My perfect hockey player would be a player who can play both defense and forward, who would have Gretzky's IQ abilities in the offensive zone, Bobby Orr's all-around skating, Bobby Clarke or Ted Kennedy's faceoff abilities, Doug Harvey's generalship, poise and defensive game from the blueline, Gordie Howe's strenght and durability and longevity, Mario Lemieux's hands and one-on-one and breakaway skills, also Lemieux' height, Jean Beliveau's leadership and dignified persona, Lafleur's flying hair and charisma, Jagr's lower-body strenght and shiftiness, Larry Robinson's composed and disciplined but efficient intimidation factor and strenght (also Howe's), the devastating open-ice hits of Scott Stevens, a hard shot like Bobby Hull or Al MacInnis, the train-like intense physicality of Eric Lindros, the wrist shots of Sakic or Potvin or Bourque, the sniper accuracy of Bossy, and more.
Something like that.
Retires on top
Total: 14 Art Ross, 13 Harts, 8 Norrises, 6 Selkes, 9 SCs (two dynasties), 6 Smythes.
Such a player would be possible, but once-in-a-century if not two centuries type.
The first half of his career is not unlike Gretzky's.Now imagine Gretzky being great defensively in his Edmonton days, physical too, then imagine him switching to being a defenseman in LA and winning 8 Norris and starting another dynasty largely build around him.
Good to know that I'm not the only one who has weird visions. I picture something slightly different. A player supremely talented mentally and physically, with the following two weaknesses: his endurance is not that great, and he tends to float at times. He has a giant ego like Deion Sanders.
He breaks into the league and easily wins the Calder with a 50 goal/100 point season. He maybe doesn't win the Art Ross, but he probably wins the Rocket - he is a Selke candidate, but the voters don't want to give it to an unproven rookie. His second season is similar, but this time he is the runaway Selke winner apart from his scoring prowess. He keeps boasting about two things: I can score whenever I want, and the other team doesn't score when I'm on the ice. The latter is reflected in Bobby Orr type plus/minus numbers - his detractors say that he is playing on a very strong team. For the whole season, no opposing team scores a powerplay goal when he is on the ice penalty killing.
At the start of his third season, he claims that the mark of a great goal scorer is a 50 goal season and goes onto to say that he can score twice that. As good as he is, the media are basically laughing at him. He goes on to have a 100 goal, 150+ point season. People are in utter awe.
Here's the kicker. Because of his not-so-great endurance but blazing speed and quickness, he has the most "first" goals and most first period goals in history. If they hold the lead after the second period, he puts on goalie equipment and becomes a 4 x 6 piece of plywood in the third period - he never gets scored on. The league won't give him the Vezina because he plays one period for about 55-60 games a year, but he is clearly far and away the best goalie in the league when he's in net.
His peak is that third year above, his seventh year where he score 101 goals (just to show the media that the first wasn't a fluke)/150+ points, and his 13th year. In his 13th season, he reminds everyone that he can score whenever he wants, and goes on to score a goal in every playoff game en route to another Stanley Cup victory and another Conn Smythe.
Legacy is extremely important to him, as he looks to a future with the organization after retirement. He meets with ownership, management, and the team's best core players. He accepts a lower salary than market value (leading by example), and the other core players do the same, in order to keep the team together. In a handshake deal, he is promised minority ownership (1-2%) and a front office position on retirement. And the team makes good on this promise for all that he's done.
He plays 17 seasons for one team, missing very few games to injury. He's not an ice-time hog and actually tells his coach often when he can't go, and needs an extra shift or two to get his legs back. He wins 10 Stanley Cups, and is an astounding 10-time Conn Smythe winner, with some of the strongest Conn Smythe wins in history as both a goal scorer and a goalie. Some of his weaker regular seasons left something to be desired, but overall he still won a good share of the Art Ross, Hart, Selke, and Lindsay count during his playing career. He does however, retire with the most Rockets in history, and the most goals in history. People have trouble deciding if his goal scoring prowess, his defensive play, or his play as a goalie was most important to the team. The media chides him about never reaching Gretzky/Lemieux type point levels, and he playfully answers with things like "I'm a goalie", "They wouldn't score if I was on the ice", or "I count Cups, not points".