How is the greatness of an Ice Hockey player measured? Some say it’s in the number of points, while some say it’s the number of Stanley Cup championships he have brought forth. No matter how you put it, here are the best ice hockey players according to statistics and fan votes.
Wayne Gretzky
Gretzky is considered as the best Ice Hockey player who had ever lived. After all, he has 4 Stanley Cups, 61 NHL records and 2 Canada Cup MVP citations under his belt. Gretzky is famous for having shattered many NHL records, as he is the topnotcher when it comes to points, assists, and goals. He was also part of two great hockey teams, namely the Edmonton Oilers (1980’s) and Team Canada (1987.)
Mario Lemieux
Scotty Bowman, the NHL with the most number of wins, called Lemieux the greatest Ice Hockey player of all time. He is considered as the best goal scorer in the game, and has 2 Stanley Cup Championships and MVP awards to prove that. In the 1987 Canada Cup, he was the person behind the championship sinker. Although he wasn’t able to play for famous teams, Lemieux is still a great player at age 39.
Bobby Orr
Orr is named as Ice Hockey’s first-ever offensive and defensive player. His capability to play both sides of the game gave him the Art Ross Trophy. Unfortunately, his playing career was abruptly ended by a knee injury. Despite that, he is considered as the player who made the role of an offensive defenseman more vital than ever.
Maurice Richard
Maurice “The Rocket” Richard is the first-ever Ice Hockey player to make 50 goals out of 50 games. This game-shattering record makes him one of the best goal scorers in the history of NHL. Richard is considered as one of the best Canadian Ice Hockey Players, having been able to score 544 points and procure five Stanley Cup championships during the course of his career.
Gordie Howe
Howe is considered one of the best Ice Hockey players to have ever lived because he managed to rock the game until the age of 52. In fact, he has a hat trick named after him. The “Gordie Howe” trick is used to characterize an assist, goal, and a fight all at the same time.
Dominik Hasek
Hasek is considered as the best goalkeeper of all time. His unique style of goaltending made scoring virtually impossible for the opposing team. In fact, his signature style of “butterfly defense” has limited the opponent’s scoring to a lowly 2 points. Hasek’s crowning moment was during the 1998 Olympics when he managed to block 5 attempts by Canadian offensive players.
Doug Harvey
Harvey is also considered as one of the best defensive players in the history of Ice Hockey. Although his records were shattered by Orr, Harvey was the hot topic during the 1950’s Stanley Cup victories. He managed to play 18 seasons and is deemed as one of the pivotal names in the field of Ice Hockey.