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Sports Then and Now



Best of the Decade: Looking At Hockey’s Best 3

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Scott Weldon
Detroit Red Wings v Colorado Avalanche

Nicklas Lidstrom was the best defenseman of the decade and helped the Red Wings to a pair of Stanley Cup titles.

The first ten years of the 21st century have flashed by. Great NHL careers like those of Joe Sakic, Jaromir Jagr, Steve Yzerman, Peter Forsberg and Mario Lemieux have come to an end and others like those of Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin have just gotten started.

Who has had the best decade though? Taking a look from Jan 1, 2000 until December 31, 2009 I’ve come up with this list. These are my best ten players of the 2000’s in the NHL.

Who Was The Best Hockey Player Of The Decade?

  • Nicklas Lidstrom (32%, 7 Votes)
  • Martin Brodeur (32%, 7 Votes)
  • Joe Thornton (14%, 3 Votes)
  • Jaromir Jagr (9%, 2 Votes)
  • Jarome Iginla (5%, 1 Votes)
  • Scott Niedermayer (5%, 1 Votes)
  • Joe Sakic (5%, 1 Votes)
  • Chris Pringer (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Daniel Alfredsson (0%, 0 Votes)
  • Patrik Elias (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 22

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10. Patrik Elias LW- New Jersey Devils- Regular season (GP-652 G-267 A-359) Playoffs (GP-114 G-38 A-64) 1 First All-star team.

Elias started the decade helping Brodeur and company dump the Dallas Stars in the Stanley cup finals in 2000.  He was in the finals again the next year barely losing to the power house Colorado Avalanche four games to three. New Jersey won the cup again in 2003 defeating the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Elias provided offense on a team that played a tight defensive system to win their cups. He played through a decade of injury and sickness on a trap team and still managed to be the decades 9th leading scorer in the regular season. When you throw in his playoff numbers he’s the seventh leading scorer of the decade and he’s tied with Vincent Lecavalier for the sixth most total goals in the decade. This skilled playoff performer was the tenth best player of the 2000’s. Read the rest of this entry →

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      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is the only football player ever to capture college football’s top individual award twice.

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