All-Decade Team: Eric McErlain's picks
Written by James O'Brien   
Sunday, 22 February 2009 16:16
(One of the most well-respected and well-known figures in the hockey blogosphere, you are probably already familiar with Eric McErlain's work at Off Wing Opinion and NHL Fanhouse. If not, shame on you. Shame. on. you. McErlain provided his all-decade picks below.)

All-Decade Center:

Though Joe Thornton dominates this category in terms of points, his decided lack of playoff success in Boston and San Jose weighs heavily on my mind. Still, the gap between him and the rest of the nominees in the category is so wide, that even Vincent Lecavalier's one Cup with Tampa Bay can't convince me that this pick should be anybody but Thornton.

2 All-Decade Wings: I'm going with Daniel Alfredsson and Jarome Iginla. It's hard to believe that Jagr piled up all of those points during the seasons that constituted the end of his NHL career, but there's no way I'll give him the nod here, as I got to see him nearly destroy a franchise here in Washington. Alfredsson and Iginla have the numbers and they're nothing but class acts on and off the ice.

2 All-Decade Defensemen: Way too easy. It's all about the Cups, and these guys account for five of the last ten. If you could wind the clock back and rebuild a team from scratch, you'd be hard pressed to do better than to build around a young Lidstrom or Niedermayer. Also -- it's impossible not to notice that Niedermayer's numbers increased once he escaped from New Jersey.
Scott Niedermayer (3 Cups)
Nick Lidstrom (2 Cups)

1 All-Decade Goalie:
Martin Brodeur (2 Cups, 3 appearances) -- Don't even talk to me about anybody else.

1 All-Decade Loudmouth: No vote.

1 All-Decade Fighter: No vote.
All-Decade Coach: No winner. Over this stretch of time there's been no single coach who dominated enough in the category that matters -- Stanley Cups -- to earn the nod.

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