Goaltenders
Choosing the netminders was a fairly easy task for this quarter-century team. Only seven goaltenders have played 100 games or more for the franchise since Y2K and only four have a save percentage above .910%. Those four are; Frederik Andersen, Ed Belfour, James Reimer, and Jonathan Bernier. To many people’s surprise, Bernier leads the way with a .915% and ironically, he was the one not chosen. In saying that…
I will hear no argument on the three goalies chosen. All three goalies have played the most games as a member of the Leafs, all three stood on their heads on numerous occasions, singlehandedly winning games some nights. Being a netminder in Toronto is tough but Frederik Andersen, Ed Belfour, and James Reimer were absolute rocks between the pipes and should be remembered much more fondly than they are. Belfour was inducted into the hockey hall of fame in 2011 and although Andersen and Reimer likely won't have that honour, they are deserving to be on this list.
All-in-all, the lineup I have crafted is below:
Tucker - Sundin - Mogilny
Van Riemsdyk - Bozak - Kessel
Tavares - Kadri - Antropov
Ex. Roberts, Grabovski
Kaberle - Brian McCabe
Gardiner - Phaneuf
Muzzin - Rielly
Ex. Brodie, Franson
Andersen, Belfour, Reimer
The team could obviously be better but with the levels of nostalgia and the fact that arguably four or five of the franchise's top-ten all-time players are featured on this squad, there is not a lot of room to complain.