The future hall of famer was the stabilizing and constant force on an Avalanche team that contended year after year. Sakic helped lead the Avs to his second Stanley Cup title in the 2000-2001 season. This man was apart of the fiercest rivalry in hockey yet still chose his number in honor the Captain of that team, Steve Yzerman. Sakic put up his best statistical years in the late 90’s but was still a scoring threat this decade. He compiled 6 seasons with over 75 points and 2 years surpassing 100. His best season came in his cup year as he put up 118 points with 54 goals and 64 assists while being a +45. Joe had 7 seasons with over 25 goals while sharing the ice with several all star caliber players.
Joe Thornton
Despite not being as famous as Sakic I feel Thornton also earned the right to be the starting center on the all decade team of the 2000’s. Thornton has been an assist machine over the past decade. He put up 7 seasons with over 50 assists and 6 with over 60. This current season is still in progress as he is on pace to be near 80 with already 37. Thornton also had 3 seasons with over 100 points with his best season coming in 2005-2006. That year he picked up a career high 125 points including 96 assists. Unfortunately Thornton has never had the team success Sakic has. He has never been deep in the playoffs.
Honorable Mention: Pavel Datsyuk (3 finals, 2 cups, 1 Selke), and Sidney Crosby (2 finals, 1 cup, 1 MVP, However, he did not debut until mid way through decade)
RW – Jerome Iginla
The Calgary Flames superstar has been a member of the NHL’s elite for almost his entire career. Iginla put up 8 seasons with over 30 goals including twice surpassing 50. He never compiled over 100 points but accumulated over 85 four times and over 90 twice. His highest total was 96. Iginla lead the Flames to their first Stanley Cup final appearance since 1989 in 2004 despite losing to the Lightning in 7 games. Jerome was voted second for the Hart trophy for the league MVP once but was selected as the MVP by his peers that season.
Honorable Mention: Jaromir Jagr (His best years were fron 92 until 01), and Marian Hossa
LW – Ilya Kovalchuk
This scoring sensation came into the league at the start of the decade and has been on fire ever since. Koalchuk put up amazing numbers including 6 seasons with over 35 goals and 5 years with over 40. Only one time in his career did he fail to reach the 30 goal mark. In his rookie year he picked up 29 goals. He has only reached the post season once. This is in contrast to a guy like Zetterberg who reached the playoffs every year of his career including going to the final twice and winning the Stanley Cup once, in 07-08. Zetterberg also was the Conn Smythe winner for the playoffs that season but if you put his regular season stats next to Kovy's they are really not even close (I was even surprised). Zetterberg also did not debut until 2003 the year after the Wings won their first cup of the decade, a team Datsyuk was a member of but Henrik was not. If Zetterberg was on that team I may have bumped him up. Ovechkin like Crosby would be chosen first but did not enter the league until half way through the decade.
Honorable Mention: Henrik Zetterberg (2 finals, 1 cup, 1 Conn Smythe), Alexander Ovechkin (2 MVP's), and Markus Naslund
D – Nicklas Lidstrom
Lidstrom is by far the easiest selection on this list. He has been amongst the high class of the NHL his entire career and only enhanced his legacy in this decade. Lidstrom won 2 more Stanley Cups in the 2000’s giving him a total of 4 to his credit. The first came in 2001-2002 when he also won the Conn Smythe trophy for the playoff MVP and the second came in the later portion of the decade in 2007-2008. He also appeared in the finals for the 6th time in 2008-2009 despite losing in 7 games to the Penguins. Individually Lidstrom racked up 6 Norris trophies as the leagues top defenseman and was also the runner up once. He also became the only European captain to ever win the Stanley Cup following his 07-08 finals victory. The man they call “Lids” is just a beast. Lidstrom had 6 seasons with over 60 points, 4 with 70 or more and one 80 point season while playing shutdown defense.
D – Chris Pronger
Pronger started the decade with one of the best seasons for a defenseman in history. He became the first d man since number 4 Bobby Orr to win the Norris trophy and be named league MVP in the same year. In that year he picked up 62 points and was a +52. Pronger played in his first two Stanley Finals of his career this decade after numerous early exits with the Blues in the 90’s. Pronger appeared in the finals in back to back seasons with two different Western Conference teams. In 2005-2006 he was on the losing end as a member of the Edmonton Oilers falling in a hard fought game 7 to Carolina. A year later he hoisted the cup for the first time with the Anaheim Ducks after beating Ottawa. He notched 40 or more points 8 times and tallied 50+ 4 times over the past 10 seasons. This was all done while being a hard nosed brawler.
Honorable Mention: Scott Niedermayer (4 Finals, 3 Cups, 1 Norris, 1 Conn Smythe), Brian Rafalski (5 Finals, 3 Cups), and Rob Blake (1 Cup)
G – Martin Brodeur
When you break the all time wins record for net minders during the decade there is a good chance you may make this list. Brodeur moved past Patrick Roy as the NHL’s leader in victories for a goalie in 2009. He now has 602 and counting. During the 2000’s he picked up 2 more Stanley Cup titles in the 1999-2000 and in 2002-2003 seasons on top of his ring from 1995. He led the devils to the finals a total of 3 times this decade taking his team back in 2000-2001 before losing in 7 games to Colorado. A goalie career is often measured by team success but individually he was on fire. Brodeur won 38 or more games 7 times and 40 or more 6 over the decade. In 6 seasons he led the entire league in victories. His highest goals against average this decade was a stellar 2.57 every other year except one he was below 2.40. Martin Brodeur may go down as the greatest goalie of all time and it is largely due to his production during the 2000’s decade.
Honorable Mention: Jean-Sebastien Gigere (2 finals, 1 cup, 1 Conn Smythe during final runner up season), and Roberto Luongo (He is a beast)
Coach – Mike Babcock
“Babs” is the clear cut choice at this spot. He came out of nowhere this decade to become one of the best coaches in the league and spark a pace that could place him in the hockey hall of fame one day. Babcock led his team to the Stanley Cup Finals 3 times this decade. In the 02-03 season he coached up a very young and inexperienced Ducks team to the finals before losing in 7 games to New Jersey. During that postseason he would see his team complete a surprising upset of the defending champion Red Wings who were then labeled the “hall of fame squad.” That series would become ironic a few years later when he would leave Anaheim to coach Detroit. He has since led the Red Wings to the finals twice in back to back years in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons winning his first Stanley Cup title during his first finals appearance with Detroit. During this time he saw the wings win 50 or more games 5 straight years and also took them to the Western Conference Finals in 2006-2007 before losing to the eventual champion Ducks that year. At this rate the sky is truly the limit for the amount of president’s trophies, western conference titles, and Stanley Cup championships he could add to his resume with the Red Wings.
Honorable Mention: John Tortorella and Ken Hitchcock
Hockey Player of the Decade: Nicklas Lidstrom
Close Call: Martin Brodeur
Can't beat All-Decade lists.
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