ROOKIE CLASS 2006

It is, quite simply, as spectacular a rookie class as there has been in the NHL, both in terms of quality and quantity.

There is Alexander Ovechkin's 51-goal, 103-point, big-hit, lift you out of your seat every time he touches the puck season.

There is 18-year-old Sidney Crosby's passionate pursuit of 100 points, a feat that if not for Ovechkin's pyrotechnics would be one for the ages.

There is Dion Phaneuf's 20-goal, bone-crushing, a blue line star-is-born campaign.

And there is King Henrik Lundqvist's amazing backstopping of the New York Rangers to contender status.

In any other year, one of these performances would be enough to win the Calder Trophy going away. Instead, one of those four stars won't even be a finalist for the award.

The NHL traditionally names an All-Rookie team of one goalie, two defencemen and three forwards.

It's not enough. Not this year. In honour of the bumper crop, TSN's All-Rookie team is a whole team, and then some, all slotted by position.

The first five-man unit is a no-brainer. Joining Ovechkin and Crosby up front is Boston's right winger Brad Boyes, the late bloomer whose 69 points is behind only Ovechkin and Crosby. Phaneuf's partner is the unheralded but unbelievable Andrei Meszaros from Ottawa, whose plus-33 ranking is far and away No. 1 in the entire league and not just for rookies.

The second fivesome has Philadelphia centre Jeff Carter, with 22 goals while averaging only 12 minutes per game, between Colorado right winger Marek Svatos, who had 32 goals in 61 games before getting injured, and Rangers Czech mate Petr Prucha, a 30-goal man, along with a pair of killer B's on the blue line - Phoenix fire hydrant Keith Ballard and Anaheim's best kept secret Francois Beauchemin.

The third unit has Mr. Everything Mike Richards of the Flyers between Dallas shootout specialist Jussi Jokinen and the rapidly-emerging Senators right winger Patrick Eaves, along with Blackhawks blue liner Duncan Keith and Phoenix rearguard Zbynek Michalek. If we had room for a seventh defenceman, it would be Chicago's Brent Seabrook.

Our fourth line is stacked, literally and figuratively.

We have Toronto's Kyle Wellwood between red-hot Montreal sniper Chris Higgins and Buffalo big man Tomas Vanek on the left, but that 12-man group of forwards still doesn't allow for Toronto 18-goal man Alexander Steen. So now we're naming 13 forwards to our All-Rookie team and Steen is No. 13. Hey, when it comes to rookies, it's that kind of year.

Lundqvist, of course, is the undisputed No. 1 rookie goalie, but not even some recent struggles can mask the extraordinary body of work Ryan Miller has provided the Buffalo Sabres, although Pascal Leclaire in Columbus has put up stellar numbers to earn an honourable mention.

The point is, when it comes to the NHL freshman class of 2006, there is only one word that can be used.

Wow!

For TSN.ca, I'm Bob McKenzie