First star: Joe Sakic, Colorado; Doug Weight, Carolina; Patrik Elias, New Jersey; Jason Arnott, Dallas; Sergei Samsonov, Edmonton; Brendan Shananan, Detroit; Teemu Selanne, Anaheim.
Second star: Anson Carter, Vancouver; Petr Sykora, N.Y. Rangers; Martin Rucinsky, N.Y. Rangers; Martin Straka, N.Y. Rangers; Mark Parrish, Los Angeles; Viktor Kozlov, New Jersey; Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey; Eric Lindros, Toronto; Jason Allison, Toronto; Alyn McCauley, San Jose; Matt Cullen, Carolina; Peter Bondra, Atlanta; Alexei Morozov, Pittsburgh.
Third star: Jeremy Roenick, Los Angeles; Michael Peca, Edmonton; Jeff Friesen, Anaheim; Steve Rucchin, N.Y. Rangers; Radek Dvorak, Edmonton; Stephane Yelle, Calgary; Mike Grier, Buffalo; Jeff Halpern, Washington; Dallas Drake, St. Louis; Jan Hrdina, Columbus; Mike Sillinger, Nashville; Luc Robitaille, Los Angeles; Greg Johnson, Nashville; Dean McAmmond, St. Louis; Scott Mellanby, Atlanta; Scott Young, St. Louis; Marc Chouinard, Minnesota; Yanic Perreault, Nashville; Geoff Sanderson, Phoenix; David Vyborny, Columbus; Chad Kilger, Toronto; Mike Leclerc, Calgary; Eric Daze, Chicago; Fernando Pisani, Edmonton; Jan Bulis, Montreal; Oleg Kvasha, N.Y. Islanders; Petr Cajanek, St. Louis.
Fourth-liners: Donald Brashear, Philadelphia; Vaclav Varada, Ottawa; Brad Isbister, Boston; Georges Laraques, Edmonton; Marty Reasoner, Boston; Dan Hinote, Colorado; Shean Donovan, Calgary; Jarkko Ruutu, Vancouver; Niklas Sundstrom, Montreal; Eric Boulton, Atlanta; Ronald Petrovicky, Atlanta; Richard Park, Vancouver; Manny Malhora, Columbus.
DEFENCE
First star: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit; Rob Blake, Colorado; Zdeno Chara, Ottawa; Wade Redden, Ottawa; Marek Zidlicky, Nashville; Ed Jovanovski, Vancouver; Bryan McCabe, Toronto.
Second star: Willie Mitchell, Dallas; Pavel Kubina, Tampa Bay; Jaroslav Spacek, Edmonton; Joe Corvo, Los Angeles; Danny Markov, Nashville; Brian Pothier, Ottawa; Kim Johnsson, Philadelphia; Nolan Baumgartner, Vancouver; Brendan Witt, Nashville; Hal Gill, Boston; Jay McKee, Buffalo; Kenny Jonsson, N.Y. Islanders.
Third star: Brian Leetch, Boston; Keith Carney, Vancouver; Ruslan Salei, Anaheim; Teppo Numminen, Buffalo; Frantisek Kaberle, Carolina, Glen Wesley, Carolina; Karlis Skrastins, Colorado; Filip Kuba, Minnesota, Francis Bouillon, Montreal; Eric Desjardins, Philadelphia; Niclas Havelid, Atlanta; Andreas Lilja, Detroit; Ken Klee, New Jersey; Tom Poti, N.Y. Rangers; Aki Berg, Toronto; Alexander Khavanov, Toronto.
Seventh defencemen: Jiri Slegr, Boston; Cale Hulse, Calgary; Chris Chelios, Detroit; Jason Woolley, Detroit; Dick Tarnstrom, Pittsburgh; Daniel Tjarnqvist, Minnesota; Andrei Zyuzin, Minnesota; Todd Simpson, Montreal; Joel Bouchard, N.Y. Islanders; Luke Richardson, Toronto; Sean Brown, Vancouver; Eric Weinrich, Vancouver.
GOAL
Dominik Hasek, Ottawa; Curtis Joseph, Phoenix; Martin Gerber, Carolina; Cristobal Huet, Montreal; Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton; John Grahame, Tampa Bay; Manny Legace, Detroit; Brian Boucher, Calgary; Chris Osgood, Detroit, Brent Johnson, Washington; Patrick Lalime, St. Louis; Martin Prusek, Columbus; Wade Flaherty, Vancouver.
obviously i would like sakic (regardless of his age) chara(thats a no brainer) i still want the habs to make a run at witt plus i said before i think the habs will go after parrish
Chara is the one name from that list, if I only had one wish.
****drool*****
__________________
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
And-o would be amazed if many of the top tier guys actually made it to the free-market.
Besides, Gainey has shown a propensity to lean towards the grittier second and third teir guys.
And-o would be just absolutely tickled to see Gainey make a serious offer to Jamie Langenbrunner, Willie Mitchell and Alyn McCauley. Of course Bob could make And-o happy by landing either Jason Arnott (at a reduced rate)...or Victor Kozlov.
...And-o thinks you are only kidding yourselves when talking about guys like Sakic, Chara or Jovo-cop though!!!
I think we will see Richards or Lecavlier in a habs uni. Just a feeling. Gainey ain't gonna sign an old goat...he is building this team and Richards/Lecavlier are both young.
Price might be steep...could even include pprospects like Price(they need goaltending) and Chipchura( we have Higgins who is cut from a similar cloth) as well as a first rounder+Bulis+Ribby...
I see us bringing up Kostitsyin and Latendresse, so I think Gainey will look for a top Center and a top D and maybe a depth winger. I think the best fit for us at center is Arnott, as he meets all our needs there. I like our D, but I want to add one more top-four body. I would love Rob Blake for 2-3 years until one of our youngsters is ready to come up from the minors. He would give us a real fiery champion who does everything well.
Actually Gainey will probably keep doing what he has been.....TINKERING. I don't think He'll go from Downey to Lecavilier. I think he'll stay away from the big signing.
I wouldn't be surprised to see BG try to add a star or two to the team for next year. Now, if the Habs win the Cup this year things may change. But assuming that they don't and there's thought to be room for improvement in the lineup, here would be my personal wish-list:
Forwards:
Selanne -- as people have said, he and Saku are close and played great together at The Olympics. Can Saku talk him into coming to Mtl? Can Gillette's wallet? Hope so.
Elias -- one of the most consistent performers in the league. NJ will never let him go, and we'd have to pay way too much to get him, but this is one guy I'd absolutely love to see in a Habs uni
Defense:
Lidstrom -- who wouldn't want this guy... but the Red Wings will give him anything to keep him
Witt -- definitely a solid player and would be a good addition
Corvo -- I've only seen a few LA games this year, but this guy has looked solid in his own end. Don't know what he'd cost but worth checking out
Wesley -- never thought I'd want to see a former Bruin in a Montreal jersey, but this guy has really matured over the years and plays a good two-way game
Goal:
Gerber -- he's Huet in a different sweater
Of course, I would want to re-sign Huet and Bulis. Depending on who else we picked up on D I might or might not re-sign Cube. I like his hustle and enthusiasm, but all too often he gets burned down low.
If we could add a proven, playmaking forward who can score (like an Elias or Selanne) and a solid defenseman (like Witt or Wesley) and keep Huet and keep him healthy, I think this team would have the nucleus to go a long way in years to come as some of the young guys mature.
Now if only we had a spare twenty million bucks and a little more cap room...