EagleBelfour
Registered User
This is the Hockey News list of the top-100 players who ever played in the National Hockey League. This list was produced around 1997 by a panel of hockey experts, which includes Don Cherry, Milt Dunnell, Stan Fischler, Bob McKenzie, Dick Irvin, Al Arbour, Marcel Pronovost, Scotty Bowman, Frank Selke, Harry Sinden and many mores.
The exercice I would like to do, is trying to update this list.
However, there are a few important rules that would need to be followed:
1- This thread isn’t the place to discuss who of Jean Beliveau and Maurice Richard or Doug Harney and Eddie Shore is the better player. More than 30 experts came up with this list and even though they can be wrong, this list is probably the most exaustive and complete ever created. Hockey isn’t mathematics: it’s subjective. I don’t want this thread to be the battle of comparision between old timers, which was debated to death. We will have enough to do only with the 1990’s and 2000’s players.
2- Players should only get recognition for what they have accomplished in the NHL. Junior years, WHA or the various european leagues should be ruled off. This rules mean that players like Igor Larionov and Viacheslav Fetisov, who only spent little time in the NHL, should be ruled out.
3- Players who havn’t played in the NHL after the 1996-97 season can’t change position. They can move up or down the list only if an active player after the 1996-97 season was raised or lowered.
4- A player who was active after the 1996-97 season can move up or down the list. Longevity and the quality of hockey a player have demonstrate during their career is a major factor that should be taken into consideration. If a player show he can still dominate at the last breath of his career, that shoud count for him (ex: Dominik Hasek). However, if a player who had great sucess isn’t able to be near this standard of quality later in his career, it should count against him (ex: Eric Lindros).
5- If a player can’t be define by the career he had after 1997, his place on the standing shouldn’t change drastically. The argument you will make on why a certain player has move up or down your list should only take consideration the years he played after 1997. For example, if you think Mike Gartner should be in the top-50, you can’t raise him from 89 to 50 just like that (he only played one season after 1997).
Players in bold are the one who were active in the NHL after 1997
The Hockey News Top-100 NHL Players of All-Time
1- Wayne Gretzky
2- Bobby Orr
3- Gordie Howe
4- Mario Lemieux
5- Maurice Richard
6- Doug Harney
7- Jean Béliveau
8- Bobby Hull
9- Terry Sawchuk
10- Eddie Shore
11- Guy Lafleur
12- Mark Messier
13- Jacques Plante
14- Raymond Bourque
15- Howie Morenz
16- Glenn Hall
17- Stan Mikita
18- Phil Esposito
19- Denis Potvin
20- Mike Bossy
21- Ted Lindsay
22- Red Kelly
23- Bobby Clarke
24- Larry Robinson
25- Ken Dryden
26- Frank Mahovlich
27- Milt Schmidt
28- Paul Coffey
29- Henri Richard
30- Bryan Trottier
31- Dickie Moore
32- Newsy Lalonde
33- Syl Apps Sr.
34- Bill Durnan
35- Patrick Roy
36- Charlie Conacher
37- Jaromir Jagr
38- Marcel Dionne
39- Joe Malone
40- Chris Chelios
41- Dit Clapper
42- Bernard Geoffrion
43- Tim Horton
44- Bill Cook
45- Johnny Bucyk
46- George Hainsworth
47- Gilbert Perreault
48- Max Bentley
49- Brad Park
50- Jari Kurri
51- Nels Stewart
52- King Clancy
53- Bill Cowley
54- Eric Lindros
55- Busher Jackson
56- Peter Stastny
57- Ted Kennedy
58- Andy Bathgate
59- Pierre Pilote
60- Turk Broda
61- Frank Boucher
62- Cy Dennedy
63- Bernard Parent
64- Brett Hull
65- Aurel Joliat
66- Toe Blake
67- Frank Brismek
68- Elmer Lach
69- Dave Keon
70- Grant Fuhr
71- Brian Leetch
72- Earl Seibert
73- Doug Bentley
74- Borje Salming
75- George Vezina
76- Chuck Gardiner
77- Clint Benedict
78- Steve Yzerman
79- Tony Esposito
80- Billy Smith
81- Serge Savard
82- Alex Delvecchio
83- Cecil Dye
84- Lorne Chabot
85- Sid Abel
86- Bob Gainey
87- Johnny Bower
88- Sprague Cleghorn
89- Mark Gartner
90- Norm Ullman
91- Sweeney Schriner
92- Joe Primeau
93- Darryl Sittler
94- Joe Sakic
95- Dominik Hasek
96- Walter Pratt
97- Jack Stewart
98- Yvan Cournoyer
99- Bill Gadsby
100- Frank Nighbor
I have made a list of players that should get consideration to move up in the top-100. Most of these players get recognition in the All-Time draft top-100 (and that his including players like Kharlamov, Fetisov and Tretiak, that are ruled out in here).
Ed Belfour
Rob Blake
Martin Brodeur
Pavel Bure
Sergei Fedorov
Adam Foote
Peter Forsberg
Ron Francis
Doug Gilmour
Niklas Lidstrom
Al MacInnis
Larry Murphy
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Luc Robitaille
Brendan Shanahan
Scott Stevens
Mats Sundin
Have fun! (BTW, my list will come soon)
The exercice I would like to do, is trying to update this list.
However, there are a few important rules that would need to be followed:
1- This thread isn’t the place to discuss who of Jean Beliveau and Maurice Richard or Doug Harney and Eddie Shore is the better player. More than 30 experts came up with this list and even though they can be wrong, this list is probably the most exaustive and complete ever created. Hockey isn’t mathematics: it’s subjective. I don’t want this thread to be the battle of comparision between old timers, which was debated to death. We will have enough to do only with the 1990’s and 2000’s players.
2- Players should only get recognition for what they have accomplished in the NHL. Junior years, WHA or the various european leagues should be ruled off. This rules mean that players like Igor Larionov and Viacheslav Fetisov, who only spent little time in the NHL, should be ruled out.
3- Players who havn’t played in the NHL after the 1996-97 season can’t change position. They can move up or down the list only if an active player after the 1996-97 season was raised or lowered.
4- A player who was active after the 1996-97 season can move up or down the list. Longevity and the quality of hockey a player have demonstrate during their career is a major factor that should be taken into consideration. If a player show he can still dominate at the last breath of his career, that shoud count for him (ex: Dominik Hasek). However, if a player who had great sucess isn’t able to be near this standard of quality later in his career, it should count against him (ex: Eric Lindros).
5- If a player can’t be define by the career he had after 1997, his place on the standing shouldn’t change drastically. The argument you will make on why a certain player has move up or down your list should only take consideration the years he played after 1997. For example, if you think Mike Gartner should be in the top-50, you can’t raise him from 89 to 50 just like that (he only played one season after 1997).
Players in bold are the one who were active in the NHL after 1997
The Hockey News Top-100 NHL Players of All-Time
1- Wayne Gretzky
2- Bobby Orr
3- Gordie Howe
4- Mario Lemieux
5- Maurice Richard
6- Doug Harney
7- Jean Béliveau
8- Bobby Hull
9- Terry Sawchuk
10- Eddie Shore
11- Guy Lafleur
12- Mark Messier
13- Jacques Plante
14- Raymond Bourque
15- Howie Morenz
16- Glenn Hall
17- Stan Mikita
18- Phil Esposito
19- Denis Potvin
20- Mike Bossy
21- Ted Lindsay
22- Red Kelly
23- Bobby Clarke
24- Larry Robinson
25- Ken Dryden
26- Frank Mahovlich
27- Milt Schmidt
28- Paul Coffey
29- Henri Richard
30- Bryan Trottier
31- Dickie Moore
32- Newsy Lalonde
33- Syl Apps Sr.
34- Bill Durnan
35- Patrick Roy
36- Charlie Conacher
37- Jaromir Jagr
38- Marcel Dionne
39- Joe Malone
40- Chris Chelios
41- Dit Clapper
42- Bernard Geoffrion
43- Tim Horton
44- Bill Cook
45- Johnny Bucyk
46- George Hainsworth
47- Gilbert Perreault
48- Max Bentley
49- Brad Park
50- Jari Kurri
51- Nels Stewart
52- King Clancy
53- Bill Cowley
54- Eric Lindros
55- Busher Jackson
56- Peter Stastny
57- Ted Kennedy
58- Andy Bathgate
59- Pierre Pilote
60- Turk Broda
61- Frank Boucher
62- Cy Dennedy
63- Bernard Parent
64- Brett Hull
65- Aurel Joliat
66- Toe Blake
67- Frank Brismek
68- Elmer Lach
69- Dave Keon
70- Grant Fuhr
71- Brian Leetch
72- Earl Seibert
73- Doug Bentley
74- Borje Salming
75- George Vezina
76- Chuck Gardiner
77- Clint Benedict
78- Steve Yzerman
79- Tony Esposito
80- Billy Smith
81- Serge Savard
82- Alex Delvecchio
83- Cecil Dye
84- Lorne Chabot
85- Sid Abel
86- Bob Gainey
87- Johnny Bower
88- Sprague Cleghorn
89- Mark Gartner
90- Norm Ullman
91- Sweeney Schriner
92- Joe Primeau
93- Darryl Sittler
94- Joe Sakic
95- Dominik Hasek
96- Walter Pratt
97- Jack Stewart
98- Yvan Cournoyer
99- Bill Gadsby
100- Frank Nighbor
I have made a list of players that should get consideration to move up in the top-100. Most of these players get recognition in the All-Time draft top-100 (and that his including players like Kharlamov, Fetisov and Tretiak, that are ruled out in here).
Ed Belfour
Rob Blake
Martin Brodeur
Pavel Bure
Sergei Fedorov
Adam Foote
Peter Forsberg
Ron Francis
Doug Gilmour
Niklas Lidstrom
Al MacInnis
Larry Murphy
Scott Niedermayer
Chris Pronger
Luc Robitaille
Brendan Shanahan
Scott Stevens
Mats Sundin
Have fun! (BTW, my list will come soon)
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