As hockey fans, we love to argue that our city or province boasts the best hockey players. We here at Daily Faceoff have taken it upon ourselves to assemble a team of current players from each region of Canada, and decide which team is best. Let it be clear that we did not try to create evenly matched teams. We separated the country into what we felt were regions that fans would lay claim to. Edmontonians are proud of players from their city and the rest of Northern Alberta, but not guys from Calgary. It is therefore not accurate to call Alberta one region. Southwest Ontario is distinctly different from Ottawa and Northern Ontario, and is thus divided. You get the picture.
The way that we ranked our team was through a vote. All six of our writers were asked to rank the teams from first through last in three categories: Forwards, Defence, and Goaltending. A first place vote was worth eight points, a second place vote seven points etc… The points were than tabulated and a winner declared. First, let us lay out the general areas of influence for each team, starting out West.
1) The Vancouver Canucks lay claim to the entire province of British Columbia.
2) The Edmonton Oilers own everything north of Red Deer other than Rocky Mountain House.
3) The Calgary Flames have control of Red Deer and everything south of it, plus Rocky Mountain House, which they needed to fill out their roster.
4) The second coming of the Winnipeg Jets consists of players from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Western Ontario.
5) The Toronto Maple Leafs have domain of the Greater Toronto Area, as well as the remainder of Southwestern Ontario.
6) The Ottawa Senators have a large territory that stretches from Gatineau, Quebec to the eastern edge of the GTA to Thunder Bay.
7) The Montreal Canadians have domain over the entire province of Quebec other than Gatineau and the Eastern portion of the Gaspe Peninsula.
8) The newly minted Maritime Keith’s control the Maritime provinces as well as Chandler, Quebec on the Gaspe Peninsula because they needed a second goalie.
The regions are presented visually for ease of use in the following map.
Without further ado, here are the teams in reverse order.
8. The Maritimes (34 points: 17 forwards, 6 defence, 11 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Clowe | Sidney Crosby | Michael Ryder |
| Jon Sim | Brad Richards | Dan Cleary |
| Brad Marchand | Steve Ott | Ted Purcell |
| Eric Boulton | James Sheppard | Craig MacDonald |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Randy Jones | Colin White |
| Adam Pardy | Nathan McIver |
| Aaron Johnson | Derrick Wassler |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Mathieu Garon | |
| Joey MacDonald | |
Taking a look at that roster, it is not surprising that the Maritimes lagged well behind the other teams. They cannot even field a full roster of NHL players, although they did garner some votes on offence thanks to Sidney Crosby. They were voted 5th best on offence and 7th best in goaltending, but a last place finish on defence is what sunk this team.
7. Calgary (46 points: 12 forwards, 18 defence, 16 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Dany Heatley | Robert Nilsson | Devin Setoguchi |
| Ryan Smyth | Kris Versteeg | Mason Raymond |
| Darcy Tucker | Ryan Stone | Trent Hunter |
| Nick Tarnasky | Patrick Eaves | Rick Rypien |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Braydon Coburn | Mike Green |
| Brent Sopel | Chris Phillips |
| Jim Vandermeer | Brad Stuart |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Chris Mason | |
| Matt Keetley | |
The low quality of this roster was easily the biggest shock to me when putting together this article. Calgary had to be given every player born south of Edmonton except one just to field a full team. Considering that Calgary is generally considered a hockey town, I was quite disappointed with this showing. There are obviously some talented young players up front that have time to improve, and Heatley is a bonafide sniper, but this team has a long way to go until it can compete with the big dogs. They were voted the worst on offence, 7th on defence, and had the 6th best goaltenders.
6. Vancouver (64 points: 14 forwards, 26 defence, 24 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Milan Lucic | Shawn Horcoff | Andrew Ladd |
| Paul Kariya | Kyle Turris | Mark Recchi |
| Aaron Voros | Rob Niedermayer | Chuck Kobasew |
| Eric Godard | Brendan Morrison | Colin Fraser |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Shea Weber | Bren Seabrook |
| Dan Hamhuis | Willie Mitchell |
| Eric Brewer | Karl Alzner |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Carey Price | |
| Wade Dubielwicz | |
Like their Western friends in Calgary, Vancouver did not fair very well. A solid defensive core and goaltending tandem was brought down by a lacklustre group of forwards. There are definitely some bangers in this group, but not a lot of goal scoring on the front end. Our writers were not kind, ranking Vancouver 7th in offence, 4th on defence and 5th in net.
5. Winnipeg (84 points: 36 forwards, 39 defence, 9 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Brendan Morrow | Ryan Getzlaf | Patrick Sharp |
| Patrick Marleau | Mike Richards | Scott Hartnell |
| Chris Kunitz | Jonathan Toews | Dustin Penner |
| Darren Helm | Travis Zajac | Colby Armstrong |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Duncan Keith | Chris Pronger |
| Wade Redden | Luke Schenn |
| Cam Barker | Ryan Parent |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Josh Harding | |
| Brent Krahn | |
What at first looks like a promising group falls apart once you reach the crease and discover Harding and Krahn in net. There is a nice combination of skill and strength up front, and the defence is rock solid. However, our writers could not overlook the fact that the goalies have combined for 19 wins at the NHL level, all by Harding. Winnipeg ranked 3rd on offence and 2nd on defence, but last in net.
4. Ottawa (87 points: 28 forwards, 23 defence, 36 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Cheechoo | Marc Savard | Corey Perry |
| Jordan Staal | Eric Staal | Daniel Briere |
| James Neal | Derek Roy | Cory Stillman |
| Todd Bertuzzi | Steve Sullivan | Derick Brassard |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Dan Boyle | Adrian Aucoin |
| Craig Rivet | Bryan Allen |
| Marc Staal | Jay McKee |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Marty Turco | |
| Mike Smith | |
Ottawa edged out Winnipeg for fourth spot thanks to a well-rounded team. There are no glaring weaknesses on the team, although the defensive unit leaves a little to be desired. Turco and Smith re-unite between the pipes to give Ottawa a good goaltending tandem, and there is plenty of firepower up front. Grabbing the Staal brothers from Thunder Bay certainly didn’t hurt. They ranked 4th on offence, 5th on defence, and 3rd in net.
3. Edmonton (109 points: 21 forwards, 48 defence, 40 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Ray Whitney | Bryan Little | Jarome Iginla |
| Renee Bourque | Daymond Langkow | Shane Doan |
| Scottie Upshall | Mike Comrie | Joffrey Lupul |
| Jason Chimera | Steve Reinprecht | Fernando Pisani |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Dion Phaneuf | Jay Bouwmeester |
| Scott Niedermayer | Sheldon Souray |
| Mike Commodore | Dererk Morris |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Cam Ward | |
| Chris Osgood | |
The top three teams were pretty clear cut, with Edmonton falling just short of a top two finish. This team will need a lot of production from their defence as their forwards do not provide a ton of goal scoring. However, their defensive core scored first place votes from all of our writers and is the real strength of the team. Four Stanley Cup rings and a Conn Smythe trophy in net don’t hurt either though. You also may recognize that the Calgary Flames three best players are from Edmonton. Even crazier, 14 of these 20 players have played for either the Oilers or the Flames at some point in their careers. The Alberta teams love the hometown boys. Edmonton ranked 5th on offence but 1st on defence and 2nd in goal.
2. Toronto (111 points: 44 forwards, 35 defence, 32 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Nash | Joe Thornton | Jeff Carter |
| Mike Cammalleri | Jason Spezza | Brad Boyes |
| John Tavares | Steven Stamkos | Mike Knuble |
| Brendan Shanahan | Andy McDonald | Nathan Horton |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Brian Campbell | Kevin Bieksa |
| Brent Burns | Drew Doughty |
| Bryan McCabe | Rob Blake |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Steve Mason | |
| Dwayne Roloson | |
This is probably the most well-rounded squad, and if Mason continues to blossom into an elite NHL goaltender they could take over top spot. This team may have a little trouble keeping the puck out of their own net as most of these players are very offensive-minded, even the defenceman. This is not surprising considering the majority of these players came from the high-scoring OHL and not the rough and tumble WHL. Toronto was tied for 1st on offence, 3rd on defence, and 4th in net. They were the only team to rank in the top four in every category, showing just how consistent they are.
- Montreal (113 points: 44 forwards, 21 defence, 48 goalies)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Simon Gagne | Vincent Lecavalier | Martin St.Louis |
| Alex Tanguay | Paul Stastny | Patrice Bergeron |
| JP Dumont | Mike Ribeiro | Jason Pominville |
| Alex Burrows | Antoine Vermette | Pierre-Marc Bouchard |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
| Francois Beauchemin | Stephane Robidas |
| Marc-Edourd Vlasic | Kris Letang |
| Marc-Andre Bergeron | Mathieu Dandenault |
| Goalies | |
|---|---|
| Martin Brodeur | |
| Roberto Luongo | |
It is no surprise that Montreal ended up on top considering it is home to the two best goaltenders in the world. We did not even have room for the Marc-Andre Fleury, the goaltender of the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Obviously, Montreal’s goaltenders were voted first across the board by our writers. While the defence is not exactly a collection of All-Stars, the goaltending and offensive firepower of this team was just too much to be denied. They tied for 1st on offence, were 6th on defence and 1st between the pipes.
Conclusion
Considering the hockey tradition the French-Canadians have it is not shocking to see them at the top of this list. However, on a per capita basis, Edmonton has probably produced the best hockey players considering Northern Alberta only has a fraction of the population of Quebec. Or, if you combined all of Alberta in to one team, they might even be able to topple the mighty French.
I hope you have enjoyed our little study and feel free to defend your team’s honour in the comments section!
November 9th, 2009 at 11:54 am
No wonder some of our politicians here in Quebec claim that Quebec should have a national team playing in the World Championships or at the Olympic games. How awesome would that be! Just imagine how tense a Canada vs. Quebec game would be!
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November 9th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Leafs flag should cover more than Sens. No one likes that loser team.
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November 9th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Newfoundland isn’t the Maritimes, my friend.
Learn some geography.
You might as well call BC the Prairies then too.
Aside from your lack of geographical knowledge, good article!
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November 9th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I think for simplicity Ryan grouped them all together. Perhaps Atlantic provinces would have been a better label.
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November 9th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
You’re right Steve but Maritimes just had a much nicer ring to it than Atlantic.
Also, one of our readers was kind enough to send me a picture of the “real” map of Canada which also had the Nordiques, haha.
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November 9th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
True.
Also, I didn’t mean to come across like a wise ass.
Merely my usual sarcastic manner! lol
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November 9th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
lol not a problem. I probably would have done the same.
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November 9th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Scott Niedermayer grew up in Cranbrook. We British Columbians have adopted him as our own thank you very much. :)
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November 10th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Norris Trophy runner-up Mike Green might have boosted the standing of the Calgary defense corps a little bit if you hadn’t blatantly forgotten him.
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Intriguing list… but claiming Paul Stastny for Montreal is one helluva stretch, since his family left Quebec at age 4 and Paul has always played for American teams.
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Winnipeg is absent one of the NHL’s premier stay-home defensemen, Robin Regehr, who, while born in Brazil (his parents were missionaries), is a nearly life-long native of Rosthern, Saskatchewan.
If Dany Heatley (Germany-born, he is a military brat) qualifies for Calgary, then Regehr should be in too.
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
how come sharp and the staals are on different teams? aren’t they both from Thunder Bay?
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Calgary might be a bit more impressive if you had bothered to include Mike Green.
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
i’m pretty sure mike green is from calgary…and i’d bet that he’s a touch better than every other D on that team…
thoughts???
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
How do you forget Mike Green from Calgary?
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Stastny – Ya I know he is pretty much American but for the most part we went with birth places, and considering the history his dad had with the Nordiques it just felt right.
Regehr – Missed out on that one. You are right. It was hard to hit every player considering we had to search hundreds of players basically on where they were born. As such, Regehr didn’t appear on my radar. Heatley only made it on to Calgary because I knew he was born in Germany.
Sharp and the Staals – I guess I wasn’t clear about the boundaries. We split Thunder Bay between Ottawa and Winnipeg, kind of like central Alberta was split between the Oil and Flames. It would make no sense to split up the Staal’s so we put them all on Ottawa and Sharp on Winnipeg.
Green – Don’t even know what to say on that one. Brutal. I’ll add him but it is still a terrible team.
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
What happens when Heatley demands a trade out of Calgary? I guess Edmonton and Ottawa are out of the question, right?
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
hahahaha
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November 10th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Ship him to Halifax where he can rot in last place. Although him and Crosby would score a boatload of goals.
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November 11th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Cool blog post! Thanks for a good read.
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November 19th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Cool post – but to be fair Quebec should be split in two to have a Quebec Nordiques team!
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November 20th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Ya… we thought about it but none of us our French so we didn’t really know where to draw the border between the two teams.
Plus, if the French players were split in to two teams, Toronto would have won!
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December 9th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Not being Canadian I don’t follow you logic in “Gatineau and the Eastern portion of the Gaspe Peninsula” out of the Quebec team thus giving the Montreal Briere and Brassard. If that team existed I know Danny would hate to be left off.
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December 9th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Matt –
Gatineau is right across the river from Ottawa so it kind of made sense to include it with Ottawa. I know Briere would love to be on MTL but we had to make some sacrificed. The Gaspe Peninsula is really close to the Maritimes and they badly needed a second goalie so we gave them Garon.
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January 5th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
and the Nordiques!!!!!!! the Québec love Québec more than Montréal!!!
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