2004 he picked up the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy for Top Defenceman and was named to WHL East First All-Star Team. In February 2005 The Hockey News publication named him the number two prospect in the world behind Russian Alexander Ovechkin.[citation needed]
Phaneuf represented Canada at the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland. The team won silver in a defeat to the American junior team. Phaneuf was named to the Tournament All Star Team. The following year Phaneuf returned to the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where the Canadians took gold for the first time in eight years. Phaneuf was again awarded a spot on the Tournament All-Star Team, and was named Top Defenceman of the tournament. One notable incident of the 2005 tournament saw Phanuef make a thunderous check on the Czech Republic's Rostislav Olesz that left Olesz with a concussion and broken jaw.
Phaneuf made his NHL debut on the opening night of the 2005–06 NHL season for the Flames on October 5, 2005 in a 6–3 loss to Minnesota. He recorded his first point, first assist, and first goal in the October 10, 2005 game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Phaneuf earned the rookie of the month award for November as recognized by the NHL. Hockey's Future listed him as their #3 prospect behind Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby and said that he would likely win the James Norris Memorial Trophy at some point in his career. On April 13, 2006 he became only the third rookie defenceman (along with Brian Leetch and Barry Beck) to score 20 goals in a season. As well, he broke the Calgary Flames' team record for goals by a rookie defenceman, which was 18 by Gary Suter.
During the All-Star break of the 2006–07 season, an informal poll of 141 NHL players conducted by ESPN named Phaneuf the hardest hitter in the NHL. On January 24, 2007, Phaneuf played in the 2007 NHL All-Star Game and scored the longest empty-net goal in All-Star history (200 ft.) when he banked a shot off the boards from behind his own net and the puck rolled into the vacated Eastern net.
He was a member of the 2007 Canadian IIHF World Championship team that won gold in a 4–2 win against Finland in Moscow. He is rumored to have declined an invitation to play at the IIHF World Championship for Team Canada in 2008.
Phaneuf went way earlier than I thought that he would. I can think of 10 better defensemen off the top of my head who have done more in the NHL. Hell there is a defenseman on the Flames who I would select ahead of Phaneuf based on career accomplishments to date.
I could justify Phaneuf on buzz only. The stats aren't there, but everyone in the league knows him, and knows what he can do... but I would have to agree that he was taken a tad early...
