All-Time Team: Minnesota North Stars (1967-93)

  Mein friends, it's time for another all-time greatest roster of an NHL team. Today we're looking at the dearly departed Minnesota North Stars, who played in Bloomington, Minnesota from 1967 to 1993. Here's an abbreviated history.

  The North Stars were one of the original NHL expansion teams that doubled the league's size from six to twelve clubs in 1967. Despite a losing record, the team did well enough to make the playoffs in its first season and were eliminated just one win shy of making the Stanley Cup finals. After making the playoffs in five of their first six seasons, the North Stars went the next six seasons (1974-79) with only one postseason appearance (1977). This was bad news for Minnesota, as attendance dropped off and the team was in critical financial trouble. The situation was equally as dire for the Cleveland Barons, whose owners made the decision to merge their team with Minnesota's in 1978. This meant that the Stars' lineup was bolstered with Cleveland's best players – like Gilles Meloche and Al MacAdam – and were moved to the smaller Adams Division. This was also the year in which the team drafted future stars Bobby Smith and Steve Payne.

  Great things started happening. In January 1980 the Stars defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, bringing an end to the longest undefeated streak in professional sports history. Later that year, Minnesota knocked the 4-time defending Cup champion Canadiens out of the playoffs en route to the conference finals. This was also the year the team picked up scoring sensations Neal Broten and Dino Ciccarelli. What followed in 1981 was the North Stars' first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup finals; predictably they ended up losing to the heavily favoured New York Islanders.

  Minnesota made the playoffs seven years in a row from 1980 to 1986. Though they didn't get to hoist Lord Stanley's cup they were an exciting and competitive team that made several deep playoff runs. 1985-86 was the club's last winning season as their scoring output dropped off and the fans' attendance was inconsistent.

  The late 1980's and early 1990's were a rather dismal period in North Stars history, though they did make the playoffs every year from 1989 to 1992 (they were in a weak division and there was usually at least one team that played even worse than them). There were only two bright spots during the club's dying years: the drafting of Mike Modano who would go on to become the best player in Minnesota/Dallas history, and the team's 1991 Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup finals. After stunning victories against the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, and Edmonton Oilers (all of them great teams during this era) they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

  By now problems were mounting. Attendance wasn't good, the Met Center was getting old, a replacement arena couldn't be found/built, and owner Norm Green's wife threatened to leave him if he didn't relocate the team. In a sad move, the Minnesota North Stars were moved to Dallas in 1993 to become the Dallas Stars. That's right, a northern team – that has the word “north” right in its freakin' name! – was moved to Texas, where I'm pretty sure ice doesn't even exist. In their time in Dallas the Stars have won 8 division championships and two Presidents Trophies, made two Stanley Cup finals appearances, and one Stanley Cup championship out of 14 playoff appearances. They've had an up-and-down history, but they still exist. In fact they've existed almost as long as the North Stars have, so that's something I guess.

  The Minnesota North Stars, in their 26 seasons, made 18 playoff appearances and two Stanley Cup finals appearances while winning two division championships. The last remaining North Stars player in the NHL was Mike Modano and he retired in 2011. NHL hockey eventually returned to Minnesota in 2000 with the Minnesota Wild expansion team.

  So let's take a look at the best possible team that can built with North Star players. I've limited the roster to guys who stuck with Minnesota for at least 200 games, and as always only their accomplishments with Minnesota will be considered. Let's begin.

Forwards

L-R: Ciccarelli, Goldsworthy, Gavin

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Brian Bellows (1983-92)	Neal Broten (1981-93)	Dino Ciccarelli (1980-89)
Steve Payne (1978-88)	Mike Modano (1989-93)	Bill Goldsworthy (1967-76)
J.P. Parise (1967-75)	Bobby Smith (1978-83, 1990-93)	Stew Gavin (1988-93)
Basil McRae (1987-92)	Keith Acton (1983-88)	Willi Plett (1982-87)

This team's first line holds few surprises; it's made of Minnesota's top three career point scorers: playmakers Broten (four seasons of 85+ points) and Bellows (never less than 50 points) and in-your-face goal scorer Ciccarelli (two 50-goal seasons) . The second line adds some more point production from the likes of Bill Goldsworthy (five 30-goal seasons), Steve Payne (seven straight 20-goal seasons), and Mike Modano (three 75+ point seasons). With a bit of defensive play from two-time Selke Trophy nominee Bobby Smith, forechecker J.P. Parise, and penalty killer Stew Gavin the third line gives this team some versatility. And the fourth line is stacked full of grinders with tough guy Keith Acton and enforcers Basil McRae and Willi Plett.

Honourable mentions: Bob Brooke, Al MacAdam, Dennis Hextall

Defencemen

L-R: Hartsburg, Giles

Craig Hartsburg (1979-89)	Gordie Roberts (1980-88)
Curt Giles (1979-86, 1987-91)	Mark Tinordi (1988-93)
Lou Nanne (1968-78)	Dennis O'Brien (1971-77)

As far as I can tell Minnesota stuck mostly with stay-at-home defencemen throughout its history. Most of the guys on this lineup – especially O'Brien, Roberts, and Tinordi – played a good physical game (as all good defencemen should!). But amongst these blueliners only Craig Hartsburg has a talent for playmaking (three seasons of 60 points) and only Tinordi was a notable presence on the powerplay. What we've got is a defensive corps that does its job well, just not in any versatile way.

Goaltending

Casey

John Casey (1984-93)

Gilles Meloche (1979-85)

This was a tough call, both Casey and Meloche were pretty good goaltenders. But in the end I had to give the starting spot to John Casey whose save percentage and goals against average remained more consistent than Meloche's. Not only was Casey the only North Stars goaltender to win 30 games in one year (1989-90), but he also put up some great playoff performances, including the 1991 Stanley Cup finals run.

Honourable mention: Cesare Maniago

That does it for this week. Join me next time as I look at the all-time team of what I like to call the "loser franchises".

Movie Review -- Searching

  “Gimmicky” is a word that is thrown around a lot, but if you ask me just because something is gimmicky doesn't always mean that it's bad. Case in point, I just saw Searching, the latest in a new subgenre of films that take place entirely on computer screens and smartphone screens, a gimmick which isn't quite as boring as you'd initially think.

  At least it wasn't boring in this movie. I have seen the 2014 horror film Unfriended which runs on the same “only looking at the screen” schtick (does this subgenre count as found footage?). It wasn't very good and so I was a bit skeptical for Searching. But it turns out that there's nothing to fear here; simply put Searching is Unfriended done right, for two reasons. The first is that Searching has more dynamic presentation and editing to it. It's not just a static frame of the whole desktop. The “camera” pans around and zooms in on things so that the audience can follow what the main character, David Kim, is focusing on. It also doesn't take place in real time, it happens across several days and on several different computer and phone screens (and possibly some TV screens; it was difficult to tell at times). While this does undermine the narrative structure's unity it does do a fantastic job of drawing to the viewer into David's point of view, which is the second thing that Searching's visual presentation has going for it. Whereas Unfriended was a horror movie where people on Skype just sit around and watch eachother die – with no worthwhile character for the audience to really latch onto – Searching is a story told from just one man's point of view, displaying the paranoia and despair that he's going through as he tries to piece together what's going on. It's a concept done so well that it makes one wonder why the computer-POV thing hasn't been done with mystery-thrillers before (at least as far as I know). It brings new life into a story which would be considered average for any other movie.

  The story is follows David, a single father whose relationship with his 16-year-old daughter Margot has grown distant since the passing of his wife Pamela. Things get tense as his daughter vanishes without a trace one night. David then does everything he can to try to find her with the help of cyberspace. And it's a good thing he's one of those parents who records/photographs everything imaginable! Isn't it remarkable what one can find out about a person through social media nowadays? It's one of those classic “do you really know those who are close to you?” scenarios, but this one carries a surprising amount of emotional weight. I'd say the story of Searching is basically a more down-to-earth version of Taken. There's plenty of red herrings and the ending is pretty decent, though it is kind of silly when you consider the fact that David was able to figure out who the perp was through a simple Google search. The badguy really should've covered up his/her tracks better.

  The cast of Searching all do a fine job. John Cho's performance as David deserves particular praise. It's a role that takes his character to lots of different places emotionally and he pulls it off flawlessly.

  All in all, Searching is an interesting entry in the mystery-thriller genre, with its seasonable subject matter and unique gimmick. If you like missing person dramas and you want to find something new there then look no further... 

  See what I did there?

Grade:

All-Time Team: Washington Capitals (1974-present)

  It's that time of year again: hockey season! And once again it's time to look at the very best of what a particular team's history has to offer in roster form. As with last year we're taking a look at the most recent Stanley Cup champion team, the Washington Capitals.

  As always let's start with an abbreviated history. The Capitals entered the NHL along with fellow expansion team the Kansas City Scouts. This was a time when professional hockey teams were sprouting up everywhere and the talent was spread thin. The Caps finished their inaugural season with a pathetic record – even by the standards of expansion teams – winning a lowly eight games out of eighty and setting a league record for worst ever winning percentage. Their second season was only slightly better (I mean it couldn't have gotten much worse!) earning 32 points against the previous year's 21. Although the next few years saw Washington languish and barely survive they took advantage of some great draft choices (Scott Stevens, Ryan Walter, Bengt Gustafsson, Mike Gartner) who would go on to strengthen the team's lineup for the next decade... or at least would fetch some decent trades (Craig Laughlin, Doug Jarvis, Rod Langway).

  By the time the 1982-83 season came around the Caps had assembled a solid defensive corps and some robust goal-scoring capability. The team earned its first ever playoff spot that year, finally quelling the persistent rumours of relocation. The Washington Capitals were a pretty competitive team throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. They made the playoffs an impressive 14 years in a row (1983-96) and even recorded 50 wins in the 1985-86 season. Unfortunately their regular season success didn't exactly carry over into the postseason, where the farthest they ever made it was the conference finals in 1990.

  After missing the playoffs in 1997, the Caps came back with a vengeance in 1998. They beat out the Bruins, the Senators, and the Sabres to make it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time ever only to get swept by the defending champions, the Detroit Red Wings. During the next five years Washington would attempt to find success by acquiring notable high-priced veterans such as Jaromir Jagr and Robert Lang. In those five years from 1998 to 2003 they made three postseason appearances, losing in the first round every time.

  During 2003 Washington unloaded its old talent and committed to rebuilding itself, missing the playoffs three years in a row from 2004 to 2007. But everything changed in 2004 when the Caps won the draft lottery and drafted the much anticipated Alexander Ovechkin who would go on to become one of the 21^st century's dominant scorers. Soon thereafter additional young talents like Alexander Semin, Mike Green, and Nicklas Backstrom developed into high-scoring phenoms, turning the team into regular season leaders and serious Cup contenders. The Capitals returned to the playoffs in 2008 and since then have only missed out once.

  During this period the Ovechkin-led squad developed a legendary rivalry with the Pittsburgh Penguins led by Sydney Crosby, the other point-scoring machine of this era. Since 2009 the Capitals and the Penguins have squared off in the postseason four times, with the Pens winning the first three series. Washington finally managed to defeat Pittsburgh in 2018 en route to their first ever Stanley Cup victory.

  Since their inception in 1974 (that's 44 seasons), the Washington Capitals have won 11 division championships and three President's Trophies (for best regular season record). They've made the playoffs 31 times, advanced to the finals twice, and won the Stanley Cup once.

  Today we'll take a look at the best players the team has ever had and see what the ideal fantasy lineup would look like. As always, only these players' achievements with Washington will be counted and I've tried only including players who wore the Caps' uniform for at least 250 games. Let's check it out!

Forwards

L-R: Maruk, Bondra, Konowalchuk

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Alex Ovechkin (2005-present)	Dennis Maruk (1978-83)	Mike Gartner (1979-89)
Greg Adams (1983-88)	Nicklas Backstrom (2007-present)	Peter Bondra (1990-2004)
Steve Konowalchuk (1992-2003)	Dale Hunter (1987-99)	Craig Laughlin (1982-88)
Craig Berube (1993-99)	Brooks Laich (2003-16)	Alan May (1989-94)

Unsurprisingly, this team's first line is all about goals. As such I've selected five-time 40 goal scorer Mike Gartner, 130 point producer Dennis Maruk, and the franchise all-time leading scorer Ovechkin. On the second line we've got sharpshooter Peter Bondra, playmaker Nicklas Backstrom, and tough guy Greg Adams. The third line adds a bit of versatility with two-way winger Steve Konowalchuk, power forward Dale Hunter, and forechecker Craig Laughlin. The fourth line is all about wearing out the opponents with the enforcer Alan May, grinder Craig Berube, and solid defensive play from Brooks Laich.

Honourable mentions: Mike Eagles, Lou Franceschetti, Bob Gould, Adam Oates, Michal Pivonka

Defencemen

L-R: Johansson, Langway

Calle Johansson (1989-2003)	Sergei Gonchar (1994-2004)
Scott Stevens (1982-90)	Kevin Hatcher (1984-94)
Rod Langway (1982-93)	Yvon Labre (1974-81)

Washington has been gifted with some very talented defencemen over the years. Picking just six wasn't easy but I think I've found the right ones. Our first pair has two blueliners that served for a long time and put up a good deal of points: Calle Johansson and Sergei Gonchar (who was also one of my picks for Pittsburgh's all-time team). The second pairing adds some excitement with the physical, high-scoring duo of Scott Stevens and Kevin Hatcher. The third pairing grants the team some good old fashioned stay at-home defence from the dedicated all-star Rod Langway and the hard-nosed Yvon Labre.

Honourable mentions: Sylvain Cote, Mike Green, Brendan Witt

Goaltenders

Holtby

Braden Holtby (2010-present)

Olaf Kolzig (1989-2008)

It came down to the two most tenured of Capitals netminders and while Olaf Kolzig was pretty great in his time I believe that he's since been overshadowed by Braden Holtby. Since taking over starting goaltender duties in the 2012-13 season he's put up some impressive numbers:three 40-win seasons, no save percentage lower than .915, and some superb playoff performances. He'll likely go down in history as the best Caps goalie ever... you know, until the next best one comes along. There really is no such thing as a final victory in hockey.

That's it for this week's all-time team. Check back newt time when we cobble together a winning team from a franchise of yore: the Minnesota North Stars.