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NHL insider Chris Johnston offers insight into League's "unique project" for '1/4 century teams'

Modified Nov 29, 2024 02:43 GMT

It wasn't long ago that the National Hockey League was comprised of just six teams - the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. But in 1967, expansion began and added teams in multiple new cities.

While not every NHL club today has the exact same history, most teams have featured some of the best talent to suit up professionally. While that hasn't always resulted in championships, the players left an indelible impression not only on their respective franchises and fan bases but on the game itself.

The NHL is said to be undergoing a unique project that will compile the best players from the last quarter-century, starting on January 1, 2000.

On Thursday's episode of 'TSN's Insider Trading,' Chris Johnston mentioned that the project is set to debut in late December.

"Absolutely a unique project in which the NHL is going to name quarter-century teams for each of the 32 franchises," Johnston said. "And the way they're going to do that is they're using members of the media, retired players, executives, to vote on each team's top six players at forward, top four defense and top goaltenders that played for those teams between January 1, 2000 and today.

"Those will start getting rolled out at the end of December through into the new year. There's gonna be lots of debate, I'm sure, about the selections that ultimately get made."

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NHL fans are in for some incredible recollections and memories

Once this project gets going, fans will take a stroll down memory lane by recalling some of the great players who donned their favorite franchise's jersey, along with the executives who helped make success possible.

For a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, figures like Mats Sundin and Curtis Joseph can be on the list. Fans of the Chicago Blackhawks can expect to see names like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa.

There is no shortage of great names for the Boston Bruins in the last 1/4 century, including Ray Bourque, Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask.

The Detroit Red Wings will boast a veritable who's who of NHL Hall of Famers, including Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Sergei Fedorov.

It's going to be an exciting venture that the League is undertaking, and it will make for some great recollections by fans.