NHL's Top 10 Players Over 35: Getting Better With Age...
You hear it all the time now, "hockey is a young man's game."
The endurance, skill, and physical fitness required to play hockey at the highest level has, in general, always favored younger players. But, since the inception of the so-called "new NHL," which came about after the 2005 lockout, speed and skill have been allowed to thrive like never before, making the game even more suited to younger talent.
Indeed, the past two Stanley Cup champions sported rosters whose best players were just this side of legal drinking age, cementing the notion that, if you want to win a Stanley Cup in this day and age, you'd better have a healthy dose of young blood pumping through your roster.
Without a doubt, hockey is and likely always will be a young man's game. However, that doesn't mean that some of the older dogs in the game can't give some of the young pups a run for their money. Teams often add veteran players to their roster for "experience" or "leadership." These are both fine things, but, to have a player that can deliver these things as well as a heaping helping of talent all on their own, well, that's about as coveted as the young phenom who's wearing out the highlight reel.
Thirty-five is hardly "old" in day-to-day life, but, in the NHL, it's tantamount to the beginning of a player's "golden years."
What follows is a list of 10 NHL veterans, 35 and over that, at the end of the day, are still rather large difference makers for their respective clubs.
10. Mark Recchi, 42, Boston Bruins
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It's a good thing the NHL requires players to wear helmets, as the follically challenged Mark Recchi looks even older than his 42 years sans brain bucket.
The veteran winger has played for seven teams over his 22-year career and, after being acquired from Tampa Bay at last season's trade deadline, the Boston Bruins have decided that they'd like the NHL's oldest player to stick around for at least another year.
Recchi was once considered one of the best two-way threats in the game and, while those days are long gone, he still has tremendous energy, determination, and enough offensive acumen to be more than simply a ra-ra veteran for the younger Bruins to look up to.
9. Ray Whitney, 38, Phoenix Coyotes
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It's not very often at all that a 38-year-old is considered one of the better free-agent options heading into the offseason, but that's exactly what Ray Whitney was at the beginning of the summer.
Though he was a steady offensive force for the Carolina Hurricanes for the past five seasons, winning a Cup with the team in 2006, Whitney no longer fit into the restructuring or salary cap plans of the team.
Going back to last season's trade deadline, Whitney's name has been attached to several teams, most frequently the Los Angeles Kings. However, though Whitney eventually came out west, it was to the revitalized (though I use that term cautiously) Phoenix Coyotes.
Whitney's speed, intelligence, and shiftiness should provide a very good return on the two-year, $6 million investment the 'Yotes have made in him. At 38, he may now be playing on borrowed time, but damn if he doesn't look good doing it.
8. Sergei Gonchar, 36, Ottawa Senators
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There may not be a better power-play quarterback in all of the NHL than Sergei Gonchar.
He has phenomenal hockey-sense, is one of the best outlet passers in the league, and has a lethal blast from the blue line. All of these things made him the prime target of Ottawa GM Bryan Murray at the start of 2010 free-agency, as the Senators were without a bona fide offensive defenseman prior to Gonchar's arrival.
As superb as Gonchar's offensive talents are, he does have a tendency to be a bit lazy on the defensive side of the game and his advancing years haven't done him any favors in the injury department. Gonchar hasn't played a full 82-game season since 2006-07 with Pittsburgh.
Despite his defensive shortcomings, Gonchar remains one of the very best offensive blue-liners in the NHL, a tough role to play at any age.
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7. Brian Rafalski, 37, Detroit Red Wings
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Brian Rafalski had a late start to his NHL career.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1995, Rafalski relocated to Europe where he played four seasons of professional hockey in Sweden and Finland.
At 26, he played his first season in the NHL courtesy of a free-agent contract with the New Jersey Devils.
That year, he helped the Devils capture their second Stanley Cup in franchise history and repeated the feat three years later in 2003.
Though his NHL career spans only 10 years, Brian Rafalski has had more success than most players who play twice that long.
Rafalski's ability to run a power-play and use his speed and intelligence to bottle-up opposing forwards makes him a crucial part of an already talent-laden Detroit lineup. Though he is getting on in years, his play on the ice is not markedly different than it was 10 years ago.
6. Teemu Selanne, 40, Anaheim Ducks
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For the past few summers, many NHL fans have gotten word that Teemu Selanne was opting to play yet another season in the NHL, only to ask, "What the hell for?"
As he is a surefire Hall of Famer, the highest scoring player in Olympic hockey history, and has his name on the Stanley Cup, there doesn't appear to be any good reason why Selanne shouldn't put his skates up forever.
Well, you'd think so, but, seeing the 17-year NHL veteran bust down the wing and pick corners at will, even at 40, reveals that Selanne not only remains a damn good hockey player, but still has the fire to compete night in and night out.
The Finnish Flash has signed on for one more year with the Ducks this summer and, though he's a significant part of the team's past, he's still a big part of their present.
5. Martin Brodeur, 38, New Jersey Devils
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Even if you're a casual hockey fan (wait, is there such a thing?), this man needs no introduction.
Suffice to say that he is simply the greatest goaltender to ever play the game and, even at 38, he remains his team's first, second, and third most important player.
There's nothing that can be said about Marty Brodeur that hasn't been said, and said again, before. However, perhaps the thing that gets overlooked most often is that, no matter how old he gets, he is always at the top of the league in games played, shutouts, and wins.
This apparent overwork is what frustrates some fans who'd like Marty to be a bit more rested come playoff time. But, this is assuming that asking Brodeur to leave the net is something he'd actually consider doing.
Brodeur loves hockey and loves putting his team on his back. No matter how old that back might get, Brodeur seems more than capable of handling the load.
4. Nicklas Lidstrom, 40, Detroit Red Wings
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If you ask any hockey fan, they'll tell you that Nicklas Lidstrom isn't the same player he was five years ago.
Which is to say that he no longer resembles a cyborg programmed to thwart any and all possible offensive moves that might come his way, all without getting so much as a scratch.
It is true that the lifelong Red Wing is showing signs of age, but this means that Lidstrom is now simply a very, very good defenseman, rather than the absolute best.
In what could be his final year in Detroit, Lidstrom will look to help his team recover from the traumatic, injury riddled year of a season ago and reclaim their (some say, rightful) spot as Stanley Cup champions.
That's a tall order for a 40-year-old, then again, so is playing the game better than most of your opposition, something Lidstrom still does with mind-boggling ease.
3. Chris Pronger, 35, Philadelphia Flyers
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To hear Chris Pronger address the media, you'd swear he was a 19-year-old punk that needs to learn some respect.
But, the fact that he also plays the rearguard position better than most of his peers, at any age, suggests he's more than capable of backing up his bravado at the podium on the ice.
If you accused Pronger of being a brutal, even dirty, player, he'd likely not make any effort to convince you otherwise. However, he is also one of the best one-on-one defenders to ever play the game and sees the ice better than most when quarterbacking a power-play.
The league may question whether or not he can play the game until he's 42, the age he'll be when his contract expires in Philadelphia. But, at 35, he isn't showing any signs of slowing down.
He might well be every bit the smart ass and the defender he is now in 2017.
2. Daniel Alfredsson, 37, Ottawa Senators
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One would be hard-pressed to find a more creative and intelligent winger in the NHL than Daniel Alfredsson.
For 14 seasons, the Swedish forward has been Ottawa's most consistent and effective offensive weapon. Be it finishing plays himself or creating something out of nothing for his linemates, Alfredsson is the epitome of what it means to be an elite NHL forward.
As impressive as his offensive skills are, he is also a superb defensive player and, even at 37, will never take a shift off unless he's on the bench.
His quiet nature with the media, and even his teammates, has no doubt lowered his profile in the NHL, but Alfredsson elects to let his play do the talking for him. In which case, he's one of the loudest players in the league.
1. Martin St. Louis, 35, Tampa Bay Lightning
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If you're going to call NHL hockey a "young man's game," then you might also call it a "big man's game."
For it is not only a young and talented player that every GM covets, but a large and powerful one, as well.
As such, you wouldn't think that a 35-year-old, 5' 7", 177 pound, right winger would qualify as a corner stone for any NHL franchise. Yet, that's just what Martin St. Louis is for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Upon taking over the GM position earlier this summer, Steve Yzerman made extending St. Louis' contract one of his top priorities. Fortunately, Yzerman got his man, as St. Louis is set to remain a Bolt through 2014.
On top of being one of the fastest skaters in the league, St. Louis is also one of the shiftiest and most difficult targets to hit in the NHL. St. Louis has not missed a regular season game in five years and, despite getting on in age, he matched his second-highest career point total ever last season with 94.
Though Steven Stamkos is definitely going to be looked upon to take the Tampa Bay franchise into the future, his 35-year-old linemate is going to be one the most important players for the Bolts in the foreseeable future.
He might be tiny, he might be getting old, but, St. Louis remains one of the very best offensive players in the NHL and certainly the best in his age group.
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