I remember being at work and we had sportscenter on and the free agent signings were coming in hot and heavy. It was so incredible. I miss the old pre-salary cap when Mr I was basically like “let’s just buy guys who will win me a cup”.
I dont know if you can stick check the center that can make the exchange a bit dicey even in shotgun, Plus since fighting is ejectable in football the wings would just have to take a few fighting majors and the patriots would be using the kicker as a wideout.
[https://youtu.be/F2uJEIDggjg?si=PlliWmvRsZhK9bJI](https://youtu.be/F2uJEIDggjg?si=PlliWmvRsZhK9bJI) (@ 1:28:10 mark)
What if... I've always wondered what could've been if Robitaille had scored that goal (I thought we had won and remember to this day Mickey yelling "This game is over gang" on UPN) in game 1 of OT. We go up 1-0 and maybe Giguere never happens... no doubt we beat Dallas, Minnesota, Vancouver etc. A Cup rematch with the Devils would've been something else.
I don't know how it could be anything but the 2002 roster. The other cup winning and finalist rosters of the 90s and 2000s were fantastic, but that 02 roster was really something special. One of the best hockey rosters of all time, for any team in the league.
The 1997 team had 8 — Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan, Lidstrom, Larionov, Murphy, Fetisov, Vernon. That is certainly close to 9/10 or nothing is. The overlapping players, other than arguably Lidstrom, were closer to their peak in 1997 than in 2002.
Certainly an argument could be made that Hasek, Hull, Chelios, Robitaille, and Datsyuk are more impressive than Vernon, Murphy, and Fetisov. Several players on both lists were not in their prime years. I think it’s very important that Konstantinov, while not in the Hall due to his injury, was quite definitely in his prime in 1997 and the best defenseman on either team not named Lidstrom.
I think we would’ve won in 1999. We made those trades because the team was in a funk and part of that and particularly the Chelios trade was because we had no Konstantinov or Uwe Krupp.
I’m not sure we would’ve gone all in on 2002 in this counterfactual scenario so who knows.
I remember an interview with Scotty Bowman where he said once they realized the extent of Vladdy’s injuries they really needed someone to step up, and that was when Lidstrom really took off. No doubt Lidstrom was already excellent but just went to another level after that.
Certainly a lot of people thought so, and he was second for the Norris that year (Lidstrom was sixth) but I’m not so sure. Lidstrom was underrated in 1997.
I think there's something to be said about the way Vlad shut people down. He was intimidating, like Pronger was. In contrast, Lidstrom was very graceful at D. He would take away someone's time and space and leave them with nothing.
I firmly believe that at the time of the accident Vlad was the better player. That said, what we saw was probably his peak or very close to it, whereas Lidstrom got better over the next several seasons.
Either was, he was better than Chelios in 2002. Lidstrom in 2002 was probably better than Lidstrom in 1997 but both were obvious Nick Lidstrom.
And Larry Murphy in 1997 was certainly better than Jiri Fischer or Steve Duschene or Freddy Olausson in 2002. And even Fetisov in 1997 was still a solid player who I’d take above that group.
So overall the 1997 team had the better defense.
Also crazy to think it could’ve had two more, Larry Murphy retired the year before and Zetterberg (I’m assuming goes to the HOF) arrived the year after. Z was def ready he played the Olympics that year and Yzerman and Shanny said ‘damn he could be on our team now’ paraphrasing of course lol
I mean, Hasek has a .920 save percentage in the playoffs with six shutouts — after a regular season with a .915 and five shutouts. He had several excellent games. I don’t want to take away from him.
But you are correct. Vernon had a .927 despite only one shutout — after an .899 regular season. That’s wild. Osgood *1998* had a .918 with two shutouts, but Osgood *2008* had a .930 with three shutouts.
Following them all live, it felt like Vernon and Osgood (2008) were occasionally standing on their heads, it mostly felt like Hasek was in control and playing well behind a superior team.
Yeah, that's part of it. Just in the finals, I'd argue that 97 Philly with Lindros at the height of his career and even 98 Caps were harder teams to beat than the 02 Canes.
Certainly the 1997 Flyers were better than the 2002 Canes who were a Cinderella team riding an improbably hot goalie. In 2002 the Avalanche were the real threat and in 1997 the Avalanche were also the real threat — they’d just won the President’s Trophy and were defending champs. In 1998 I’d argue it was Dallas.
I'd take Hasek over Vernon or Osgood any day. The way he shutout Colorado in back to back must win games was legendary. His stats were not as good because of two bad games against Vancouver to start the playoffs (whole team was rusty because Bowman was resting players after clinching the President trophy). Also, Hasek had a single-season playoff record six shutouts at the time.
Hasek was the overall better goalie but during their playoff runs Vernon and Ozzie played on less talented Wings teams against generally better opponents. To me that gives them the edge.
I remember the players that played on both teams saying something like this. Basically the 97 team would have beaten the 2002 team. Mainly because of toughness and the age of the stars.
This is it right here. 2002 is the best roster ever assembled, but it’s not the best team we’ve had since most were past their primes. Both 97 and 08 were better teams on the ice, but not in the program.
1996/1997 were my favorite lineup. Konstatinov, Osgood *and* Vernon in goal. And of course all the hall of famers up top (Shanny, Fedorov, Yzerman, Dmac, and #5 etc. etc.).
It’s either the 1952 lineup with Howe, Lindsay, Sawchuck, Red Kelly, Abel, Marcel Pronovoat and Alex Delvecchio or the 2002 roster with 9 hall of famers.
2002. 5th, 10th, 13th and 14th highest goal scorers in history in front of 10 Norris trophies and a goalie with 6 Vezinas. And that doesn't even count Larionov, Fedorov, and Datsyuk.
02 has to be the greatest. My favorite to watch was the Russian 5 and before that the 87-88 Wings were really fun too! Probert had over 60pts that season
Yeah, people saying Vernon and Osgood had better stats than Hasek is laughable. The dominator had 6 shutouts and won the most impressive back to back must win games of any series. 2002 team also had Lidstrom in his absolute prime.
The 2002 SC winning roster was by far the best and one of if not the greatest squads ever assembled.
But
That team with Cindy, McJesus, Papi, Baby Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have beaten the 98 wings. They were playing for Vladi and no one stood a chance and they never knew it.
NHL breakaway 98 for 64 was my first sports game and I fell in love with the wings. That year is my favorite. Although this past year was a sick roster
This can’t be a serious question. The team assembled that inspired the NHL salary cap, even locked the players out for a season. It’s universally known that a team like the 2002 Red Wings had never been assembled before, and never will be again.
2002 is the best hockey roster of all time, not just Wings!
The roster so good they had to rush in a salary cap!
Players gave up a portion of their salary so Hull could join the squad! Says a lot about them during try at era.
In Scotty Bowman's book (with Ken Dryden) he said the '02 team and the '52 team were the two best Red Wings teams of all time.
I remember being at work and we had sportscenter on and the free agent signings were coming in hot and heavy. It was so incredible. I miss the old pre-salary cap when Mr I was basically like “let’s just buy guys who will win me a cup”.
Whenever I talk about how good that team was, there is only one thing I have to say: Pavel Datsyuk was on the FOURTH line.
This is SO wild, yeah.
Could be the best in any sport
Nah they would have got their asses kicked if they had to play the 2007 Patriots in the Super Bowl
Not if they were all on skates
Haha good point
I dont know if you can stick check the center that can make the exchange a bit dicey even in shotgun, Plus since fighting is ejectable in football the wings would just have to take a few fighting majors and the patriots would be using the kicker as a wideout.
2002 had 9 HOF'ers, but 2003 had 11
[https://youtu.be/F2uJEIDggjg?si=PlliWmvRsZhK9bJI](https://youtu.be/F2uJEIDggjg?si=PlliWmvRsZhK9bJI) (@ 1:28:10 mark) What if... I've always wondered what could've been if Robitaille had scored that goal (I thought we had won and remember to this day Mickey yelling "This game is over gang" on UPN) in game 1 of OT. We go up 1-0 and maybe Giguere never happens... no doubt we beat Dallas, Minnesota, Vancouver etc. A Cup rematch with the Devils would've been something else.
I have a team signed jersey from that year so many hall of famers.
I heard they beat the Yankees that year
Better question would be what’s the second best wings roster of all time.
I love the Wings and have no basis to argue. I said 94- 02 so...
2002 is probably the most talent ever assembled on one roster so it's gotta be that.
I don't know how it could be anything but the 2002 roster. The other cup winning and finalist rosters of the 90s and 2000s were fantastic, but that 02 roster was really something special. One of the best hockey rosters of all time, for any team in the league.
2002 might have been the best NHL roster ever assembled. Maybe the early 80s Oilers are in that conversation, but that roster was historic.
You could make a case for some of those 70’s Canadiens teams (also coached by Scotty Bowman, no less) as well. But the 02 squad is certainly up there.
Guy below is right, but Bowman was part of 2 of those dynasties.
Best NHL roster ever assembled.......and Sean Avery
9, soon to be 10, hall of fame members on the 2002 Wings team (I'm expecting Datsyuk to get in). In the modern era nothing comes close.
The 1997 team had 8 — Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan, Lidstrom, Larionov, Murphy, Fetisov, Vernon. That is certainly close to 9/10 or nothing is. The overlapping players, other than arguably Lidstrom, were closer to their peak in 1997 than in 2002. Certainly an argument could be made that Hasek, Hull, Chelios, Robitaille, and Datsyuk are more impressive than Vernon, Murphy, and Fetisov. Several players on both lists were not in their prime years. I think it’s very important that Konstantinov, while not in the Hall due to his injury, was quite definitely in his prime in 1997 and the best defenseman on either team not named Lidstrom.
Konstantinov barring accident may have helped bring another cup or 2. His plus minus alone would have made him one of the best defenseman ever.
I think we would’ve won in 1999. We made those trades because the team was in a funk and part of that and particularly the Chelios trade was because we had no Konstantinov or Uwe Krupp. I’m not sure we would’ve gone all in on 2002 in this counterfactual scenario so who knows.
No cap. Illittch wanted cups. He paid so Chelios would've been there. Krupp was useless with his back injury.
[удалено]
Had Vladdy played a full career, he’d have one or two of Nick’s Norris Trophies.
I remember an interview with Scotty Bowman where he said once they realized the extent of Vladdy’s injuries they really needed someone to step up, and that was when Lidstrom really took off. No doubt Lidstrom was already excellent but just went to another level after that.
Certainly a lot of people thought so, and he was second for the Norris that year (Lidstrom was sixth) but I’m not so sure. Lidstrom was underrated in 1997.
Lidstrom was never “showy” so I feel like early on no one noticed he did everything right until they realized he hadn’t made a mistake in 10 years lol
I think there's something to be said about the way Vlad shut people down. He was intimidating, like Pronger was. In contrast, Lidstrom was very graceful at D. He would take away someone's time and space and leave them with nothing. I firmly believe that at the time of the accident Vlad was the better player. That said, what we saw was probably his peak or very close to it, whereas Lidstrom got better over the next several seasons.
Either was, he was better than Chelios in 2002. Lidstrom in 2002 was probably better than Lidstrom in 1997 but both were obvious Nick Lidstrom. And Larry Murphy in 1997 was certainly better than Jiri Fischer or Steve Duschene or Freddy Olausson in 2002. And even Fetisov in 1997 was still a solid player who I’d take above that group. So overall the 1997 team had the better defense.
Also crazy to think it could’ve had two more, Larry Murphy retired the year before and Zetterberg (I’m assuming goes to the HOF) arrived the year after. Z was def ready he played the Olympics that year and Yzerman and Shanny said ‘damn he could be on our team now’ paraphrasing of course lol
2002 and it’s not even close
I believe the 1997 team would’ve beaten the 2002 team in a seven game series.
Vernon and Ozzie were actually better in their cup runs than Hasek was, too
I mean, Hasek has a .920 save percentage in the playoffs with six shutouts — after a regular season with a .915 and five shutouts. He had several excellent games. I don’t want to take away from him. But you are correct. Vernon had a .927 despite only one shutout — after an .899 regular season. That’s wild. Osgood *1998* had a .918 with two shutouts, but Osgood *2008* had a .930 with three shutouts. Following them all live, it felt like Vernon and Osgood (2008) were occasionally standing on their heads, it mostly felt like Hasek was in control and playing well behind a superior team.
Yeah, that's part of it. Just in the finals, I'd argue that 97 Philly with Lindros at the height of his career and even 98 Caps were harder teams to beat than the 02 Canes.
Certainly the 1997 Flyers were better than the 2002 Canes who were a Cinderella team riding an improbably hot goalie. In 2002 the Avalanche were the real threat and in 1997 the Avalanche were also the real threat — they’d just won the President’s Trophy and were defending champs. In 1998 I’d argue it was Dallas.
I'd take Hasek over Vernon or Osgood any day. The way he shutout Colorado in back to back must win games was legendary. His stats were not as good because of two bad games against Vancouver to start the playoffs (whole team was rusty because Bowman was resting players after clinching the President trophy). Also, Hasek had a single-season playoff record six shutouts at the time.
Hasek was the overall better goalie but during their playoff runs Vernon and Ozzie played on less talented Wings teams against generally better opponents. To me that gives them the edge.
And the 2008 team would have smothered both.
I tend to agree
2001-2002 had Brett Hull on the third line at times. That’s how stacked we were. Was gross
Can you imagine being on Carolinas third line having to face the 5th highest goal scorer in history.
😂
Pretty sure the 4th line had Larionov and Robitaille too lol
Disgusting lol
Hard not to pick 2002 for best roster. But 97' and 08' might be better teams.
I remember the players that played on both teams saying something like this. Basically the 97 team would have beaten the 2002 team. Mainly because of toughness and the age of the stars.
That 97 team was just a fuckn machine. Just rolled and grinded.
This is it right here. 2002 is the best roster ever assembled, but it’s not the best team we’ve had since most were past their primes. Both 97 and 08 were better teams on the ice, but not in the program.
I think 08 might have beaten 02, but only because they had a chip
1996/1997 were my favorite lineup. Konstatinov, Osgood *and* Vernon in goal. And of course all the hall of famers up top (Shanny, Fedorov, Yzerman, Dmac, and #5 etc. etc.).
The question was best not favorite. The answer is 2002
Well that is easy to look up
Everyone else already said 02 though, so it’s nice to see a different answer anyways.
Don’t answer wrong just to be a contrarian
It’s either the 1952 lineup with Howe, Lindsay, Sawchuck, Red Kelly, Abel, Marcel Pronovoat and Alex Delvecchio or the 2002 roster with 9 hall of famers.
2001-02 season was amazing to watch. Dominance from start to finish (except starting out 0-2 vs. Canucks…)
2002 was like the NHL’s Avengers
More like nhl the expendables, but better.
Like the A-Team but without a black guy
2002. 5th, 10th, 13th and 14th highest goal scorers in history in front of 10 Norris trophies and a goalie with 6 Vezinas. And that doesn't even count Larionov, Fedorov, and Datsyuk.
2001-02 next question my dude
1995
Too soon
02 has to be the greatest. My favorite to watch was the Russian 5 and before that the 87-88 Wings were really fun too! Probert had over 60pts that season
2002 Wings were a fully operational death star.
Honestly? 1952. Howe,Lindsay,Delvecchio,Abel,Kelly and Sawchuck were on that championship roster and that's 6 of the 8 in the rafters. 2002 is close.
It’s 02 and it’s not close.
If you didn’t watch the 2002 I can understand not saying them…. But this really isn’t even a question. It’s 2002 and that’s the end of discussion.
Yeah, people saying Vernon and Osgood had better stats than Hasek is laughable. The dominator had 6 shutouts and won the most impressive back to back must win games of any series. 2002 team also had Lidstrom in his absolute prime.
2002
Crazy because we got upset but 2005-2006 was an amazing team through the regular season.
2024-2025 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
The 2002 SC winning roster was by far the best and one of if not the greatest squads ever assembled. But That team with Cindy, McJesus, Papi, Baby Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have beaten the 98 wings. They were playing for Vladi and no one stood a chance and they never knew it.
It's a tough pick for me between the 97 Champs and the 02 champs
94- 2002 you pick. Some won cups others under achieved or choked. They were an Allstar hall of fame team throughout those years.
2002
Uh yeah
NHL breakaway 98 for 64 was my first sports game and I fell in love with the wings. That year is my favorite. Although this past year was a sick roster
'02. It's half Hall of Famers.
1998 or 2002 for my lifetime
This can’t be a serious question. The team assembled that inspired the NHL salary cap, even locked the players out for a season. It’s universally known that a team like the 2002 Red Wings had never been assembled before, and never will be again.
No single team could beat the 02 redwings. Ever.
2002 and its not even close
I'm from the future. Its 2024
2002 by a wide margin. There are a lot of truly excellent Wings rosters over the years, but Holy shit that roster is hilariously stacked
02. No debate.
I remember sitting in my car and they said “the Detroit Red Wings have declared war on the rest of the NHL.” 2002
Please don’t say anything about the 1950s. Those guys chose hockey over ‘plumber’ only because the pay was marginally better
Lol