NEWSLETTER
I was starting to consider this as a Friday morning bullet, but this is such a fun discussion I decided to break it out into a more full Blackhawks-focused discussion.
Paul Pidutti (aka Adjusted Hockey on Twitter/X) does a fantastic job in working with analytics to quantify player value both in their era and adjusting for time periods (he calls it PPS). He rolled out a Playoff PPS today and created his salary cap era’s All-Playoff Teams (a full first and second all-playoff roster). Six Chicago Blackhawks made the rosters.
Here’s how Pidutti broke out some of how he ranked the players (the max score is 100):
I think you, like me, read this and immediately started listing the Blackhawks who, during their dynasty run, performed well. Obviously there are three Blackhawks — Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith — who won the Conn Smythe Trophy. And there were seven Blackhawks — Toews, Kane, Keith, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Niklas Hjalmarsson — who won three championships together. We saw them together on the ice when Hossa’s jersey was retired.
So… if I said there were six Blackhawks who made the first or second teams, and seven won three rings… yeah, that’s where my brain went immediately.
The only team that had more players make the rosters than the Blackhawks was the Pittsburgh Penguins; they had eight players named.
Here’s how Pidutti put the teams out there. I’ll break them out for us by position with the first and second teams separated.
All-Playoff Forwards
First Team
All four Blackhawks forwards who won three championships made the first team, as they should. I was actually quite surprised to see MacKinnon on the first team with a single championship over Anze Kopitar, who won two. I’m happy they kept Toews and Hossa together, and I would have preferred they keep Sharp and Kane together. And I personally would have had Toews higher than the third-line center as well. But damn if this isn’t a really good roster with some incredibly memorable championships on their resumes.
Second Team
Lots of young guys on this list, which is interesting. Pidutti points out that four notable centers didn’t make either team: Ryan Getzlaf (Playoff PPS of 42), Daniel Briere (41), Connor McDavid (41), and Logan Couture (41). I really can’t argue too much with this lineup other than to say, in the real world, I would have had Kopitar as my No. 1 center on the second team and Patrice Bergeron as my second-line center.
All-Playoff Defensemen
First Team
Big-time beef incoming. I would have had Seabrook in this top group without question. He won three rings with the Blackhawks and an Olympic gold medal with Canada during the cap era. And he was clutch — ask Detroit. If we’re going to celebrate Pronger’s one championship, how about the one Seabrook won at Pronger’s expense in 2010? The only guy on the first team with as many rings as Seabrook is Keith — his partner for nearly two decades in Chicago.
Second Team
Nothing but respect for all of the guys on this second team. And, again, my personal preference is that Seabrook would have been on the first team over Letang. But, again, having watched the postseasons, I can’t live in a world where John Carlson and/or Erik “No Rings” Karlsson makes the cut over Hjalmarsson. Can’t do it. Won’t do it. Hjalmarsson was arguably the best defensive defenseman of his generation. And he has three (3) rings to Karlsson’s zero (0). This is about the postseason, not Karlsson’s three Norris Trophies. I don’t think that’s just my Blackhawks blinders influencing the pick.
All-Playoff Goalies
First Team
You’re probably wondering “Where is Corey Crawford?” I also asked about Marc-André Fleury when I saw this was the first team. Both played enormous in championship runs. I have no problem with the first two on this list, but I did wonder a bit about Tim Thomas making the first team over at least those two. So I waited until I saw the second team before I threw the Crawford grenade…
Second Team
Okay, here’s where my beef arrives. Where the sweet sam hell is Crawford? He won two rings for the Blackhawks and should have won the Conn Smythe in 2013 (even Kane said as much). Pidutti mentioned Crawford (and Matt Murray) as two notable omissions, and said this about Crawford: “Crawford’s .899 adjusted save % was slightly below NHL average.” While I accept that metric, having watched the playoffs closely over the past two decades, I would take Crawford’s performance in the two championship runs in which he was the starting goaltender over Holtby any day of the week.
