HOH Top 40 Stanley Cup Playoff Performers of All Time

quoipourquoi

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The following is the final list of the top Stanley Cup playoff performers as determined by the History of Hockey community.

Report any errors to quoipourquoi.

Top Stanley Cup Playoff Performers of All-Time

Pos.BornNationalityFirst PlayoffLast PlayoffSt. CupsOT P/W
1Wayne GretzkyC11961Canada198019974
2Patrick RoyG11965Canada198620034
3Maurice RichardW11921Canada194419608
4Jean BeliveauC21931Canada1954197110
5Gordie HoweW21928Canada194719804
6Doug HarveyD11924Canada194919686
7Mark MessierC31961Canada198019976
8Jacques PlanteG21929Canada195319736
9Ted KennedyC41925Canada194419555
10Denis PotvinD21953Canada197519884
11Mario LemieuxC51965Canada198920012
12Joe SakicC61969Canada199320082
13Bobby OrrD31948Canada196819752
14Red KellyD41927Canada194819678
15Guy LafleurW31951Canada197219895
16Frank NighborC71893Canada191519284
17Turk BrodaG31914Canada193719525
18Peter ForsbergC81973Sweden199520082
19Henri RichardC91936Canada1956197511
20Mike BossyW4 Canada
21Larry RobinsonD5 Canada
22Ken DrydenG4 Canada
23Nicklas LidstromD6 Sweden
24Bryan TrottierC10 Canada
25Bernie GeoffrionW5 Canada
26Doug GilmourC11 Canada
27Serge SavardD7 Canada
28Sidney CrosbyC12 Canada
29Phil EspositoC13 Canada
30Frank BoucherC14 Canada
31Bobby HullW6 Canada
32Chris ProngerD8 Canada
33Jari KurriW7 Finland
34Sergei FedorovC15 Russia
35Martin BrodeurG5 Canada
36Scott StevensD9 Canada
37Jacques LemaireW8 Canada
38Duncan KeithD10 Canada
39Billy SmithG6 Canada
40Frank FoystonC16 Canada
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

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Discussion Threads
Round 2 - Voting Results
Round 2 - Vote 1 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 2 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 3 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 4 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 5 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 6 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 7 Discussion
Round 2 - Vote 8 Discussion

Preliminary Discussion Threads
Rules Discussion Thread
Preliminary Discussion Thread

Round 1 Process
Round 1 Voting Results and Screening Process (Aggregate List)
Participant Survey

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Individual Voting Records
BenchBrawl
Black Gold Extractor
blogofmike
bobholly39
Canadiens1958
drmagg
Johnny Engine
Kyle McMahon
Mike Farkas
MXD
quoipourquoi
seventieslord
TheGeneral
Open Ballots
 
Last edited:

Sentinel

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May 26, 2009
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IMO Harvey and Plante are overrated, and Lafleur is underrated. This list makes it sound like 70s Habs are an afterthought. I just don't see how he is below Orr and Lemieux in playoff performance.
 
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quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
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I had Ken Dryden higher than Plante too. Where it becomes an issue is that the players from the 1956-1960 Canadiens dynasty had pretty good showings both before and after the dynasty - something that can't be said for Lafleur outside of his five-season run. It's a small window for the two big stars of what I believe to be a better team: the 1970s Canadiens.

And despite not playing for a dynasty, Lemieux's five best playoffs (minimum two rounds) were still statistically superior even when factoring in the weaker defensive opposition Lemieux faced. And Lemieux holds up better beyond those five too.

I think some of the voting has been beneficial to players with fewer minuses. Lafleur had a pretty big one called the 1980s.
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
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There's probably no point in bringing Broda into this, and I might sound like I'm harping on Ted Kennedy (I'd probably have him just a few spots lower than the group), but I think we screwed up when concluding he, as opposed to Red Kelly, was the best O-6 Non-Howe, Non-Hab.
 
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Canadiens1958

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Nov 30, 2007
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Gordie Howe

There's probably no point in bringing Broda into this, and I might sound like I'm harping on Ted Kennedy (I'd probably have him just a few spots lower than the group), but I think we screwed up when concluding he, as opposed to Red Kelly, was the best O-6 Non-Hab.

So Gordie Howe is not an O6 non - Hab?
 

Epsilon

#basta
Oct 26, 2002
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Joe Sakic is the one name that stands out to me as a bit overrated on here, although subsequent votes will do a lot to determine by how much. Should there really be a big separation between him and the other top 4-5 position players of the same era (Forsberg, Lidstrom, Fedorov, Stevens, Yzerman)? Not saying there will be, but there could be depending on how the next 1-2 rounds go. But something about him ahead of the 4 names right underneath him doesn't quite strike me as right.
 

Michael Farkas

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Jun 28, 2006
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I think it makes more sense here than anywhere...while I am one of the first to go to bat for DOB-bias, the playoffs are a different playing field. I don't equate playing in a four-round, best of 7 atmosphere and playing in a two-game total goals series...I did value more modern players in this regard, in this setting...

There's also a logical point to be made about players from dynasties featuring high on the list...it's a "best playoff guy" list...naturally, I'd start my focus on teams that won a bunch of stuff...
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
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Hockeytown, MI
Joe Sakic is the one name that stands out to me as a bit overrated on here, although subsequent votes will do a lot to determine by how much. Should there really be a big separation between him and the other top 4-5 position players of the same era (Forsberg, Lidstrom, Fedorov, Stevens, Yzerman)? Not saying there will be, but there could be depending on how the next 1-2 rounds go. But something about him ahead of the 4 names right underneath him doesn't quite strike me as right.

I don't think there will be separation, but somewhere after finding out he scored 13 game-winning points on his teams' 25 overtime wins (Maurice Richard was next of the eligible players at the time with 7 points), he started to look better than I anticipated. I didn't have him as the best of his era though.

O6 heavy at the start, no doubt. I think a lot of us were looking at different O6 players which caused so many to get in. I don't think we should be hesitant to throw in another right away (Broda) if it's warranted.
 

danincanada

Registered User
Feb 11, 2008
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I don't think there will be separation, but somewhere after finding out he scored 13 game-winning points on his teams' 25 overtime wins (Maurice Richard was next of the eligible players at the time with 7 points), he started to look better than I anticipated. I didn't have him as the best of his era though.

O6 heavy at the start, no doubt. I think a lot of us were looking at different O6 players which caused so many to get in. I don't think we should be hesitant to throw in another right away (Broda) if it's warranted.

Where are you finding the game winning point statistics?
 

danincanada

Registered User
Feb 11, 2008
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Box scores. It's a pain (which is why I add as we go as opposed to having a pre-loaded list), but I'm hoping we'll have a pretty good resource at the end of the project.

Thanks, I was wondering because I've never seen those anywhere.
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
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My first impression as well. Seems like a list Don Cherry would come up with.

Peter Forsberg finished immediately behind Guy Lafleur, the most recent addition. Now I would have no problem if Forsberg was #15 instead of where he'll probably land (#16-20), but I don't think it takes Don Cherry to put Lafleur over Forsberg.
 

BraveCanadian

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
14,501
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IMO Harvey and Plante are overrated, and Lafleur is underrated. This list makes it sound like 70s Habs are an afterthought. I just don't see how he is below Orr and Lemieux in playoff performance.

Kind of agree on this one.. as well as Sakic being overrated.. as awesome as he was..

Wait until you see where the rest of the 80s Isles trio are shaping up be..
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
16,367
My first impression as well. Seems like a list Don Cherry would come up with.

....5 out of the Top 10 are Québecois, 5 out the Top 10 are French Canadians and 5 out of the Top 10 are associated with the Montreal Canadiens, and there are actually players ahead of Bobby Orr.

Yep, totally something Don Cherry would come up with.
 

Black Gold Extractor

Registered User
May 4, 2010
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15 Canadians, all born within a 48-year window.

I'm not saying this proves anything wrong, but it's a strikingly narrow demographic.

Perhaps, but it is important to note that the NHL is only 100 years old. The O6 era to now is just 75 years.

Additionally, active players will inherently be at a disadvantage since they're only half done, so to speak. (If Malkin, hypothetically, continues his torrid pace and wins a Conn Smythe in a hypothetical Penguins Cup win later this year, he suspect that he would jump up the rankings quite a bit.) This shortens the effective window for this project, so to speak, by maybe ten years to only ~65 years.

Furthermore, the European influx really only took off in the 90's which further reduces the window.

As for the rankings, I look at them in terms of blocks rather than exact rankings. #1-6 were basically locks, no matter what order one has them in. #7-10 (if we switch Red Kelly and Ted Kennedy... ;)) were guys who were big-game performers for many years without the insane levels shown by #1-6. #11-15 (again with the switched Ted Kennedy) were guys who were great/insane for two or three post-seasons and respectable otherwise for a few more years.
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,654
16,367
Also, lots of Dynasties players, and the Dynasties era coincides roughly with the End of WWII and ends up straigh with the Oilers Dynasty (or the Gretzky trade, YMMV).

The league was very Canadian : amongst older players than Richard, the best non-Canadian player was... Frank Brimsek? And he held that title (if we keep it to the NHL) for... well, technically longer than that, but Chris Chelios first shown signs he could end up passing him, well, right at the end of the period mentionned above.

And I doubt anyone considered Brimsek for this.

The league started to decanadianize right when the dynasties went the way of the dodo. Of course the best players would be Canadians...
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
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Hockeytown, MI
That's not an "all-time" list guys.

Frank Nighbor finished two spots out from Lafleur in the most recent vote. The great thing is that we're accepting open ballots to be more accommodating to people who didn't have time to make Round 1 lists. You're welcome to vote for whichever players you feel check off all the boxes: nationality, pre-O6, post-DPE, etc.
 
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Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
13,301
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Joe Sakic is the one name that stands out to me as a bit overrated on here, although subsequent votes will do a lot to determine by how much. Should there really be a big separation between him and the other top 4-5 position players of the same era (Forsberg, Lidstrom, Fedorov, Stevens, Yzerman)? Not saying there will be, but there could be depending on how the next 1-2 rounds go. But something about him ahead of the 4 names right underneath him doesn't quite strike me as right.

I agree, Sakic is the one name I just don't quite get the love for. I think some voters really value the OT scoring, and fair enough, but yeah out of him and those 5 other contemporaries you listed I think I had him ranked fifth on my initial list.
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
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Hockeytown, MI
Sakic's voting record last vote was really interesting. No 1st place votes, but two 2nds, two 3rds, two 4ths, two 5ths, and one unranked.

Seems like almost everyone thought #12-15 is where he belongs, but no one could agree on which names should have appeared above him, which led to everyone thinking he was overrated because he landed above at least one or two players on each of our lists that seemed like they should have been ahead.

That there is such a strong consensus that Sakic is awesome is probably to his credit.
 

GuineaPig

Registered User
Jul 11, 2011
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Montréal
Peter Forsberg finished immediately behind Guy Lafleur, the most recent addition. Now I would have no problem if Forsberg was #15 instead of where he'll probably land (#16-20), but I don't think it takes Don Cherry to put Lafleur over Forsberg.

I'm not saying the list is wrong per se (I didn't participate, so I don't really have the right to throw rocks), just that it was my immediate impression.
 

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