Get ready to be a little weird and wacky. With most people off enjoying their summers the hockey world has mostly slowed to a standstill, except for a few pieces of news now and again. So, how can we keep you entertained?
Well, we’re going to be taking a page out of the new school of journalism’s playbook to have some out-of-left-field fun. The Baseball season is in full swing. Football Training Camps have opened and many NBA stars are currently competing in The Olympics, trying to bring home The Gold.
So, that got me thinking, which of our local metropolitan area NHL players would make the best Baseball, Football, and Basketball players?
For this exercise, we are only looking at players currently on the NHL rosters for the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers. We will not be going off of any prior interviews any of those players may have given about sports they used to play when they were younger. We are going to go off of each player’s physical attributes and how they each play the game of hockey to determine if they might be good at any of the other three sports. And just to be fair, once a player is chosen that player is ineligible to be selected for another sport. Lastly, we will attempt to fill out a five-man starting rotation for Basketball and a full one-through-nine lineup for Baseball (we’ll be using a Pitcher instead of the DH). Since there are so many moving parts in Football we’re just going to attempt to fill out a standard Fantasy Football style lineup (QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, UTIL, DEF Player, K).
Okay, it’s time to get weird in three, two, one…GO!
BASEBALL
Let’s start with our battery mates and then work our way out.
Islanders’ Captain Anders Lee will be our starting pitcher and Rangers’ goaltender Jonathan Quick will be our catcher. Both are Americans, so the odds of them having dabbled in baseball as youths are higher than many of their foreign-born teammates. Lee registers in at 6-3 235lbs, so you know he has the strength to generate a good fastball. And while it may be a bit cliche to make a goalie into a catcher, you can’t deny the similarities between the two positions.
Next, for our infield. At first base, we want somebody who is agile and good at blocking. So, how about Devils’ defenseman Simon Nemec? He’s an excellent defender and can surely pick it with the best of them. At second base we want somebody with range and creativity, so let’s go with Blueshirts’ defenseman Adam Fox. The perennial Norris candidate certainly is creative in the way he plays the game and his ability to cover all three zones in hockey makes us comfortable putting him at second base.
At shortstop, we need somebody who can captain the infield and has superior range, as well as the motor to always be where they need to be on every single play. In this case, we’re going to go with Devils’ Captain Nico Hischier. The Switzerland native may not have much experience on the diamond but his leadership skills, his agile frame (6-1, 175 lbs) and his can-do attitude make him our best bet to be a successful shortstop. Lastly, at third base, we want somebody with quick reactions and the ability to be accurate when getting rid of the ball. For this, we’re going to select Rangers’ goaltender Igor Shesterkin. He’s proven he can stop pucks flying at him more than 100mph and he knows how to accurately fling them towards his teammates up the ice. So let’s put him at the hot corner and watch him work his magic.
In the outfield, we want three tall, athletic, and speedy guys who can cover a lot of ground. For the sake of making this simple, let’s go with K’Andre Miller (6-5); Pierre Engvall (6-5), and Brenden Dillon (6-4). All three have our desired height. Each has enough speed to cover plenty of ground and they’re all exceptional athletes.
There you have it, we’ve filled out our nine defensive assignments. Now, let’s put them into a batting order.
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Nico Hischier (SS)
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Adam Fox (2B)
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Brenden Dillon (OF)
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Pierre Engvall (OF)
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Anders Lee (P)
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K’Andre Miller (OF)
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Jonathan Quick ( C )
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Simon Nemec (1B)
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Igor Shesterkin (3B)
And finally, Patrick Roy can be the Manager. His fiery personality makes him the perfect person to push this team to be the best it can be and his willingness to put that fire on display makes him a terrific candidate to go off on an Earl Weaver type of tirade if things don’t go his way.
BASKETBALL
This should be interesting. We need a Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward and Center.
While he hasn’t shown this ability on a consistent basis at the NHL level just yet, Zac Jones is our best option to be the Point Guard. In the minors, he has showcased the ability to quarterback the power-play, dish off the puck to his teammates up the ice, and take the shot when necessary. He’s short but fast and all that adds up to being our Point Guard.
At Shooting Guard we need somebody with an accurate shot who can score from a distance. Hello, Mika Zibanejad! The Sweet Swede’s exploits on the power play make him our number-one choice to fill the Shooting Guard position.
For Small Forward, we’re going to go with Noah Dobson. The Isles’ Number One defenseman knows how to score, set up plays, defend well, play on the power-play, penalty-kill, and at even strength. He’s a Swiss army knife and that’s what the ideal Small Forward is.
Power Forwards need to be strong, willing to go to the dirty areas to score, and don’t mind getting physical near the net. Come on down Chris Kreider. This was the role you were born for in a different reality that saw you play basketball instead of hockey.
The definition and responsibilities of a Center in basketball have changed quite a bit over the years but we’re still going to go with a player who doesn’t mind being physical and is easily the tallest player we can choose. His name is Matt Rempe and his 6-7 frame makes him the ideal candidate for this position.
So, to summarize, our starting five for basketball are:
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Zac Jones (PG)
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Mika Zibanejad (SG)
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Noah Dobson (SF)
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Chris Kreider (PF)
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Matt Rempe ( C )
The Head Coach will be Sheldon Keefe, who has the new-school analytics approach combined with the winning pedigree to get the most out of this roster.
FOOTBALL
As a reminder, since we’re going with a fantasy football lineup, we need a QB, WR, WR, RB, RB, TE, UTIL, DEF Player, and K.
At Quarterback let’s go with Brock Nelson. At 6-4 210 lbs we know he’s sturdy enough and tall enough to play the position. He plays a physical type of game so he should be able to hang in the pocket without getting hurt and he can improvise when necessary.
For our two Wide Receivers, we’ll go with a speedy pair of brothers Jack and Luke Hughes. Both have the foot speed to outrun defenders and the brotherly chemistry necessary to make sure they don’t interfere with each other’s routes.
At Running Back we want a pair of players who can take a hit and keep on going. We want explosive speed and we want good vision up the field with the ability to make defenders miss. So, we’re going to go with Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair. Neither is all that big, but both can make defenders miss and have the explosiveness to break off huge chunks of yardage. We’d worry about them when they do get hit but the tradeoff of their speed makes us comfortable with these selections.
Next, our Tight End should have good hands, be versatile enough to help out as a receiver and as a protector, and be strong enough to fight for every inch of room he can find. For this, we are calling on Rangers’ Captain Jacob Trouba. The 6-3 203 lbs Trouba is definitely a physical player and one who will fight for every last inch.
At UTIL, we want an offensive non-QB player who is going to make our lineup better week in and week out, and from the remaining pool of candidates, we are selecting Jesper Bratt. The Brattman is swift like a gazelle and would certainly give us another receiver who can rack up yards and touchdowns.
For our Defensive Player, we’re going to go with Brett Pesce. He might not be the most exciting option but we know he’s a steady hand who will collect tackles and might even get a couple of sacks or interceptions.
Lastly, at Kicker, we want somebody with a strong leg who can be a good actor when he gets hit in order to draw a penalty. We know Adam Pelech has strong legs because he’s an excellent skater. We don’t know about his acting skills but nobody said he needs to put on an Oscar-worthy performance.
To review, that’s a lineup of:
QB: Brock Nelson
WR: Jack Hughes
WR: Luke Hughes
RB: Mathew Barzal
RB: Anthony Duclair
TE: Jacob Trouba
UTIL: Jesper Bratt
DEF Player: Brett Pesce
K: Adam Pelech
The Head Coach will be Peter Laviolette, who brings a wealth of experience to the position and the ability to get his team to play within a winning structure.
There you have it, our Rangers, Islanders, and Devils players who would make our best Baseball, Basketball, and Football players.
