A: what year did you first become a hockey fan?
B: Who are your most nostalgic players from your early days? I’ll start: 2011

26 comments

  1. Man, Marty in that sweater set was an absolute *menace.* He was 3rd in the league over the life of that jersey (2007-2011), definitely some good memories on some bad Lightning teams.

    EDIT: To answer your question. 2001-02: MSL/VL4/Richards for the Bolts, Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla, Sundin, Bondra, and Naslund.

  2. Are you asking us to name some of the most high profile and in some cases Hall of Fame players from the past two decades?

  3. I’ve been watching hockey as long as I can remember (somewhere pre-lockout but I couldn’t tell you exactly)

    Players I have a ton of nostalgia for are all the Wings guys from the 08 team plus Yzerman

    Guys on other teams I remember fondly: Danny Briere, Saku Koivu, Mats Sundin, Scott Neidermayer

  4. A: 1994.

    B: And I get most nostalgic for the guys further down the depth chart whose names I hear less and less as the years go by. Players like Tommy Albelin, Mike Peluso, Bobby Carpenter, Valeri Zelepukin, Jimmy Dowd, etc.

  5. I really started paying attention heavily around the early 2000s. The names that immediately stick out to me without thinking too hard are:

    Koivu, Kovalev, Theodore, St. Louis, and Luongo.

  6. 2006, Lecavalier for me

    Edit: if I can give you more, Dany Heatley, Cam Ward, and for Islanders, Alexei Yashin, Trent Hunter, Richard Park, Rick DiPietro

  7. 1995. I really liked the Devils and grew to like the Avalanche. My town got an expansion team soon after. Then the ownership got shady. Moved to Florida in time to hop on the Bolts wagon, never hopped off. Moved twice since then. I make a trip to Tampa annually to see the fellas.

    Broduer, Claude Lemieux, Sakic, Marty and Vinny.

  8. 1989, and the Canucks in the early 90s.

    I think I could probably fill out most of those rosters off the top of my head.

  10. I grew up an avs fan but gabs was my guy growing up, it was really good to see him do so well and win in 14.

  11. 2011 as well

    There’s gonna be some repeats on my list, but here goes nothing:

    Sedin Twins, Kovalchuk, Kane, Toews, Dany Heatley, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Chara, Luongo, Drew Doughty, Corey Perry, Lundqvist

  13. Peak NJ Devils in the early 2000s with Brodeur, Elias and Neidermayer. And of course the fckn bulldozer that was Scott Stevens.

  15. Earliest memories were around 1995-96. Felix Potvin, Mike Gartner, and Mats Sundin from my Leafs. Around that time the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry became historic and I have major nostalgia for it, with the Avs becoming my “second” team through early childhood. Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Sergei Federov, Nik Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, etc. I also loved Dominik Hasek and Teemu Selanne.

  16. I was on the Devils train since 83 when tickets to the nosebleeds in an empty arena were like $10, and you could just slide down to the lower bowl and no one said anything. I’m pretty sure it was encouraged to help the crowd look bigger on TV.

    Nostalgic favorites are Daneyko, Elias, Friesen, Brylin, Madden, Niedermayer, Stevens, Brodeur, and Resch.

  17. I’m a huge Devils fan now, and I remember my dad having Devils games on and taking me to the Meadowlands (shoutout to those who remember the rickety bridge). But the first season I actually really followed was 2002 and it was the Detroit Red Wings haha. I loved Hasek and I still do now even though I’m all Devils and Marty. GOAT conversations are just a little more mixed for me.

    Bonus points for Iggy because he was on the cover of the video game and Stevens because he terrified me

  18. I started following hockey in the late 90s. Even though I’m a Habs fan, the wars between the Avs and Wings were something else. Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, vs. Stevie Y, Federov, Shanahan made for some great hockey. If I were to choose a player from the Habs it would have to be Saku Koivu, the man was the definition of a warrior and he will always be loved in Montreal.

  19. Started playing in like 91 and loved the bruins, so the big three of Neely Bourque and Oates. Plus I loved watching Joey Juneau. I started playing goalie pretty quickly so I started noticing Andy Moog.

    I also remember the first players I gravitated to outside the Bruins being Mike Richter and Ed Belfour. Richter was great, and those 94 playoffs he was fantastic. Then I don’t remember the season, but I remember seeing one of the Bruins hacking at Belfour’s glove, and he came up and punched him in the face and I was in love. Dude was a beauty.

  23. Early 90’s

    Yzerman, Bure, Konstantinov, Hull, Modano, Gretzky, Lemieux, Fedorov, Lidstrom, Fluery, MacInnis, Lindros, Tkachuk, CuJo, Osgood

  24. 1987

    Mats Naslund, Bobby Smith, Bryan Hayward (took Roy’s starter job during the playoffs); later Vincent Damphousse, Kirk Muller, Eric Desjardins etc.

  25. 1989 and Mike Vernon and Theo Fluery, not a Calgary fan but their playoff run was the first hockey I remember and seeing two people the same height as me make it to the NHL was cool as hell.

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