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E.RUTHERFORD, NJ - APRIL 14: Pittsburgh Penguins forward, Mario Lemieux, talks with teammate Kevin Stevens after a skirmish in front of the Devil's net during the game against the NJ Devils at the Meadowlands Arena ,East Rutherford, NJ, United States on April 14,1993. (Photo by Steve Crandall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A recent trend has inspired several different websites to pop up in order to create a team that can go undefeated. The premise is getting a random team and decade to select a player, locking in that position once it is taken out, making the strategy to blindly make one selection before the next possibility is known. It’s addictive and a lot of fun.
That led to some thinking, if you took the random element out of the equation, could you make a perfect 82-0 style team based only out of Penguins?
LW: 1991-92 Kevin Stevens (54 goals, 69 assists, 254 penalty minutes in 80 games)
C: 1988-89 Mario Lemieux (85 goals, 114 assists)
RW: 1995-96 Jaromir Jagr (62 goals, 87 assists)
LD: 1988-89 Paul Coffey (30 goals, 83 assists)
RD: 2015-16 Kris Letang (16 goals, 51 assists)
G: 2016-17 Matt Murray (32-10-4, 2.41 GAA, .923 save percentage; in playoffs 7-3, 1.70 GAA, .937 save%)
I think that team would probably have a chance. You got peak Kevin Stevens, pre-face injury and in the midst of one of the most dominant stretches a power forward ever had. Put that wrecking ball up with the prime-aged Mario Lemieux just before his chronic back problems started, plus the version of Jagr at his absolute best. That’s enough pure power and skill to overwhelm any normal club, without even getting to use players like Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
The back-end can be a little trickier without as much sheer talent, but there’s no need to over-complicate things. Aside from Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey was probably the most skilled and best skating defenseman the game has ever seen. Gotta take a d-man that can score 30 goals, regardless of era. To pair with Coffey, I picked the version of Kris Letang that I think was his absolute top form (some may go with the 2012-13 version, which also wouldn’t be a bad pick). Letang in that 2016 Cup run was pitch perfect on just about every shift.
Speaking of Cup runs, it was tough to not pick Marc-Andre Fleury for this team, but we went with capturing the moment in time where Murray’s flame was burning the brightest and you could set your watch to him likely giving up between 0-2 goals on any given night in the postseason.
I think that team could give it a run, even though the Penguins have never had a Vezina winner and only one Norris trophy winning defenseman (Ron Stackhouse, who always seems to get overlooked, including here today!). The offensive star power is so over-powering it can carry the day against any normal team.
Let us know your favorite 82-0 teams you’ve created or think could do some damage.
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