My Ideal Hockey Team

Hey it's Svyato coming in with a new article.

Today I will give you an article on my perfect Hockey team. I will give you my ideal hockey team. I will have 3 goalies, 4 lines of forwards plus some subs, 3 lines of defense, plus some subs, a head coach and assistant head coach, and a General Manager.

Now I know everyone has a different view on their perfect hockey team and I would like to ask of you people not to argue like hell just because I don't pick your favourite player on line one for example. Thank you and let's get started.

Goalies

Let's start with the goaltenders.

Starter-Miikka Kiprusoff
Back up-Henrik Lundqvist
Undressed-Roberto Luongo

I chose Miikka as starter because he is my favourite goalie. He is also the goalie for my favourite team, the Calgary Flames. But just because I like him is not the reason I chose him as a starter.

Some people may say Miikka is inconsistent, and you may be right, but when Miikka has a legit back up he can be the best goalie in the NHL, no bull****. Miikka is up there with every goalie. He is an all star player, but Calgary over works him every single season and when it comes to the end of the season he is tired like hell and they get knocked out of the playoffs.

With a guy like Henrik as his back up Miikka can be well rested and play at top form when needed. He can make those beautiful flashy grabs. As well as those "How the hell did he do that?" saves. Miikka is my ideal starter.

Henrik is my back up because I simply love what he brings to the game. He is the highest paid goalie in the NHL for a reason you know. The man is goaltending at it's best.

He would work as a great back up because whenever I would need him to step in and get the win he would get the job done. So Henrik is my ideal back up.

Roberto Luongo is my goalie out of the line up. He is a great goalie and all, but I do have reason why he is not dressed for the game. First of all, I'm a Flames fan(laugh). Second Roberto is a great goalie, but I wouldn't put him ahead of the two I have up there. Three, Luongo to me is a tad overhyped. I'm not saying he's not good because he truly is, but people say he is possibly the next great goalie and I disagree with that. So Roberto is my ideal undressed goalie.

Defenseman

Time to go to the backline!

1st line- Dion Phaneuf & Scott Niedermayer
2nd line- Wade Redden & Shea Weber
3rd line- Niklas Lidstrom & Robyn Regehr
2 subs- Chris Pronger & Adrian Aucoin

I think a pairing of Dion and Scott would work out well. Both stars can without a doubt put the puck in the net. Obviously both players can hit. So I think they would have chemistry. Plus I think pairing Dion with a guy like Scott can be a great learning experience for the young defender.

Wade Redden and Shea Weber was kinda a strange pairing from me, but I think it can work. Redden is a hard hitting, good passing, put the puck in the net kind of defender. Shea Weber like Redden can obviously hit and score. These two would make a great pairing in my opinion. And just like Dion, Shea would gain a lot of experience and ideas to improve his game.

Lidstrom and Regehr, it just makes sense. Obviously you gotta have great defenders like Pronger and Aucoin as subs.

So that's my perfect defense.

Forwards

Forwards please!

1st line- Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla.
2nd line- Rick Nash, Pavel Datsyuk, Martin St. Louis.
3rd line- Henrik Zetterberg, Sidney Crosby, Alex Kovalev.
4th line- Mason Raymond, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheecho.
Subs- Kovalchuk, B. Richards, Gaborik.

Line one is my perfect line. Ovechkin is my man. He is the scoring guy every line needs. Despite most of you saying Ovechkin is a bad passer or doesn't distribute the puck well, you have to look at his stats. He averages 40+ assists every year. I wouldn't exactly call that bad. Malkin is going to play the playmaker roll on the line. If you checked out the stats last season he led the league in assists so he would make a perfect playmaker. He could also contribute easily when need. Plus I think he and Ovechkin could have great chemistry. Iginla? Well why not. First of all you have to have veteran presence on the line and Iginla fits right in. He can be the sniper or the playmaker. Like I said, he fits right in! Line one, done.

For those following the Team Canada training camp for 2010 you already know that St. Louis and Nash are being paired up. The third man on that line is Sidney Crosby, but I thought that Datsyuk would make a better fit with those two.

Most of you are thinking, Crosby on line 3!? Is this guy nuts? Well the answer to the first one is yes and the answer the the second one is no. Crosby is very talented, but on the other hand so are Datsyuk and Malkin. So there is nothing personal against him I just thought he would work well on this line. Alex Kovalev is a great sniper to have on the line, plus I would be interested in seeing how Kovalev would produce with a centerman like Crosby. And Zetterberg is the icing on the cake for this line.

Why have a guy as young as Mason Raymond on my team? Well he is one of the quickest skating guy in the NHL. I could always use a guy like that on my team. Thornton is a great playmaker as well as a great big hitter to have on the team. Cheecho is the great scorer that every line needs so it makes sense.

Onto the subs.

Kovalchuk is a great sniper any team woul be lucky to have.
Richards is a great dsitributer of the puck as well as a great scorer.
Gaborik is a great socring presence to have on a team.

Done!

Staff

Head Caoch- Brent Sutter
Assistan Head Coach- Ron Wilson
General Manager- Darryl Sutter

Brent Sutter has done a great job with the devils and with hopefully do the same with the Flames so that's why I want him as my head coach. At his side will be Toronto's Head Coach and my assistant coach, Ron Wilson. Wilson has experience as a coach he may not get the San Jose Sharks far in the playoffs, or the leafs for that matter, but this guy knows how to coach a team. And Darryl Sittler is my GM because well I like how he is improving Calgary and making them a cup contender.

Staff finished.

Closing Notes

This is what we will be holding at the end of the season! Comments? Go right ahead.