Can you build the perfect NHL team and can your team go undefeated throughout the entire regular season?

In the real world, the answer to both of these questions is obviously no. However, there is currently a viral sensation sweeping through the hockey world, as well as the basketball world, that allows you to make the impossible possible. 

Late last week, the website and game 82-0 went viral during the NBA Finals as fans across the world tried their hand at building the perfect team that would go undefeated during an entire NBA season. 

The premise is simple. Each turn, a randomizer is spun and spits out a team and a decade. You are then given a list of players who played for that team during that era and you can see some of their accompanying stats. You can redo one team spin and one era spin. For the NBA version, you need to fill out a lineup that includes a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center. 

With how popular the game became, seemingly overnight, other versions popped up within hours, including a hockey one named 84-0 (remember, The NHL regular season is expanding to 84 games in 2026-27). The premise and execution are the same as in the NBA version, with the main difference being that, for hockey, you need to fill out a lineup consisting of a left wing, center, right wing, two defensemen and one goalie. 

So, in this week’s Blittner’s Blue Line, we are going to briefly analyze the three “perfect” seasons that yours truly managed to put together to see which team is truly the best. Plus, we also spoke with the site’s founder to learn a little more about it. 

Perfect Season One

First up, we have a forward line composed of: Alex Ovechkin (2000’s stats), Sidney Crosby (2010’s stats) and Nikita Kucherov (2020’s stats). On defense, we have Cale Makar (2020’s stats) and Nicklas Lidstrom (2000’s stats). And in net we have Miikka Kiprusoff (2000’s stats).

If you look at this team up close, offense is certainly not an issue, as all five skaters are capable of putting up gaudy point totals. And as for Kiprusoff, you have a goalie whose peak didn’t last very long in Calgary, but during a six-season span from 2003-04 to 2009-10, he had four Top-5 Vezina Trophy finishes, including taking home the award in 2005-06. 

The simulator projects this team to score 6.2 goals per game while having a .945 SV%, 1.42 GAA and 23 shutouts.

Perfect Season Two

Our second undefeated run sees us dip more into the historical player pool with a forward line of: Bobby Hull (1960’s stats), Mario Lemieux (1990’s stats) and Jaromir Jagr (1990’s stats). On defense, we have Bobby Orr (1970’s stats) and Paul Coffey (1980’s stats). And in net, we go with a more modern selection, Craig Anderson (2010’s stats).

WOW! Hull, Lemieux and Jagr at the peak of their powers. This team would score a ton of goals if they could find the right chemistry, of course. Now, Lemieux and Jagr did play together for Pittsburgh, so they would just have to find a way to maximize Hull’s skillset, which shouldn’t be too hard for this trio of All-Time greats.

On the backend, did we just create the best one-two punch in history? Orr revolutionized the way defensemen play the game and Coffey used that new approach to dominate The NHL during his career. To put it another way, there have only been 15 seasons in NHL history where a defenseman had 100+ points and these two are responsible for 11 of them. 

Craig Anderson wasn’t exactly “Mr. Zero” in net, but he was good enough and with this team in front of him, he shouldn’t be overly tested. 

The simulator projects this team to score 7.0 goals per game while registering a .930 SV%, 1.93 GAA and 15 shutouts. 

Perfect Season Three

For our third perfecto, we mixed a couple of historical players with some modern-day greats. Our forward line consists of: Ovechkin (2000’s stats), Auston Matthews (2020’s stats) and Gordie Howe (1950’s stats). Our blue line is Orr (1970’s stats) and Duncan Keith (2010’s stats). And in goal, Dominik Hasek (2000’s stats).

For starters, that is one tough, skilled forward line. Ovechkin has never been shy about hitting people and Howe’s physicality made him a legend. Plus, they’re currently Numbers One and Three, respectively, on the all-time goal scoring list. Matthews has a wicked shot and would certainly see a boost in his performance playing alongside these two. The only issue is, with three shoot-first players, who’s setting up the plays and getting the assists? 

We already detailed what Orr brings to the backend. Keith was a formidable offensive defenseman during his heyday in Chicago, but he’s not in Orr’s league offense-wise. 

Hasek was already past his peak in the 2000’s, but even a “past his prime” Hasek was still one of the better netminders in The League. 

Overall, the simulator projects this team to score 6.1 goals per game while putting together a .938 SV%, 1.57 GAA and 21 shutouts. 

So, after carefully analyzing our three teams, it’s safe to say that Team Two takes the cake as our winners. 

A line of Bobby Hull-Mario Lemieux-Jaromir Jagr is too much for the others to overcome. Plus, Orr and Coffey on defense mean this team essentially has five highly skilled forwards at its disposal. The only issue is Anderson in net. He’s clearly the weakest of the three netminders, but as we stated above, he’s not likely to be overly tested, so he should be fine. Besides, this team would outscore its mistakes. 

And now that we’ve gone through all of that fun, let’s hear from the creator of the 84-0.com site, whose name is William M. (he prefers to keep his last name private for now), who is 37 years old and originally hails from Canada.

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Question: How and why did you come up with the idea for 84-0?

William M.: “I was watching the Basketball Finals and I had a friend text me (about) the 82-0 game. I started playing it and realized how fun it was. I’m also watching The NHL Finals and so I literally just started coding the 84-0 game the way I had envisioned it by taking some of the best things of 82-0 and making it an even better user interface and user experience; if that was possible.”

Question: What is your ultimate goal for the platform? 

William M.: “There is no grand goal, just to have fun and remember some of the best players from NHL history. I grew up with hockey and played hockey my whole life, being from Canada and it’s so fun to draft some of those players I grew up watching and legends that came before and current-day legends.”

Question: What types of engagement have you seen so far across the hockey world?

William M.: “The response has been incredible. We only launched about three days ago, maybe four days ago now and we have seen two million seasons completed on the site. We are working on a pretty special update that I think every other version of this will mimic in some way because of its’ repeatable nature.

“We’ve seen all sorts of sports fans get involved and some large (social media) accounts as well. I haven’t quite seen it hit the TV station yet, like 82-0 has, so it will be cool when NHL players and commentators are talking about it on air. I would love to see that happen.”

Question: Is there some sort of secret way or tip for players to achieve the 84-0?

William M.: “First, your goalie is incredibly important to your defense, so draft a good goalie, even draft them ahead of a great attacker, because there’s lots of attackers who you could get later.

“Second, the other thing is that defensemen are important. But there are offensive defensemen who don’t actually defend that well, but can shoot great. You have to just account for that as being primarily an attack metric.

“There are great two-way forwards who can help you on both ends and I think those are undervalued in actually seeing a perfect season. Because you can’t just have a team of snipers, otherwise you will let in a bunch of goals.”

Question: Why is there such variance where you see teams that you would absolutely think would go 84-0 but don’t get there, yet teams that appear weaker do get there?

William M.: “That’s kind of the nature of any sport. It’s why we keep coming back to watch them. The drama. Every season is different and your opponent’s strength will also be different. So there is some variance in the simulation for that. That said, if you have drafted a strong team, you are much more likely to go 84-0 that season than a weaker team. So you need to have a good draft and a little bit of luck, or a decent draft and a lot of luck.”

Question: What NHL team are you a fan of and who are some of your favorite players?

William M.: “I grew up in a small town in Canada and played hockey my entire life. I was a goalie, so I always loved looking up to different goaltenders. Some of my favorites were Roberto Luongo, Patrick Roy and Curtis Joseph. I don’t live in Canada now, though and actually live in Florida. So the teams I cheer for tend to be Canadian teams, having been from Canada, near Winnipeg. So, I like the Winnipeg Jets. But I also cheer for the Panthers. And honestly, I just love playoff hockey. Playoff hockey is so much fun to watch.”