Except, spoiler alert, the 2003-04 season makes the list, but doesn\u2019t win. We\u2019ll get to that.<\/p>\n
For now, we\u2019ll dig back to the dawn of the expansion era in 1967-68, and try to find the 20 best lineups of players who said goodbye to the NHL. Let\u2019s start with \u2026<\/p>\n
No. 20: 1984-85<\/p>\n
We get a few big names onto this squad before it starts to fade. But hey, at least our goalie almost won an All-Star Game MVP<\/a>.<\/p>\n Forwards: Darryl Sittler, Steve Shutt, Terry O\u2019Reilly<\/p>\n Defense: Brad Park, Jim Schoenfeld<\/p>\n Goalie: John Garrett<\/p>\n There are other options on the blue line, including Marty Howe. But I\u2019m taking Schoenfeld because he could sing, he makes fine cover art for a hockey history book, and he won\u2019t let the referees pick on us<\/a>.<\/p>\n No. 19: 2013-14<\/p>\n What do you get when you combine two of the most universally beloved forwards of all time with a workmanlike blue line and a crusty goaltender who didn\u2019t like anyone? Part of me is glad we don\u2019t have to find out.<\/p>\n Forwards: Teemu Selanne, Daniel Alfredsson, Saku Koivu<\/p>\n Defense: Ed Jovanovski, Derek Morris<\/p>\n Goalie: Tim Thomas<\/p>\n By the way, the Canadiens should get over themselves and their whole \u201cYou have to be a Hall of Famer\u201d thing and retire Koivu\u2019s number. Then again, teams are weird about this stuff<\/a>.<\/p>\n No. 18: 1999<\/p>\n We all know who retired in \u201999. The question is whether enough other great players followed him to make this squad a contender. The answer: Not really.<\/p>\n Forwards: Wayne Gretzky, Dino Ciccarelli, Dale Hunter<\/p>\n Defense: Jamie Macoun, Craig Ludwig<\/p>\n Goalie: Ron Hextall<\/p>\n Gretzky is Gretzky, and our two journeymen blueliners would at least know how to get the puck off the glass and out. Meanwhile, I\u2019m not sure Ciccarelli, Hunter and Hextall are good enough to make this team a contender, but I do know that anyone who beats them is going to feel it in the morning.<\/p>\n No. 17: 2014-15<\/p>\n This team is basically carried by the two Martins, Brodeur and St. Louis. And it\u2019s more than enough to get them into the top 20.<\/p>\n Forwards: Martin St. Louis, Daniel Bri\u00e8re, Dany Heatley<\/p>\n Defense: Sergei Gonchar, Kimmo Timonen<\/p>\n Goalie: Martin Brodeur<\/p>\n By the way, that\u2019s the only time \u201cBrodeur\u201d and \u201cSt. Louis\u201d should be used in the same sentence, am I right, Devils fans?<\/p>\n No. 16: 2011-12<\/p>\n This is probably the weakest forward line on our list, and the goaltending isn\u2019t great. But man, that blue line would be just about unstoppable. Could two players drag the rest of the group into contention? These two might, sure.<\/p>\n Forwards: Jason Arnott, Jason Blake, John Madden<\/p>\n Defense: Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger<\/p>\n Goalie: Dwayne Roloson<\/p>\n Sure, just a guy with seven Norris Trophies paired with the last defenseman to win MVP. Good luck to everyone who\u2019s going to try to get a shot on net against this squad.<\/p>\n No. 15: 2000-01<\/p>\n Another group that\u2019s basically all about the blue line, with this pairing being so good that I didn\u2019t even consider Larry Murphy for a spot.<\/p>\n Forwards: Tony Granato, Ron Sutter, Joe Murphy<\/p>\n Defense: Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey<\/p>\n Goalie: Kirk McLean<\/p>\n Those are the two highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, if you\u2019re wondering, and they\u2019re each over 250 points up on third spot. Coffey was arguably the smoothest skater ever, and Borque remains my pick for the second-best defenseman ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n No. 14: 2009-10<\/p>\n This is yet another stacked blue line, but this time with a fun forward line that will feature two pure goal scorers and some multi-Selke winning (you could go with Jere Lehtinen over Brind\u2019Amour if you prefer). There are some contender vibes here, but one position kills us.<\/p>\n Forwards: Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk, Rod Brind\u2019Amour<\/p>\n Defense: Chris Chelios, Scott Niedermayer<\/p>\n Goalie: Cristobal Huet<\/p>\n Huet doesn\u2019t just land the job; he\u2019s kind of the only option unless you think I\u2019m talking myself into Vesa Toskala, which, for the record, I am not.<\/p>\n Peter Forsberg played in his final NHL game with the Avalanche on February 12, 2011. (Frederick Breedon \/ Getty Images)No. 13: 2010-11<\/p>\n We can thank two games of an unsuccessful comeback attempt for getting us our top forward, which allows us to ice a line of three Hall of Famers. None on the back end, though, unless Red Wings fans get their way someday.<\/p>\n Forwards: Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Mark Recchi<\/p>\n Defense: Adam Foote, Brian Rafalski<\/p>\n Goalie: Chris Osgood<\/p>\n If it weren\u2019t for Forsberg\u2019s aborted comeback in 2011, he\u2019d be on Team 2008 with Dominik Hasek, but not much else. He probably made the right call.<\/p>\n No. 12: 1988-89<\/p>\n It feels kind of suiting that the season that saw the seismic shift of Gretzky going from Canada to California also ended up being a changing of the guard in terms of star players hanging up their skates.<\/p>\n Forwards: Marcel Dionne, Lanny McDonald, Bob Gainey<\/p>\n Defense: Craig Hartsburg, Ken Morrow<\/p>\n Goalie: Billy Smith<\/p>\n As with a few teams, our blue line doesn\u2019t inspire confidence in terms of keeping the puck out of the net. But that\u2019s OK, because we make up for it with one of the greatest defensive forwards of all time, plus a goalie who was so dirty that nobody will want to go near him.<\/p>\n No. 11. 1997-98<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got three legitimate Hall of Famers on the forward line, and one somewhat less popular pick on the blue line.<\/p>\n Forwards: Jari Kurri, Mike Gartner, Pat LaFontaine<\/p>\n Defense: Kevin Lowe, Al Iafrate<\/p>\n Goalie: Andy Moog<\/p>\n Are Iafrate and Moog good enough to carry their weight on this team? Maybe, maybe not, but they have us this<\/a> and this<\/a>, so you will show them some respect.<\/p>\n No. 10. 2021-22<\/p>\n The most recent year on our list features three guys who are already in the Hall of Fame, plus at least one more name that will join them soon. The last forward spot came down to Jason Spezza or Dustin Brown, and only one of them has a statue.<\/p>\n Forwards: Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Brown<\/p>\n Defense: Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith<\/p>\n Goalie: Carey Price<\/p>\n We did say we were going by the last game played, so the fact that Price is still technically active enough to be traded<\/a> doesn\u2019t bother us. But if you have an issue with it, the criminally underrated Tuukka Rask is our backup.<\/p>\n No. 9: 1973-74<\/p>\n We run into some controversy here with Frank Mahovlich, who did indeed play his final NHL game in 1974 but who then went on to play a few more in the WHA. Maybe that doesn\u2019t fit the spirit of the thing, but we\u2019ll allow it because we need the help up front to supplement a very strong back end.<\/p>\n Forwards: Frank Mahovlich, Alex Delvecchio, Bruce MacGregor<\/p>\n Defense: Tim Horton, Jacques Laperri\u00e8re<\/p>\n Goalie: Gump Worsley<\/p>\n Five Hall of Famers and a guy named Bruce. Honestly, it kind of works.<\/p>\n No. 8: 2006-07<\/p>\n I\u2019m doing something I rarely do in these sorts of posts, and giving a slot to a non-Hall-of-Fame player over a guy who did get the call up front. Sorry, Pierre Turgeon, chalk it up to chemistry as we instead reunite two-thirds of the Legion of Doom (and play them with a defenseman who never gave them an inch).<\/p>\n Forwards: Eric Lindros, Joe Nieuwendyk, John LeClair<\/p>\n Defense: Darius Kasparaitis, Oleg Tverdovsky<\/p>\n Goalie: Eddie Belfour<\/p>\n The blue line would probably jell pretty nicely, but it\u2019s still the weak link in an otherwise strong squad.<\/p>\n No. 7: 1978-79<\/p>\n Hockey\u2019s loss is this squad\u2019s game, as we get two immortals whose careers ended earlier than they could have in Bobby Orr and Ken Dryden.<\/p>\n Forwards: Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, Pit Martin<\/p>\n Defense: Bobby Orr, Eddie Westfall<\/p>\n Goalie: Ken Dryden<\/p>\n RIP to Dryden<\/a>, a guy who was both in the conversation for best goalie ever and also one of the smartest and most influential minds the sport has ever known.<\/p>\n No. 6: 1970-71<\/p>\n This ends up being our oldest team, and it\u2019s a very good one. That makes some sense when you think about the timing \u2014 the 1967 expansion doubled the number of jobs available in the NHL overnight, which presumably convinced a few legends to hang around for an extra season or two. We don\u2019t have much depth, and we run into another WHA defection with Bathgate, but otherwise, it\u2019s tough to do much better than this group if you love your old-timers.<\/p>\n Forwards: Jean Beliveau, Andy Bathgate, George Armstrong<\/p>\n Defense: Jean-Guy Talbot, Al Arbour<\/p>\n Goalie: Glenn Hall<\/p>\n Also, more players should wear glasses during NHL games<\/a>. I feel like somebody doing that these days would actually come across as weirdly intimidating.<\/p>\n No. 5: 2002-03<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got three dynamic forwards up front, plus another one on the blue line, and a guy who thought he was a power forward in net. We also have Ken Daneyko chipping pucks off the glass and shaking his head and wondering how it came to this.<\/p>\n Forwards: Pavel Bure, Doug Gilmour, Theo Fleury<\/p>\n Defense: Phil Housley, Ken Daneyko<\/p>\n Goalie: Patrick Roy<\/p>\n Seriously, though, give me that forward line in NHL \u201994 and I will absolutely wreck you.<\/p>\n No. 4: 2008-09<\/p>\n The forwards are so stacked that we don\u2019t have room for Hall of Famer Jeremy Roenick, who\u2019ll have to settle for centering our black aces alongside Claude Lemieux and Markus Naslund.<\/p>\n Forwards: Joe Sakic, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Shanahan<\/p>\n Defense: Sergei Zubov, Teppo Numminen<\/p>\n Goalie: Curtis Joseph<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-109035522-scaled.jpg\")
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