After an exhaustive nine days and maybe (?) a little ballot stuffing, here are your picks for Minnesota State's all-decade (all-WCHA-era) team.
Forwards: David Backes, Shane Joseph, Grant Stevenson (runner up: Ryan Carter)
Defensemen: Brian Kilburg, Steve Wagner (runner up: Kurt Davis)
Goalies: (tie) Mike Zacharias, Dan Tormey
For the record, here are PucKato's picks:
Forwards: Backes, Stevenson, Joseph (runner up: B.J. Abel)
Defensemen: Davis, Wagner (runner up: Andy Hedlund)
Goalies: Eric Pateman (runner up: Zacharias)
There were some tough choices all around. Here are a few thoughts:
It was hard not to go with the three All-Americans for forwards. Like many others, I would have loved to have seen Carter play college hockey for two more seasons. When he signed, that was a big blow to the program. Abel was a great captain and a relentless defensive forward who could also score. Travis Morin and Mick Berge had 20-goal seasons, while Aaron Fox had 50 points in '99-00.
As for the defensemen, Davis and Wagner are/were multi-tool players who move the puck, score and very good on the power play. Hedlund, an '02 graduate, was big, strong and physical with a big shot. He could have been leader on any team this decade. Kilburg's up there, too. He's been a plus player his whole career. Ben Christopherson and Steven Johns could score. It's too bad injuries caught up to Johns late in his college career.
Goalies? I went with Pateman by pretty much a coin flip. He won 21 games in '99-00 and 15 a year later but suffered a back injury as a senior. Zacharias, is a close, close second who could certainly change my mind over the next couple of weeks. Here's a career comparison:
Pateman: 93 games, 49-32-8 (.596 win%), .904 sv%, 3.05 GAA
Zacharias: 98 games, 44-37-15 (.536 win%), .908 sv%, 2.79 GAA
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