Creating the Perfect Hockey Team

Every year general managers create a team that they feel can win the Stanley Cup.

Players on these teams are not simply the best of the best, but players who can fit within a team system. They have to be players that do not cause problems and have instant chemistry with their line-mates.

As well, these teams are never simply all veterans who have all played a thousand games and have spent more time in the playoffs then many players will ever spend in their whole NHL career.

Teams need to have a bit of everything.

Experience, youth, grit, skill, speed and a whole lot of luck are needed to win the Stanley Cup.

Finally, they also have to fit within the NHL's hard cap of $56 million.

A general managers job has never been harder.

Luckily for me, I have the chance of picking 21 guys out of the near 700 that currently play in the NHL.

However, what I am going to do is take goalie pairings, line combinations and defensive pairings that actually exist on teams today.

Let's start with what wins championships!

Martin Brodeur and Scott Clemmensen

Martin Brodeur: Duh.

If anyone is going to argue this decision they need to go check the record books.

As of today, he sits tied with Patrick Roy with the most wins ever by an NHL goalie and with at least three years left he is going to set a new standard that will never be reached by any other goalie.

He wins on the international stage, the regular season and in the playoffs. He has records that goalies would not even dream to obtain and over his 15-year career, he has three Stanley Cups.

Not to mention he comes cheaper then many goalies of his caliber at a very reasonably $5.2 million a year.

If you don't agree with this, you have to do some research and then agree with this.

Scott Clemmensen: One of the most sought after back up goalies at this years trade deadline, Scott Clemmensen is one of the best goalies to come in and play at a seconds notice.

There very well could be better backup goalies in the NHL but as I said, none that can come in and play whether you tell them they are playing after warm-ups or give them 30 games a year.

This year, when Brodeur went down with his injury, Clemmensen came in for 39 games and posted a staggering 25 wins, 2.39 GAA and a .917 save percentage.

What’s his cap hit you ask?

A very easy half million. Talk about a nice investment.

Total goalie price: $5.7 million

First line: Calgary Flames (Cammalleri, Jokinen, Iginla)

Every team’s first line has to score them goals.

That is an obvious statement that will never be argued.

They log your most minutes, take the credit when things go well and have microphones stuffed in their face demanding answers when things go badly.

So, what do you need from a first line?

Well, everything that the Calgary Flames have.

When you talk about the perfect hockey player, whom do you think of?

Alex Ovechkin?

If hockey was only played in two zones…

Sid the kid?

Is he really as mentally tough as you need to be...?

Jarome Iginla?

...Exactly...

Jarome Iginla does everything; he hits, fights, never takes a shift off, will score 50 goals in any given year and plays in every zone and makes everyone on his team a much better player.

He is the closest thing to a Mark Messier type captain that we have in today’s game and aside from being my team’s leader on the first line, he also is my team’s captain.

Joined by Mike Cammalleri and Olli Jokinen they have combined for 104 goals and 204 points.

What?

All three of these guys are veteran hockey players who have been around the block once or twice.

Even though Jokinen has never played in the playoffs, I like his chances of success playing alongside Iginla.

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about Jarome.

He leads everyone and can succeed with a whole city on his back. Pressure does not faze him and he just might be the most feared hockey player in the NHL.

He does it all.

First line cap hit: $15.8 million.

Overall cap hit, so far: $21.5 million

Second Line: Boston Bruins (Lucic, Krejci, Ryder)

A second line has to be defensively aware as well as capable of putting the puck in the back of the net. They need to be guys who can score more than 60-points a year but at the same time make sure they are not making costly mistakes.

Where better to find your second line from one of the best teams in the NHL.

Boston has always had one of the best defensive teams in the NHL and at the same time has been well known for being able to score with the best of them

The Boston Bruins have always had a team that scares the crap out of just about anyone, but not since the days of Cam Neely have we seen a player like Milan Lucic.

A good western Canadian hockey boy, Lucic, is feared league wide for his size, speed and skill level.

His defensive awareness is also obvious based on his +12 rating.

He also has posted 102 PIMS and can fight anyone and everyone. This year, Mike Komisarek thought he would drop the gloves with Lucic and had his face rearranged. Enough said.

Lucic also allows Michael Ryder and David Krejci to play the game they are known for.

To this point in the season they have contributed 43 and 62 points and more importantly the two of them have a combined +58. Talk about two-way hockey players.

Any team would love to have a second line like these guys. As mentioned, they score, hit, fight and do not give up chances to the best offenses in the NHL.

Perhaps more importantly, two of them are still under their rookie contracts. Bringing this lines cap hit to a whooping $5.4 million.

Overall team cap hit: $26.9 million

Third line: Minnesota Wild (Clutterbuck, Shepperd, Boogard)

When you look at your team’s third line, what is the first thing you see?

The most annoying, irritating, undisciplined, nut job of a hockey player that always seems to be bordering on the line Sean Avery has brought us to know?

Every team hopes so.

Every team hates these players and almost every player has something to settle from years past. Whether it is Sean Avery or Claude Lemeiux, these guys are known league wide.

Point is, everyone reading this knows why Minnesota was chosen for the third line, they just might have the most annoying hockey player in the NHL.

He has already gotten under the skin of almost every single player he has played against and even had some face time on Hockey Night In Canada with Don Cherry.

And Cherry didn't have friendly words for him, is there a better compliment for an agitator?

The worst things about his actions are the fact that skating on the other wing is the most feared fighter in all of hockey.

Known as the boogieman to most, Derek Boogard's presence is enough to keep Clutter buck in one piece.

The reason I chose them for my third line is not because of this, but because of the fact that all three of these guys can actually play some hockey despite their side antics.

Boogard might be the only debatable one here but he does his job and opens up the ice for the other two guys without being a defensive liability.

Joining these two guys is also a young promising rookie in James Shepperd.

He scored 19-points in his rookie season and should surpass that in his sophmore year. Think those stats are little for a "promising" rookie?

Well he does play in the most offensive restricting system in hockey so give him some credit for getting to that point while being on the third line.

Once again, because of the new NHL salaries must be looked at and considered when choosing players and because these guys only take up $2.5 million a year they are easily included.

Total team cap hit: $29.4 million

Fourth Line: Detroit Red Wings (Maltby, Draper, Leino)

Who can play seven minutes a hockey game, be productive and contribute as much as possible?

Two of the classiest veterans in the game and a 26-year-old who is finding his way in the NHL.

Fourth line hockey players are not going to play a lot, they are not going to see powerplay time and they are not going to score many goals, but what they are going to do and make sure that team chemistry stays high, make sure guys are doing what they should do and put an arm around a young rookie who just can't put the puck in the net even though he should be doing so.

These guys are not young and they are not new to the game of hockey.

The reason why I chose the Detroit Red Wings fourth line is because Maltby and Draper have played almost 350 NHL playoff games and have both played in excess of 2000 NHL regular season games.

Basically, nothing is going to happen they haven't seen before and they know their better days are behind them.

Leino on the other hand has a total of 13 regular season games, however has posted nine-points.

He will one day crack the top six forward spot on the Detroit Red Wings but recently has just been used on the fourth line to learn and see how the game is played.

Because of their age and reputation they make a little more then a lot of fourth lines but their $2.7 million is well worth the price based on what they bring to the table.

Overall team hit so far: $32.1 million

First Defensive Unit: Detroit Red Wings (Lidstrom, Rafalski)

Quite possibly the most demanding role on any NHL club and one of the top two most important is the number one defensive unit and Detroit boasts the number one unit in the whole league.

These guys are going to log around 28 minutes, play on the power play and kill penalties. They play against the best forwards in the world every shift and have vision that instant replay does not even compare to.

Nik Lidstrom is a future Hall of Famer and has been named the captain of the Detroit Red Wings ever since the Great Steve Yzerman retired.

He is a class act and is respected around the league.

He is, maybe, the best defenseman ever with his stick work and will become one of a few defenseman ever to accord 1000 points throughout a career and is today’s Bobby Orr and that is something that you may never hear again.

Point is he is the best.

Combine him with 36-year-old Brian Rafalski and you get two guys with a combined +39 and 101 points.

Can't get much better than that no matter what generation you look at.

At 13.5 million for the two of these guys, it is well worth the price.

Total team salary: $45.6 million

Second Defensive Unit: Vancouver Canucks (Kevin Bieksa, Willie Mitchell)

When you look at a role like this one, you want two guys who can play about 22 minutes a night.

Guys who can put a few points on the board but most importantly, do the dirty work you do not want your best defenseman doing too often.

Blocking shots and big hits are in the job description and anything that will contribute to the title of warrior, because that is what you have to be.

This job is not for the weak, not for the faint hearted and not for anyone who has issues with the physical therapist.

The reason I chose these two is because they are everything that I just described above. They battle and they are not afraid of anyone.

Most importantly, they are big and strong guys who are defensively aware. Both of them are over six feet and well more than 200 lbs.

They are rocks on the blue line and rarely ever make mistakes in their own zone.

Combined cap hit: $7.3 million

Overall cap hit: $52.9 million

Third defensive Unit: Ottawa Senators (Jason Smith and Chros Schubert)

Just like the fourth line of the forwards.

The third defensive unit cannot be young, cocky, ego driven hockey players.

They have to be able to understand their role and play a role like Hal Gill did for the Penguins in last year’s playoff run.

Whether they play 10 minutes or 20 minutes or something in between, they cannot let themselves be a step down from the second unit.

They have to play to their skill set and do things defensively and let whatever offense they have come later.

Just like the three and four defense man the most important thing they need to do is block shots and hit bodies.

They have to let the team know when they are on the ice and cannot be afraid to drop the gloves. Never is this job pretty but on my hockey team being physical will always beat out simply skill.

My final defense pairing needs to be an intimidating force and that is why I chose these two guys.

Jason Smith and Schubert are mammoths on the line. They are veterans and Jason Smith has been around the league long enough to know what it takes to get things done.

Playing the majority of his career in Edmonton, he is aware of what hard-nosed hockey is. He is the ultimate warrior and no one is going to argue that.

Schubert on the other hand has only played about 250 games in the NHL but playing with Smith will have tons of guidance when things get tough. He is also a big body at 6'3”, 220 lbs.

Better then that, he can also play forward when injuries come.

Total cap hit: $3 million

Overall team cap hit: $55.9 million

That's That

Making it under the cap was hard but leaving out guys like Crosby, Ovechkin and other possibly future Hall of Famers was even harder.

I did not leave them out, because they lack skill but because their lines that they play on just do not compare to Calgarys first line.

Guys like Phaneuf and Green were left out because they don't and never will compare to Lidstrom.

Overall, I believe that this team would be The Perfect Hockey Team.