The Malik Report

This was mentioned in passing during NBCSN's pre-game last night, and it's a bit puzzling from a Red Wings fan's perspective: as MLive's Brendan Savage notes, the star-studded 2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings were named the NHL's 10th-best All-Time Team as voted upon by fans:

The 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings, who won the club's third Stanley Cup of the modern era, have been named the 10th-best team in NHL history in voting by fans. NHL.com is selecting the 10 greatest teams in league history and the 2001-02 Red Wings finished behind of the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who finished ninth, and the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens, who were eighth. The top seven teams have yet to be announced.

So sayeth NHL.com's Wayne Coffey:

You watched them take the ice and looked at the back of their sweaters, and it didn't take long for it to hit you. This wasn't merely the premier team in the NHL in the 2001-02 season; this was a cavalcade of hockey icons, guys with big names and bigger resumes, an assemblage of future Hockey Hall of Famers -- a veritable fantasy team. Yzerman. Lidstrom. Hasek. Hull. Fedorov. Shanahan. Robitaille. Larionov. Chelios. On one roster? Are you serious? And there was one more Hall of Famer -- Scotty Bowman -- behind the bench, to say nothing of a promising rookie center, Pavel Datsyuk, just beginning a career that would include four Lady Byng trophies and three Frank Selke trophies as the League's top defensive forward. Has there ever been such an embarrassment of hockey riches, with expectations to match?

Coffey continues, and the NHL posted a short video profiling the 2001-2002 Wings:

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