Over the weekend, the National Hockey League unveiled their list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players as the league celebrates its centennial season.
Among those players are many who played for the Detroit Red Wings. Of the 100, nine players were on the 2001-2002 Stanley Cup-winning team, which could be argued as one of the best NHL teams to win the Stanley Cup.
While the NHL did not rank the 100 Greatest Players, I'm ranking the nine players on the list, who were on the 2001-02 team, by their importance that season.
Check out the rankings below, and tweet me at @MaxWhiteWXYZ or leave a comment in the story or on our Facebook page with your thoughts.
No. 1 - Brendan Shanahan
In my opinion, Brendan Shanahan was the most important player on the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings team.
He appeared in 80 of 82 games, and led the team in goals with 37, assists with 38 and points with 75. On top of being a plus-23, he ranked second for forwards with time on ice and also led the team in even-strength goals with 22.
When it came time for the playoffs, Shanahan did not falter, scoring eight goals and adding 11 assists, which was good enough for second on the team in playoff points with 19. Once again, he led the team in even-strength goals with seven.
No. 2 - Nicklas Lidstrom
Nicklas Lidstrom was the backbone of the Detroit Red Wings defense that gave up the third least goals in the NHL that season with 187.
The 31-year-old defenseman won the Norris Trophy for the league's best defenseman, and with the exception of goalies, had the highest average time on ice.
On average in the playoffs, he spent more than half the game on the ice, and added five goals and 11 assists for 16 points.
He was so important to the team's playoff run that he won the Conn Smythe for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
No. 3 - Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman dealt with a bad knee for much of the season, and while only appearing in 50 regular season games, the captain still played a pivotal role in the team's success.
He finished sixth in points with 48, coming from 13 goals and 35 assists, and still led the team's forwards in average time on ice with 20:35 a game.
In the playoffs, he led the team in points and assists with 23 and 17 respectively, while adding six goals, including two game-winners. He was basically playing on one-knee the entire series, but managed to score big goals and have a strong presence throughout the entire playoffs.
Despite missing the games, his leadership off the ice still helped the team win as many games as they did.
No. 4 - Domink Hasek
Dominik Hasek was one of three major players added to the Detroit Red Wings before the 2001-02 season.
Appearing in 65 games during the regular season, Hasek led the league in wins with 41, had a .915 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average with five shutouts.
While many people could argue it's not hard to get 41 wins with the powerful offense and defense the Red Wings had, his playoff numbers are outrageous.
In 23 games, Hasek had a .920 save percentage and a 1.86 goals against average while recording six shutouts, more than he had the entire regular season.
No. 5 - Brett Hull
Hull was another player the Red Wings added to boost the offense following a first-round loss in the 2000-2001 playoffs.
Despite being 37 years old, Hull had a huge impact on the offense, scoring 30 goals with 33 assists while appearing in all 82 games that year.
Hull also added veteran leadership to a team, and was stellar in the playoffs, leading the team with 10 goals.
No. 6 - Chris Chelios
Despite being the second oldest player on the team at 40 years old, Chris Chelios played a major role with Lidstrom on the team's first defensive line.
Chelios led the NHL in plus-minus that season with a plus-40, and was also the team's plus-minus leader in they playoffs with a plus-15.
He also tied for fifth during the regular season in assists with 33 and was third in the playoffs for assists with 13.
No. 7 - Sergei Fedorov
It may seem unbelievable to put Fedorov this low, but the players above him were just that good this season.
Stat-wise, Fedorov was fantastic. He was second on the team in points, goals and assists with 68, 31 and 37 respectively.
In the playoffs, he continued playing well adding five goals and 14 assists,
No. 8 - Luc Robitaille
Luc Robitaille was the third player the Red Wings added in the offseason, and while putting up amazing numbers, I think he is eighth among these nine players.
Coming off a year where he had 88 points with the Los Angeles Kings, he only put up 50 points with the Red Wings, but was a minus-2.
In the playoffs, Robitaille failed to put up the same kind of numbers he did in the regular season, only scoring four goals with five assists.
His time on ice was much lower than the others as well, with only 14:51 in the regular season and 13:16 in the playoffs.
No. 9 - Pavel Datsyuk
It's crazy to think that Pavel Datsyuk was the last important player of the nine listed in the NHL's 100 Greatest Players, but that's how it was.
At just 23 years old and in his first NHL season, Datsyuk only appeared in 70 games. He had 11 goals and 24 assists, but averaged just 13:39 a game in time on ice.
In the playoffs, the Russian center added three goals and three assists.
While Datsyuk would eventually become one of the Red Wings' most important players, his role was not that important in the 2001-02 season.
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To even be having the debate about which player was most important for the team in the 2001-02 season is crazy.
This team could be considered one of, if not the most star-studded team in the history of the NHL.
The Red Wings won the President's Cup and had 10 future hall of famers on the team, as well as a hall of fame coach in Scotty Bowman.
Any of the first four players could be considered the most important player on the team, and we'd love to hear how you would rank them!
Feel like making changes or think players should be rearranged? Tweet me at @MaxWhiteWXYZ or leave a comment in the story or on our Facebook page!
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In all, 28 of the NHL's 100 Greatest Players played for the Detroit Red Wings at one time. Those players are:
- Sid Abel
- Andy Bathgate
- Johnny Bucyk
- Chris Chelios
- Paul Coffey
- Charlie Conacher
- Pavel Datsyuk
- Alex Delvechhio
- Marcel Dionne
- Sergei Fedorov
- Glenn Hall
- Doug Harvey
- Dominik Hasek
- Gordie Howe
- Brett Hull
- Red Kelly
- Nicklas Lidstrom
- Ted Lindsay
- Frank Mahovlich
- Mike Modano
- Adam Oates
- Brad Park
- Luc Robitaille
- Borje Salming
- Terry Sawchuk
- Brendan Shanahan
- Darryl Sittler
- Steve Yzerman
