Top 10 CHL Players of the DecadeAlright, with New Year’s on the horizon, I’ve had this list floating around in my head and I wanted to make sure that if I was going to pear down a list of the decade’s best CHLers into a top ten list, that I got it right. The players listed below combined the best of individual and team achievements since the year 2000. They’ll combine accomplishments as CHLers and national junior team players, as playoff warriors and regular season stars. They are the best CHL Players of the Decade.
10. Corey Perry (London Knights, OHL) , 2001-2005This one was tough to pick, there were a few good candidates for the tenth spot but so much has been made of the 2004-2005 London Knights that it would seem highly irregular not to recognize that team in some way. Perry is without question the most valuable player from that team and hence the most deserving candidate for this list. Perry made two OHL year end first all-star teams. In 2004-2005, he ran up a resume of impressive awards including the Red Tilson Trophy recognizing the leagues Most Outstanding Player, the Wayne Gretzky Award recognizing the OHL’s Playoff MVP, was the OHL’s leading scorer. won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as the Memorial Cup MVP and won the Memorial Cup. Oh, and he combined with Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron to form Canada’s top unit at the 2005 World Juniors that ended Canada’s gold medal drought.
9. Pierre-Marc Bouchard (Chicoutimi Saugneens, QMJHL), 2000-2002In recognizing Pierre-Marc Bouchard ahead of Corey Perry, one has to think of the season that Corey Perry had in 2004-2005, then realize that Bouchard did most of that when he was two years younger than Perry. Bouchard made the QMJHL First All Star team in both his seasons in Chicoutimi and was a CHL First Team All Star in his second season. In 2001-2002, Bouchard was the QMJHL’s leading scorer, offensive player of the year, voted the league’s top pro prospect, was the league MVP, was the CHL Leading Scorer and the CHL player of the year. What keeps Bouchard from being higher on this list is his lack of team achievements. He never won a Memorial Cup and lacks playoff accolades. The best he could do for the national junior team was a silver medal.
8. Corey Locke (Ottawa 67s, OHL), 2001-2004Corey Locke, along with perhaps Simon Gamache, came to typify a type of player that was endlessly successful in the CHL but really never made the transition to the NHL. Over the period from late 2002 – early 2004, there simply wasn’t a better player in the CHL. Like Bouchard, Locke was a Consecutive CHL First Team All Star. Locke led the OHL in scoring in 2003 and 2004, he was the OHL’s most outstanding player in consecutive years and was the CHL Player of the Year in 2003. Locke, like Bouchard misses out because of a lack of substantive team or playoff success. In 2003, Locke led the 67s to the OHL Final where they lost to the eventual Memorial Cup Champion Kitchener Rangers, that would be the furthest the 67s would advance during Locke’s tenure.
7. Dan Blackburn (Kootenay Ice, WHL), 1999 – 2001Dan Blackburn is, depending on who you ask, either one of the great tragedies of the CHL in the last decade or one of it’s most telling precautionary tales. For those in the latter category, Blackburn is a tale of what happens when you rush a goaltending prospect before he’s ready and his dominance at the WHL is secondary. For those in the former category, his WHL dominance is every thing. In the two years he tended the twine in Kootenay, Blackburn’s numbers weren’t otherworldly, except in the playoffs when it mattered. In his rookie year, Blackburn carried the Ice to a WHL Championship. That same year he was both the CHL and WHL rookie of the year. The next season, Blackburn was named to the CHL First All Star Team, the WHL First All Star Team, was named the CHL Goaltender of the Year and the WHL Goaltender of the Year. Over this decade, no CHL Goaltender was quite so dominant over a two year span. And still, he’ll mostly be remembered for occasionally wearing two blockers.
6. Dan Hamhuis (Prince George Cougars, WHL) 1998-2002Hamhuis is now known primarily as a defensive stalwart for Team Canada at the World Championships and for the Nashville Predators in the NHL. But there was a time when he was one of the best and most dominant defensemen in the WHL. Like many on the list behind him, Hamhuis lacks significant team accomplishments that would merit a high placement on this list but his individual achievements as a member of the Prince George Cougars merit a high placement for him on this list. Hamhuis can boast only a bronze and silver medal with the national junior team but he likely had one of the best seasons on record for a CHL Defenseman in 01-02. That year, he was given the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHL’s Best Defenseman, he was named the CHL’s best defenseman, he was named the WHL MVP and named to the CHL’s first all star team. One of the most dominant seasons by a WHL defenseman in this era.
5. Brad Boyes (Erie Otters, OHL), 1998-2002The Erie Otters are among the OHL’s more beleaguered franchises. A fate dealt to them by the fact that they play in a division with the OHL’s equivalent of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. But when Brad Boyes lead the Erie Otters at the birth of the new decade, he dragged that franchise kicking and screaming out of the cellar. Boyes won back to back Red Tilson Trophies as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player in 2001 and 2002. He finished as an OHL First Team All Star in 2002 and made the CHL’s Second All Star Team that year. He was the OHL’s Most Gentlemanly Player in both 2001 and 2002 and the CHL Sportsman of the Year in 2002. He was the OHL’s Playoff MVP in 2002, when he led the Erie Otters to their first and to date only OHL Championship. With the National Junior team, Boyes has earned both a silver and bronze medal.
4. Kris Russell (Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL), 2003-2007This decade may go down as the decade of the small defenseman in the CHL. Ushered in by Ian White and epitomized by the recent dominance of Ryan Ellis. But in between the two, there was no middleweight defenseman that more typified a warrior than Kris Russell. Gare Joyce tells a great story in “Future Greats and Heartbreaks” wherein the press is allowed into the Medicine Hat dressing room and reporters interviewing Russell note that his arm is one big bruise from the wrist to the shoulder because of the physical abuse the Vancouver Giants have imposed on him. Start with the team achievements, the Tigers won the WHL twice with Russell in the line-up, the second time while he was Captain in 2006-2007. Russell was twice the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player in 2005 and 2006. He was the CHL Sportsman of the year in 2006 and won consecutive national junior team gold medals in 2006 and 2007, in 2007 as the leading scorer among defensemen. Russell was the WHL’s top defenseman in 2006 and again in 2007, the CHL’s top defenseman in 2007 and the WHL’s Most Valuable Player in 2007. Never won a Memorial Cup, but he came within minutes of one in 2007.
3. Alexander Radulov (Quebec Remparts, 2004-2006)If he were still playing in the NHL, there would be no hesitancy at all in calling Alexander Radulov the shining example of what an import player should be. CHL Imports have become a matter of some debate as there are international hockey federations seeking to rather vindictively punish some of their players for coming to play in the CHL but Alexander Radulov’s time in Quebec was an unqualified success. One almost doesn’t know where to start on Radulov’s list of accomplishments. He holds the Remparts record for goals and points in a single game. He was named to the QMJHL All Rookie Team in 2004-2005. In 2006, Radulov really racked up the hardware. He led the Quebec Remparts to the Memorial Cup and captured Memorial Cup MVP honours. That year he also earned honours as the CHL’s leading scorer and player of the year. He was also the Quebec League’s leading scorer, it’s offensive player of the year, it’s league MVP and a QMJHL First Team All Star. Add to that a matching pair of World Junior silver medals for Team Russia and you’ve got one hell of a junior career. Oh, and he almost turned Angelo Esposito into a first overall pick single-handedly.
2. Sidney Crosby (Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL) 2003-2005Who wants to bet this is one of the very few times that Sid has been second at anything? In fairness, it’s really more of a toss up for top spot and it’s not to say that the player ranked ahead of him will be a better pro. Sid played two seasons in the Quebec League and ran up more awards and recognition than a reasonable person might spend time mentioning. But consider the following: consecutive CHL First All Star Teams, consecutive turns as the CHL’s top scorer, consecutive CHL Player of the Year trophies, consecutive QMJHL MVP trophies, the Memorial Cup’s leading scorer in 2005 and a gold medal and a silver medal with the national junior team. He also led the Rimouski Oceanic to a QMJHL
le in 2005. There is no and I do mean no doubt that if Sidney had played just one more year, he’d be the number one player on this list. Accordingly it seems unfair to punish him for lesser time served, but this is junior hockey and effectiveness is measured by the amount of seasons spent in the junior ranks. I think that makes it a fair measure for seperation.
1. John Tavares (Oshawa Generals, OHL), 2005-2009Like I said, one or two could really be flip-flopped depending on a person’s will. John Tavares was granted exceptional player status and was permitted to play. in the OHL as a 15 year-old (though he was technically 14 during his first game). He surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s record for goals scored by a 16 year-old player in the OHL. He was the CHL and OHL Rookie of the Year. As a sixteen year-old he was the CHL Player of the Year, OHL MVP, made the CHL and OHL First All Star Team and led the OHL in goals scored. In 2008-2009, he led the OHL in goals yet again and led the league in points earning him the Eddie Powers trophy. That season he also set the mark as the OHL’s all time leading goal scorer, surpassing long time record holder Peter Lee who’d held the record for 23 years. It’s his international junior record that puts him over the top here though. Consecutive gold medals at the World Juniors, World Junior MVP in 2009, World Juniors Best Forward in 2009, World Juniors most goals in 2009. Cap that off with a CHL Top Draft Prospect trophy last year and you’ve got one of the defining junior careers of the decade.
http://www.crashthecrease.com/2009/12/31/top-10-chl-players-of-the-decade/
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