Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European to captain his team to a Stanley Cup championship in 2008.

By time the new decade began, everybody already knew Nicklas Lidstrom was a superstar. By time it ends, he will be regarded as one of the best ever, right up there with the immortal Bobby Orr.

He probably has uttered 10 memorable words throughout his illustrious career and there really aren't many breathtaking memories of end-to-end rushes or highlight-reel goals, but his body of work is unmatched by any player in the world.

Thus, it is without question that the 39-year-old Swede is my player of the decade.

Entering the 2000s, Lidstrom had been the runner-up for the Norris Trophy as the best defenceman in the NHL three times. Bust before you could say Susan Lucci, he grabbed the trophy and wouldn't let go, winning it six times in seven seasons. Only Orr, who won it eight times, and Doug Harvey, who won it seven times, have their names on the Norris Trophy more often than Lidstrom.

Lidstrom was a first-team all-star seven times in this decade and played in seven All-Star Games. One of his most remarkable accomplishments was being the runner-up for the Lady Byng Trophy in three consecutive seasons. Try playing defence in the NHL without taking penalties!

Without question Lidstrom's biggest achievement in the 2000s has been leading the Red Wings to two Stanley Cup championships, the third and fourth of his career. Not that he was just a passenger on the first two, but there is no denying he played a much larger role in winning Cups three and four.

Here are the other nine players who make up my top 10 of the 2000s:

2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins. Nobody has ever entered the NHL with as much media attention as Sid the Kid and he has lived up to expectations. And before you get all huffy about Alexander Ovechkin winning two Hart Trophies compared to one for Crosby, the Stanley Cup trumps the Hart any day of the week. Just ask the players. Crosby has lived up to the advanced billing and I don't believe we've seen the best of him yet. Crosby has taken a greater interest in scoring goals this season, rather than concentrating on being a playmaker, and is on pace for a career-high 51 goals.

3. Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. He is, without question, the most exciting player in the NHL. The NHL's most valuable player two years running, Ovechkin lights up an arena with his infectious passion for scoring goals and being a difference-maker in just about every game he plays. If he goes over the top sometimes with his goal celebrations, well, we're willing to live with his hot-dogging as long as he keeps scoring those YouTube beauties.

4. Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils. The winningest goaltender in NHL history looked for a while like he might be slowing down, but that clearly is not the case. The Devils keep on playing him like he is the only goalie in their organization and he keeps rewarding them with victories. There was one Stanley Cup in the 2000s, in 2002-03, but three times he led all goalies in victories and he won four Vezina Trophies as the best goalie in the league. Can you say best of all-time?

5. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings. If you were to select the best two-way player of the decade, you would start and end the search with Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk has only finished among the NHL's top 10 scorers once, two years ago when he finished with 97 points, but ask around and you'll find he is one of the most respected players in the game -- a guy who can beat you at both ends of the rink. A four-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for combining skill and sportsmanship, he has also won back-to-back Selke Trophies as the NHL's best defensive forward.

6. Chris Pronger, Philadelphia Flyers. Under the old standard of calls in the NHL, Pronger was regarded as the meanest player in the league, a defender who would slash his grandmother across the arm if it meant getting to a loose puck first. Even after the crackdown, Pronger remains one of the most feared defenders in the league. Pronger kicked off the decade by winning the Norris Trophy as top defenceman and Hart Trophy as MVP. He helped the Edmonton Oilers get to within one game of winning the Cup and helped Anaheim win it all.

7. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks. OK, let's get it out of the way right now. Thornton has been a playoff bust. Feel better? But that does not change the fact he has been the NHL's most productive player in the 2000s. Through games played Sunday night, he had a 74-point lead over all other scorers, having managed 246 goals and 810 points in 698 games. He is big, strong and plays with imagination. All he needs to do to get the critics of his back is to perform in April through June as he does in the regular season.

8. Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames. This may surprise some, but the player trailing Thornton by 74 points is none other than Calgary captain Jarome Iginla. He has 359 goals and 736 points in 708 games, winning two Rocket Richard titles along the way. And with all due respect to those who have skated on the same line as Iginla, he has never been blessed with linemates who have the ability to make him better.

9. Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks. One of the most gifted and fluid skaters to ever grace the ice in an NHL game, Niedermayer has played at a consistently high level since first entering the league in 1991. He won three Cups in the decade, two with New Jersey and one with the Ducks, and also won a Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy. His interest in playing waned, probably due to having played in so many playoff games which results in short off-seasons, and his indecision as to whether or not he wanted to continue playing put the Ducks in salary cap peril. But when he's on the ice, he remains one of the best ever.

10. Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche. There were a few times during the 2000s when it looked like Sakic was starting to slow down, but those times did not last long. Just like the guy who tops this list, Sakic was not a man of many words during his amazing career, but he left nothing on the ice when he called it a career. The seventh highest scorer of the decade, Sakic helped the Avalanche win two Cups, the second in 2000-01. It's too bad Colorado rookie sensation Matt Duchene, who idolized Sakic growing up, didn't get the chance to skate on a line with his hero.