The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's a question that is bound to generate hours of spirited debate: Who are the true hockey greats of the first decade of this century? The experts at NHL.com must have pondered this one long and hard before coming up with their answer. Now their choices for the first and second All-Decade Teams have been named. The First Team includes that ageless legend, Martin Brodeur, in net Ð a no-brainer considering his never-ending assault on the record books. Patrolling the blueline are Nicklas Lidstrom and Scott Niedermayer, two steady D-men who know how to play in both ends Ð and how to win. At centre is the now-retired Joe Sakic, one of the most gifted Ð and classiest Ð men to ever lace 'em up. He's sandwiched between some good company in the form of young phenom Alexander Ovechkin and the poster child for power forwards, Jarome Iginla. The Second Team is backstopped by a somewhat surprising choice in Chris Osgood. Never truly seen as a dominant netminder, Ozzy's stats and longevity nevertheless make him a future Hall of Fame candidate. In two unsurprising picks, a couple of towering forces, defencemen Chris Pronger and Zdeno Chara, guard the net. Living-up-to-the-hype Sidney Crosby is the centreman. Sid the Kid is so good and still so young that he is a virtual lock to make the next All-Decade Team. On the wings, Crosby can feed the puck to Jaromir Jagr. Given the way his career quietly ended, people forget how amazing Jagr really was. On the other wing is Ilya Kovalchuk, who as a superstar is often overlooked by virtue of the fact he plays in Atlanta. Honourable mentions for the first team went to Evgeni Nabokov and Miikka Kiprusoff in net; Sergei Zubov, Sergei Gonchar, Dan Boyle and Rob Blake on defence; Joe Thornton and Vincent Lecavlier at centre; and Martin St. Louis, Markus Naslund, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson on the wings. There were no honourable mentions for the First Team.
