The 1970s All Decade Team

After debating the forwards, defensemen and goaltenders, we give to the 1970s All Decade Team:

Soviet Stars Alexander Maltsev and Valeri Kharlamov
are among six Europeans named to the GHL 1970s All Decade Team

Valeri Kharlamov - Phil Esposito - Guy Lafleur

Bobby Hull - Ulf Nilsson - Anders Hedberg

Gilbert Perreault - Bobby Clarke - Marcel Dionne

Bob Gainey - Jacques Lemaire - Alexander Maltsev

Bobby Orr - Brad Park 

Denis Potvin - Borje Salming 

Larry Robinson - Serge Savard

Ken Dryden 

Vladislav Tretiak

 

1970s All Decade Team: Forwards

We've look at goaltenders and defensemen. Now it is our unenviable task to name 12 forwards to our 1970s All Decade Team.

How is that possible? There are far too many players to consider. But to narrow it down, we must remember who defined the decade. (I will name 12 forwards, but not worry about their position.)

Valeri Kharlamov - Phil Esposito - Guy Lafleur
Bobby Hull - Ulf Nilsson - Anders Hedberg
Gilbert Perreault - Bobby Clarke - Marcel Dionne
Bob Gainey - Jacques Lemaire - Alexander Maltsev

Other players considered:


Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy - It was decided their time would really come in the 1980s.

Alexander Yakushev and Boris Mikhailov - There will be calls for more Soviet players to be included. These two I will completely agree with, but ultimately there's only 12 spots open.

Andre Lacroix and Marc Tardif - WHA scoring stars.
Gordie Howe and Mark Howe - Gordie was still great, while Mark was always under appreciated. 

Rod Gilbert, Darryl Sittler, Rick Martin - NHL scoring stars

Jean Ratelle - In the rough and tumble hockey world of the 1970s, Ratelle was the epitome of class.

Wayne Cashman, Derek Sanderson, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz - Hockey's bad boys defined the decade.

1970s All Decade Team: Goaltenders

Today we continue our look at the best of the best of the 1970s.

Who will tend to the goal crease for our 1970s All Decade Team? I see 6 serious candidates:

• Ken Dryden - 258-57-74 record in the 1970s is ridiculous. And he only played 8 seasons. Add to that 6 Stanley Cups, 5 Vezina Trophies, 1 Conn Smythe trophy.
• Vladislav Tretiak - Soviet netminder foiled Dryden time and time again. He never played in the NHL, but he did win gold at both Olympics of the decade, as well as 7 golds in the annual World Championships. His play in the 1972 Summit Series made him a hero in both Russia and Canada.
• Tony Esposito - 311 wins in the decade are by far the best (he did play 3 more regular seasons than Dryden). Three time Vezina trophy winner was also the shutout king, with 65 of his career 76 SOs coming this decade.
• Bernie Parent - Parent's spectacular goaltending was the biggest reason the Flyers won back to back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, and his absence due to injury was a big reason they lost in the Cup finals in 1976. 223-126-95 in the decade, but much of the decade he was "just" very good in comparison to his two peak seasons when he won the Cup. He had perhaps the best peak of any 1970s goalie.
• Rogie Vachon - The star of the 1976 Canada Cup compiled the third most wins in the decade with 235, despite playing with a weak Los Angeles team. Also for this reason he was better than his numbers suggest. He was chased from Montreal to the Kings after the arrival of Dryden.
• Gerry Cheevers - "Cheesy" won Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972. His 149 NHL wins ranks in 8th for the decade, this despite spending 4 seasons in the WHA as one of their top goaltenders.

From their the talent level drops. The next tier of NHL goalies includes Eddie Johnston, Gilles Gilbert, Dan Bouchard, Suitcase Smith, Gilles Meloche, Cesare Maniago, Wayne Stephenson and we'll say Billy Smith, who far enjoyed the 1980s more so than the 1990s. Joe Daley, John Garrett, Ron Grahame and Richard Brodeur were good in the WHA. Internationally consideration should go to Jiri Holecek and Vladimir Dzurilla.

So who makes the cut? This is really tough to choose.

Ken Dryden was aided by a great team in front of him at the NHL level and floundered internationally. But how do deny his resume?

Tretiak's legacy is the greatest of them all, but he had troubles in the biggest of games - losing games 6, 7 and 8 of the Summit Series being case in point.

Tony O was spectacular in net with an average Chicago team that never went to far in the playoffs. Bernie Parent had the highest peak of them all.

It hurts me to leave any four of these goalies off the team, but ultimately there are only two goalie positions open for the 1970s All Decade Team. I will choose Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak as my two goalies. If I could have a third goalie I would choose Tony Esposito.

1970s All Decade Team: Defense

Last week we looked at the Montreal Canadiens' Big Three defenseman from the 1970s - Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe.

While we discussed how no other team in history may have been so blessed to have three defensemen as greats as the 1970s Habs, my follow up question today is could all three make a 1970s All Decade team?

Assuming a traditional roster of 18 skaters and 2 goalies, that means only 6 or maybe 7 spots would be open to defensemen. But there are 8 serious candidates.

• Bobby Orr - D'uh
• Brad Park - Generally considered to be the best of his era not named Orr.
• Denis Potvin - the dominant defenseman of the second half of the decade, won three Norris trophies.
• Borje Salming - Greatly influential player proved Europeans could play in National Hockey League
• J.C. Tremblay - Top defenseman in WHA
• Larry Robinson - Won 2 Norris trophies, only dman not named Orr or Potvin to do so in 1970s.
• Serge Savard - The straw that stirred the drink in Montreal
• Guy Lapointe - wondrous offensive defenseman.

From there there is quite a drop off in talent, with the likes of Ian Turnbull, Carol Vadnais, Rod Seiling, Dave Burrows, Keith Magnuson, Jim Schoenfeld, Jerry Korab and Dick Redmond highlighting the second tier of defensemen. Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Pat Stapleton and Paul Shmyr were amongst the best in the WHA, while Russian stars Alexander Ragulin and Valeri Vasiliev should also be noted.

So out of our eight defense candidates for the 1970s All Decade team, who makes the cut? Orr, Park and Potvin are no-brainers. Robinson and Savard bring presence, physicality and defense to the table, so they should be included. That leaves the 6th spot between Salming, Lapointe and Tremblay.

As much as it would be a shame to cut any two of that group of three, I'd have to give the edge to Salming. Lapointe and Tremblay were wonderful offensive defensemen, but Salming's legacy as the NHL's European pioneer is just too great. He has to be included.

The 1970s All Decade Team: Defense includes:

Bobby Orr - Brad Park
Borje Salming - Denis Potvin
Larry Robinson - Serge Savard

Who do you think should be on the 1970s All Decade Team? Contact me via email or on Twitter @HockeyLegends.

Tune in tomorrow when we look at the 1970s All Decade Team: Goaltenders.