Top 50 Hockey Players of All-Time

[quoipourquoi]

50. Ron Francis
1731 GP, 549 G, 1249 A, 1798 PTS
Key Stat: One of only two players to reach 1200 Assists

49. Marcel Dionne
1348 GP, 731 G, 1040 A, 1771 PTS
Key Stat: Retired as the NHL’s second leading scorer of all-time

48. Milt Schmidt
776 GP, 229 G, 346 A, 575 PTS
Cool Trivia: Returned from World War II to become a 1st Team All-Star for the second time

47. Slava Fetisov
546 GP, 36 G, 192 A, 228 PTS
Key Stat: Winner of Seven Gold Medals in the World Championships

46. Syl Apps
423 GP, 201 G, 231 A, 432 PTS
Key Stat: Finished Top 10 in Points-Per-Game in every season of his career

45. Martin Brodeur
1164 GP, 640 Wins, 2.24 GAA, 116 SOs
Key Stat: Most Wins, Shutouts, and awkward family reunions of all-time

44. Scott Stevens
1635 GP, 196 G, 712 A, 908 PTS
Cool Trivia: The Devils have won only 16 playoff games since his last playoff run in 2003

43. Cyclone Taylor
130 GP, 159 G, 104 A, 263 PTS (PCHA)
Key Stat: Led the PCHA in scoring five times

42. Chris Pronger
1167 GP, 157 G, 541 A, 698 PTS
Cool Trivia: Has illegitimate children in Hartford, St. Louis, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Nagano

41. Teemu Selanne
1308 GP, 653 G, 733 A, 1386 PTS
Key Stat: Set an NHL record for scoring 20 Goals in a single month

40. Chris Chelios
1651 GP, 185 G, 763 A, 948 PTS
Key Stat: Holds the NHL record for the most Games Played in the playoffs

39. Ted Lindsay
1068 GP, 379 G, 472 A, 851 PTS
Cool Trivia: One of the biggest advocates for a players’ union, hence the NHLPA trophy’s name

38. Larry Robinson
1384 GP, 208 G, 750 A, 958 PTS
Key Stat: Was the leading scorer in the 1978 Playoffs with 21 Points in 15 Games

37. Brett Hull
1269 GP, 741 G, 650 A, 1391 PTS
Cool Trivia: Scored the 1999 Stanley Cup winning goal* in overtime

36. Newsy Lalonde
99 GP, 125 G, 41 A, 166 PTS
Key Stat: Finished as a league-leading scorer in the PCHA, NHA, WCHL, and NHL

35. Red Kelly
1316 GP, 281 G, 542 A, 823 PTS
Cool Trivia: Switched to Center after being named a 1st Team All-Star as a Defenseman six times

34. Nicklas Lidstrom
1544 GP, 263 G, 873 A, 1136 PTS
Cool Trivia: Was bitten by a vampire in 1997 and committed his eternal youth to Mike Ilitch

33. Clint Benedict
362 GP, 190 Wins, 2.32 GAA, 57 SOs
Key Stat: Led the NHL in Wins in six of the league’s first seven seasons

32. Bill Durnan
383 GP, 208 Wins, 2.36 GAA, 34 SOs
Key Stat: Won six Vezina Trophies in his seven-year career

31. Bobby Clarke
1144 GP, 358 G, 852 A, 1210 PTS
Key Stat: Finished with a +79 in 1974-75 and a +83 in 1975-76

30. Paul Coffey
1409 GP, 396 G, 1135 A, 1531 PTS
Key Stat: Holds the single season record for Points by a Defenseman with 138 in 1985-86

29. Bryan Trottier
1279 GP, 524 G, 901 A, 1425 PTS
Cool Trivia: Called Brian Bellows a “tit fucker” in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals

28. Denis Potvin
1060 GP, 310 G, 742 A, 1052 PTS
Key Stat: Retired as the NHL’s leading scorer among Defensemen

27. Phil Esposito
1282 GP, 717 G, 873 A, 1590
Sad Trivia: His daughter recently passed away; she was married to Alexander Selivanov

26. Valeri Kharlamov
438 GP, 293 G, 214 A, 507 PTS (Soviet)
Key Stat: Winner of eight World Championships and two Olympic Gold Medals

25. Terry Sawchuk
971 GP, 447 Wins, 2.51 GAA, 103 SOs
Key Stat: Held the record for Shutouts for nearly 50 years

24. Peter Forsberg
708 GP, 249 G, 636 A, 885 PTS
Cool Trivia: Has the single greatest YouTube highlight reel of any athlete


23. Mike Bossy
752 GP, 573 G, 553 A, 1126 PTS
Key Stat: Became the first player since Maurice Richard to record 50 Goals in 50 Games

22. Guy Lafleur
1126 GP, 560 G, 793 A, 1353 PTS
Key Stat: Was voted a 1st Team All-Star in six-consecutive seasons

21. Ken Dryden
397 GP, 258 Wins, 2.24 GAA, 46 SOs
Key Stat: Lost fewer than 15 percent of his regular season games

20. Steve Yzerman
1514 GP, 692 G, 1063 A, 1755 PTS
Cool Trivia: He used to be a goal scorer, but then he took an arrow to the knee

19. Glenn Hall
906 GP, 407 Wins, 2.49 GAA, 84 SOs
Key Stat: Was named a 1st or 2nd Team All-Star in eleven different seasons

18. Jaromir Jagr
1314 GP, 658 G, 976 A, 1634 PTS
Key Stat: Won the Art Ross Trophy five times in his career

17. Joe Sakic
1378 GP, 625 G, 1016 A, 1641 PTS
Cool Trivia: Scored every overtime goal in the history of the NHL playoffs; look it up - it’s true

16. Howie Morenz
550 GP, 271 G, 201 A, 472 PTS
Cool Trivia: After breaking his leg, fans sent alcohol to his room in the hospital

15. Stan Mikita
1394 GP, 541 G, 926 A, 1467 PTS
Cool Trivia: Owns a doughnut restaurant in Aurora, Illinois

14. Jacques Plante
837 GP, 437 Wins, 2.38 GAA, 82 SOs
Key Stat: Won both the Stanley Cup and the Vezina Trophy in every season from 1956 to 1960

13. Eddie Shore
550 GP, 105 G, 179 A, 284 PTS
Key Stat: Earned the Hart Trophy four times - more than any other Defenseman

12. Dominik Hasek
735 GP, 389 Wins, 2.20 GAA, 81 SOs (Season)
119 GP, 65 Wins, 2.02 GAA, 14 SOs (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Lead the NHL in Save Percentage in six-consecutive seasons
Cool Trivia: Turned down a contract offer during the 1987 Canada Cup, delaying his NHL career

11. Doug Harvey
1113 GP, 88 G, 452 A, 540 PTS (Season)
137 GP, 8 G, 64 A, 72 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Was named a 1st Team All-Star ten times in eleven seasons
Cool Trivia: Scored the Stanley Cup winning Game 7 overtime goal in 1955... against his own team

10. Bobby Hull
1063 GP, 610 G, 560 A, 1170 PTS (Season)
119 GP, 62 G, 67 A, 129 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Scored an additional 303 Goals in the WHA
Cool Trivia: Played a handful of games with Gordie Howe in Hartford in 1979-80

9. Ray Bourque
1612 GP, 410 G, 1169 A, 1579 PTS (Season)
214 GP, 41 G, 139 A, 180 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Named a 1st or 2nd Team All-Star nineteen motherfucking times
Cool Trivia: Attended every NHL All-Star Game since his sophomore season in 1980-81

8. Mark Messier
1756 GP, 694 G, 1193 A, 1887 PTS (Season)
236 GP, 109 G, 186 A, 295 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: The only player with 1500 Points to have an even greater offensive output in the playoffs
Cool Trivia: Vancouver was .423 with him in the lineup in his three years and .282 without him

7. Maurice Richard
978 GP, 544 G, 421 A, 965 PTS (Season)
133 GP, 82 G, 44 A, 126 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Finished Top 5 in Goals twelve times in thirteen seasons
Cool Trivia: Never won an Art Ross Trophy, but he did punch out a referee

6. Jean Beliveau
1125 GP, 507 G, 712 A, 1219 PTS (Season)
162 GP, 79 G, 97 A, 176 PTS (Playoffs)
Key Stat: Led both the season and the playoffs in Goals and Points in 1955-56
Cool Trivia: Was the first recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965

5. Patrick Roy
1029 GP, 551 Wins, 2.54 GAA, 66 SOs (Season)
247 GP, 151 Wins, 2.30 GAA, 23 SOs (Playoffs)
Cool Trivia: Won the Conn Smythe Trophy in three different decades - no one else has done so in two
Key Stat: Holds the three highest playoff Save Percentages among Stanley Cup Finalists when weighted against the league average. In 1989, his .920 SPCT was .041 above the regular season average. In 1993, his .929 SPCT was .044 above the regular season average. In 1986, his .923 SPCT was .049 above the regular season average.

4. Mario Lemieux
915 GP, 690 G, 1033 A, 1723 PTS (Season)
107 GP, 76 G, 96 A, 172 PTS (Playoffs)
Cool Trivia: Used to live with maddog’s boyfriend, Sidney Crosby
Key Stat: Scored 30 Goals and 56 Points in 20 games in his comeback in March and April of 1992-93. At that point of the season, Pat LaFontaine had 116 Points to Mario Lemieux’s 104 Points. Lemieux finished the season with 1.15 Goals-Per-Game and 2.67 Points-Per-Game. It was kinda badass.

3. Gordie Howe
1767 GP, 801 G, 1049 A, 1850 PTS (Season)
157 GP, 68 G, 92 A, 160 PTS (Playoffs)
Cool Trivia: Never scored an overtime goal in the playoffs - weird, huh?
Key Stat: Finished Top 5 in Points twenty times in his career. Fucking twenty times. Only 57 players in NHL history have even played in twenty NHL seasons. Of the 57 players, only twelve of them recorded at least 30 Points in all twenty seasons, whereas this crazy bastard was a minimum top five scorer. That’s pretty fucking sick.

2. Wayne Gretzky
1487 GP, 894 G, 1963 A, 2857 PTS (Season)
208 GP, 122 G, 260 A, 382 PTS (Playoffs)
Cool Trivia: Scored at least 30 Points in the playoffs on six different occasions
Key Stat: Remember how awesome I said Gordie Howe was a second ago? Wayne Gretzky retired with 113 more Assists than Gordie Howe had Points (1963). That’s why he won 31 individual trophies in his first fifteen seasons. The next time someone mentions a current player in the same sentence, paragraph, or short story as Wayne Gretzky, you should break that person’s jaw.

1. Vladislav Tretiak
Yep.
Why Vladislav Tretiak? Because Fuck Bobby Orr - that’s why.

 

[wings-pens2166]

50.
1. Vladislav Tretiak
Yep.
Why Vladislav Tretiak? Because Fuck Bobby Orr - that’s why.

:ss:

 

[Eddie_Shack]

Cool list, aside from that one part where you put a flopping cripple ten slots ahead of the greatest Swedish robot ever assembled.

 

[higgyfan4]

Cool list, aside from that one part where you put a flopping cripple ten slots ahead of the greatest Swedish robot ever assembled.

Agreed. Sure, I may be biased, but I don't see how can you rank Forsberg ahead of someone who is arguably in the top 5 at his position of all time. The same cannot be said about lil' Petie.

 

[dash]

That's a pretty good list, quoi, although I think you have too many goalies on the list and Brodeur way down at #46 is just wrong. Also, all those goalies and no mention of Bernie Parent?

Finally, fuck Bobby Orr? Don't hate, appreciate.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

The homer in me says Gilbert Perreault should be on the list.

 

[beantownmaniac]

That's a pretty good list, quoi, although I think you have too many goalies on the list and Brodeur way down at #46 is just wrong. Also, all those goalies and no mention of Bernie Parent?

Finally, fuck Bobby Orr? Don't hate, appreciate.

Orr's been fucked over ever since they called #99 the "great one" and retired his number from the league. the greatest forward of all time (statistically), sure, although Lemieux fans will debate it forever. The greatest all around player ever was, is, and probably will always be Orr. Let me know when someone wins the Norris AND the Ross trophies in their career, never mind in the same year......TWICE!!!! The greater you are, the more haters you have, but those who love and appreciate Orr far outweigh the haters.



To hear the comments from Hull, Clarke, and others shows how much he dominated the game, and watching the videos still gives me goosebumps.

 

[beantownmaniac]

The homer in me says Gilbert Perreault should be on the list.

You may be right. The French Connection line was awesome to watch. I voted for Trots. You never here him mentioned when talking about very good/great players, but damn he could play.

 

[esls79]

Surprised both Floopa and Roy weren't in the top ten on this list...

 

[dash]

Surprised both Floopa and Roy weren't in the top ten on this list...

I'm sure they were before our friend quoi posted the list for our consumption. Still believes Ray Bourque was better than Bobby Orr, though. To that, I say the following:

 

[Automattic]

Cool list, aside from that one part where you put a flopping cripple ten slots ahead of the greatest Swedish robot ever assembled.

Yup.

 

[beantownmaniac]

I'm sure they were before our friend quoi posted the list for our consumption. Still believes Ray Bourque was better than Bobby Orr, though. To that, I say the following:

I love Ray Bourque. Great player, great team player. Here's a telling stat:

Career +/-

Orr +597, in 657 games (+.906/game)
Bourque +528 in 1612 games (.328/game)
Gretzky +518 1487 games (.348/game)

As a matter of fact, no other player in NHL history cracks +.600 per game for their career.

2 words.....teh lulz

 

[jojoh07]

solid List but Lidstrom is easy top 15

 

[quoipourquoi]

Agreed. Sure, I may be biased, but I don't see how can you rank Forsberg ahead of someone who is arguably in the top 5 at his position of all time. The same cannot be said about lil' Petie.

For every bias, there is an equal and opposite bias. In this case, I think Lidstrom is kind of a tool. He's one of those guys who's just too good at his job, and it bums everybody out. He collects Norris Trophies like that guy in Office Space collects pieces of flair. Putting him in the top 20 like he deserves is bad for company morale.

For the record, I have him down as the 7th best defenseman, because I still like Coffey and Potvin more. I know I'm in the minority, but I just really like Paul Coffey as a player.

As for Forsberg, he ranks really high on the list because YouTube highlights make up almost as much of the voting process as the swimsuit competition and the throwing darts at a board section.

That's a pretty good list, quoi, although I think you have too many goalies on the list and Brodeur way down at #46 is just wrong. Also, all those goalies and no mention of Bernie Parent?

The lack of Bernie is disturbing. I think I only made it to 10 goalies (including Tretiak) and 13 defensemen, which is why some of the good names didn't get listed, but these things get pretty arbitrary after the top twenty names.

The homer in me says Gilbert Perreault should be on the list.

Yeah, I kinda fucked over the 1970s as a whole.

The greatest all around player ever was, is, and probably will always be Orr.

I'd rather give my #1 to a commie pinko than admit the truth!

 

[beantownmaniac]

solid List but Lidstrom is easy top 15

Yeah I don't understand Lidstrom being in a vote for underrated. How can you be underrated with 7 Norris trophies?

 

[beantownmaniac]

I'd rather give my #1 to a commie pinko than admit the truth!

Me thinks you just did.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Yeah I don't understand Lidstrom being in a vote for underrated. How can you be underrated with 7 Norris trophies?

I meant in terms of being underrated on my list specifically. Overall, the man is clearly sucked-off more than a Hollywood casting director, which is tragic, because robots do not have emotion.

I don't care if Lidstrom is a Nexus-6 replicant (more human than human); the Blade Runners will find him and retire him.

Me thinks you just did.

Well, I couldn't let all of my friends from Boston think I went that far off the reservation. I even made him an apostle in my picture of the Last Supper.

 

[4thstreet]

Orr is #1
I don't know if you put in order-if so Esposito is way too low at #27.
A few guys that are top 50 all time IMO-Perrault,P.Stastny and F.Mahovlich

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Bobby Orr can actually fly.

You can't beat that.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Bobby Orr can actually fly.

You can't beat that.

How do birds such as yourself police the five-second rule?