List of ice hockey players considered the greatest of all time

Last updated

This is a list of men's ice hockey players considered "the greatest of all time", so claimed by at least one expert or one group of experts. [lower-alpha 1]

Contents

Hyperbole may have influenced some opinions.

List

PlayerYearsTeam(s)Nationality№ of expert(s)
Jean Béliveau 1950–1971 Montreal Canadiens Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Sidney Crosby 2005–present Pittsburgh Penguins Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Wayne Gretzky 1978–1999 Indianapolis Racers, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Gordie Howe 1946–1997 Omaha Knights, Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Houston Aeros, New England Whalers and Detroit Vipers Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Mario Lemieux 1984–2006 Pittsburgh Penguins Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Bobby Orr 1966–1978 Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada

See also

In 2017, the NHL commemorated its 100th anniversary with a list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. The list was created by 58 people, including media members, NHL alumni and NHL executives.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ These include colleagues, color commentators, members of the written media, sports specialty services and teams.

Related Research Articles

Wayne Gretzky Canadian ice hockey player

Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the league itself. Gretzky is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and assists than any other player. He garnered more assists than any other player scored total points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999 and persisting through 2017, he holds 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records.

Bobby Hull Canadian ice hockey player

Robert Marvin Hull, OC is a Canadian former ice hockey player who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blonde hair, legendary skating speed, end to end rushes, and the ability to shoot the puck at very high velocity, were all a part of the player known as "The Golden Jet". His talents were such that one or two opposing players were often assigned just to shadow him—a tribute to his explosiveness.

Art Ross Trophy award

The Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League (NHL) player who leads the league in points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the league by former player, General Manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has been awarded 70 times to 29 players since its introduction in the 1947–48 NHL season. Ross is also known for his design of the official NHL puck, with slightly bevelled edges for better control.

Gordie Howe Canadian ice hockey player

Gordon Howe was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played twenty-six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA); his first 25 seasons were spent with the Detroit Red Wings. Nicknamed "Mr. Hockey", Howe is often considered the most complete player to ever play the game and one of the greatest of all time. A 23-time NHL All-Star, he held many of the sport's career scoring records until they were broken in the 1980s by Wayne Gretzky, who himself has been a major champion of Howe's legacy. He continues to hold NHL records for most games and seasons played. In 2017, Howe was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players".

Mario Lemieux Canadian ice hockey player and team owner

Mario Lemieux, is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played parts of 17 National Hockey League seasons with the team from 1984 to 2006, assuming ownership in 1999. Dubbed The Magnificent One or Le Magnifique, he is widely acknowledged to have been one of the greatest players of all time. A gifted playmaker and fast skater despite his large size, Lemieux often beat defencemen with fakes and dekes.

Canada's Athletes of the 20th century as voted on in a 1999 survey of newspaper editors and broadcasters conducted by the Canadian Press and Broadcast News:

Dave Keon Canadian ice hockey player

David Michael "Dave" Keon is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre. He played professionally from 1960 to 1982, including 15 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986. Keon was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. On October 16, 2016, as part of the Toronto Maple Leafs centennial celebrations, Keon was named the greatest player in the team's history. In 2017 Keon was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in NHL history.

Rick Tocchet Canadian ice hockey player

Richard Tocchet is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing as a right winger, he played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Phoenix Coyotes. He was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons. During the 2010 playoffs he served as an analyst on Flyers Postgame Live on Comcast SportsNet.

The Hockey News, commonly abbreviated to THN, is a Canadian ice hockey magazine. The Hockey News was founded in 1947 by Ken McKenzie and Will Côté, and has since been the most recognized hockey publication in North America. The magazine has a readership of 225,000 people per issue, while the magazine's website counts two million total readers.

André Joseph Lacroix is a retired professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association, and is the WHA's all-time leading career scorer.

42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game Hockey match in 1991

The 42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game took place in Chicago Stadium, home of the Chicago Blackhawks, on January 19, 1991.

Parkhurst Products of Toronto, Canada was a confectionery company that produced Parkies and Zip picture cards in the 1950s and 1960s. The company, led by a Mr. George Kennedy, primarily produced hand-size picture cards for ice hockey, but also produced them for baseball, Canadian football, wrestling and other subjects.

Mark Howe American-Canadian hockey defenseman

Mark Steven Howe is a retired American professional ice hockey left winger and later defenseman who played sixteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA). He is currently serving the Director of Pro Scouting for the Detroit Red Wings.

The NHL All-Star Teams were first named at the end of the 1930–31 NHL season, to honor the best performers over the season at each position.

The Next One is a nickname found in ice hockey attached to a new, up and coming player, who is deemed to have the capacity for being a top, sport dominating, player, akin to Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard, or Mario Lemieux.

History of the National Hockey League (1967–1992)

The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.

References

  1. ↑ Dawes, Terry (April 13, 2016). "Is Crosby better than Gretzky and Lemieux? It's closer than you think". Cantech Letter. Retrieved November 23, 2018. Statistics aside, evaluating a player’s greatness should take into account his stature both as a human being and as a player. In which case, the best player of all time is obviously Jean Beliveau.
  2. ↑ Arponen, Miika; Seppänen, Esko (November 27, 2014). "Sidney Crosby on jo nyt kaikkien aikojen paras jääkiekkoilija". Jatkoaika (in Finnish). Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ Deardo, Bryan (June 12, 2017). "Penguins proclaim Sidney Crosby as the GOAT". 247Sports.com . Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cowan, Stu (January 31, 2017). "Stu Cowan: The greatest NHLer debate continues with Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux and Howe in the mix". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ Deacon, James (December 16, 2013). "Gretzky Retires". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ Bamford, Tab (October 20, 2011). "The 100 Greatest Players in NHL History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  7. ↑ "100 parasta NHL-pelaajaa listattiin - suomalaiset kaukana kärjestä". Iltalehti (in Finnish). October 21, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Klavon, Ken (January 4, 2014). "Why Wayne Gretzky is the Greatest Athlete Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 23, 2018. Consider that 'Sports Illustrated' named Gretzky the most dominant athlete ever out of any other sport. That’s a given. However, we’re taking that distinction one step further and adding in ‘greatest ever athlete,’ too.
  9. ↑ Campbell, Ken (January 27, 2017). "Ken Campbell ranks the Top 100 NHL players of all time". The Hockey News. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  10. ↑ Kay, Jason (April 2, 2015). "The Top 100 NHL players of all-time, throwback style". The Hockey News. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  11. ↑ NHL.com Staff (October 3, 2004). "99 Reasons Why Wayne Gretzky is 'The Great One'". NHL.com. Retrieved November 23, 2018. On Jan. 9, 1998, Gretzky is named the Greatest Hockey Player of All-Time as selected by The Hockey News.
  12. ↑ MacGregor, Roy (August 2, 2013). "Gretzky: He is the greatest, and he was ours". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ Bisson, James (2017). "Ranking the NHL's 100 Greatest Players: Nos. 20-1". theScore. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Hockey 101: GREATEST PLAYERS IN NHL HISTORY". Official website of Sportsnet. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  15. ↑ "GREATEST PLAYERS IN NHL HISTORY". Official website of Omni Television . Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Dryden, Steve (December 15, 2017). "The Greatest One". TSN.ca . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  17. 1 2 3 Siegel, Jonas (January 29, 2017). "Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux agree Gordie Howe was NHL's best". CBC.ca . Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 Allen, Kevin (January 27, 2017). "NHL legends Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr say Gordie Howe was the greatest". USA Today. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  19. ↑ Allen, Kevin (January 26, 2017). "Ranking the top 25 players in NHL history". USA Today. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  20. ↑ Kenyon, David (April 25, 2018). "Ranking the Top 10 NHL Hockey Players of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  21. ↑ Tikkanen, Amy. "10 Best Hockey Players of All Time". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Cherry: Everybody knows Orr is greatest, Wayne's second". Official website of Sportsnet . January 27, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  23. ↑ Cowan, Stu (June 26, 2012). "Bobby Orr is still the greatest hockey player ever". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  24. ↑ Cowan, Stu (October 8, 2013). "Why Bobby Orr is simply the best". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  25. ↑ Simmons, Steve (December 26, 2016). "Wayne Gretzky was great, but Bobby Orr is the greatest: Steve Simmons ranks the NHL's 100 best players". National Post. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.