The Ultimate Player... with Karl Alzner

MONTREAL - From Gretzky to Crosby, and Lemieux to Lafleur, every NHLer has envied at least one aspect of another player's game over the course of their career. With that in mind, we asked Habs defenseman Karl Alzner to build his Ultimate Player based on a list of several highly-coveted hockey-related characteristics.

HANDS: PATRICK KANE
It's hard to say for sure because you don't play with all the guys, but I think Patrick Kane has some pretty nice hands. He does a pretty good job at stickhandling. John Tavares is right there, too.

STRENGTH: SHEA WEBER
Webs is pretty strong.

VISION: NICKLAS BACKSTROM
It's Nick Backstrom, without a doubt. It's absolutely insane.

HEART: T.J. Oshie
That's another tough question. But from people I've experienced, it would be T.J. Oshie. I'll give you an example: when I first started playing with him, we were in practice, I remember breaking up a play. I went to go get the puck in the corner just to routinely get it out of the zone. Out of nowhere, he stripped me from behind and took the puck back to the net and scored. He skated by me after and said, "Never give up, never surrender". I just started laughing, it was hilarious. After that, I started paying close attention to him. He just never gives up on anything. He's not afraid to go anywhere on the ice. He's the guy.

SHOT: VLADIMIR TARASENKO
Tarasenko has a pretty good shot. He seems to score from everywhere. In terms of just release, wrist shot, it's probably him.

SPEED: CONNOR MCDAVID
Hands down. It's pretty crazy.