Yesterday I had a very lively discussion with my dad and brother-in-law about the MLB Franchise Fours and who is/isn't going to make it for the various franchises. We agreed that it was stupid all of the players listed as Washington Nationals were actually Montreal Expos. We also agreed that some were incredibly easy, some were almost impossible, and some teams had one or two that are absolute no-brainers. That's part of the fun of this thing. Everyone's going to have their own opinion, and it's not like anybody's going to be wrong. It really is a matter of preference.
It also got me thinking. What if they did the Franchise Four in the other sports? Like baseball, it would be the same type of exercise. The Franchise Four for the Columbus Blue Jackets? They've only been around 15 years and irrelevant for most of that time. For the Montreal Canadiens? You want me to pick just four? The Winnipeg Jets? Sorry, Phil Housley and Dale Hawerchuk don't count. They're technically Coyotes. Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley count as Jets, though.
But that's part of the fun of all this. My four might be completely different than your four. But there are some that I'm fairly certain we'll all agree on.
Here we go. Let the debating begin...
Anaheim Ducks: Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Paul Kariya, Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Arizona Coyotes: Shane Doan, Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick, Phil Housley
Boston Bruns: Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk
Buffalo Sabres: Gilbert Perrault, Dominik Hasek, Pat LaFontaine, Rene Robert
Calgary Flames: Jarome Iginla, Theo Fleury, Lanny McDonald, Al MacInnis
Carolina Hurricanes: Ron Francis, Erik Cole, Eric Staal, Rod Brind'Amour
Chicago Blackhawks: Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Jonathan Toews, Glenn Hall
Colorado Avalanche: Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, Michel Goulet
Columbus Blue Jackets: Rick Nash, Sergei Bobrovsky, Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen
Dallas Stars: Mike Modano, Derian Hatcher, Joe Nieuwendyk, Neal Broten
Detroit Red Wings: Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Ted Lindsay, Nicklas Lidstrom
Edmonton Oilers: Wayne Gretzky, Grant Fuhr, Jarri Kurri, Mark Messier
Florida Panthers: Jay Boouwmester, John Vanbiesbrouck, Roberto Luongo, Olli Jokinen
Los Angeles Kings: Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Anze Kopitar, Marcel Dionne
Minnesota Wild: Zach Parise, Marian Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Nicklas Backstrom
Montreal Canadiens: Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Patrick Roy, Guy Lafleur
Nashville Predators: Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber, Kimmo Timonen, Tomas Vokoun
New Jersey Devils: Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer
New York Islanders: Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith, Bryan Trottier
New York Rangers: Mark Messier, Brian Leetch, Rod Gilbert, Mike Richter
Ottawa Senators: Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, Alexei Yashin, Wade Redden
Philadelphia Flyers: Bobby Clarke, Eric Lindros, Ron Hextall, Bernie Parent
Pittsburgh Penguins: Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Evgeni Nabokov, Owen Nolan
St. Louis Blues: Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger
Tampa Bay Lightning: Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos, Brad Richards
Toronto Maple Leafs: Syl Apps, Mats Sundin, Ace Bailey, Tim Horton
Vancouver Canucks: Pavel Bure, Trevor Linden, Henrik Sedin, Markus Naslund
Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin, Rod Langway, Dale Hunter, Peter Bondra
Winnipeg Jets: Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley
As an Islanders fan, my four are: Bossy, Trottier, Nystrom...the fourth for me is the most difficult but I'd put one of the unsung heroes of those Cup years and that is John Tonnelli, the original JT. - Steve
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