Ranking the NHL's 100 Greatest Players: Nos. 80-61
Throughout the month of September, James Bisson and a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest players, teams, and moments in the 100-year history of the National Hockey League. Our final list focuses on the greatest players (Note: "All-Star" refers to end-of-season All-Star team voting and not to appearances in the All-Star Game):
100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1
Voter List- James Bisson, National Sports Editor
- Joe Ross, Vice-President, Content
- Josh Wegman, NHL News Editor
- Sean O'Leary, NHL News Editor
- Esten McLaren, NHL News Editor
- Craig Hagerman, NHL News Editor
- Lanny Foster, Senior Social Media Editor
- Michael Amato, Senior News Editor
- Lucas Casaletto, News Editor
- Arun Srinivasan, News Editor
- Adam Sarson, Operations Lead
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1549 | 456 | 825 | 1281 | -- | 383 |
Delvecchio joined forces with Gordie Howe to create one of the NHL's most devastating one-two punches for the better part of two decades. A three-time Lady Byng winner and two-time All-Star, Delvecchio was a picture of consistency, recording 50 or more points 17 times while appearing in every game from 1957-63.
79. Alec Connell
| GP | W | L | O/T | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 417 | 193 | 156 | 67 | 1.91 | 81 |
Connell doesn't get enough credit for his exploits given that so many goaltenders posted video-game numbers in the 1920s and '30s. But it's hard to undermine the significance of a player who recorded shutouts at a rate of one for every 5.2 games played; Connell led the league in that category three times, and played for a pair of Stanley Cup champions.
78. Jean Ratelle
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1281 | 491 | 776 | 1267 | 299 | 276 |
Ratelle didn't really blossom until his late-20s, when he went from part-time contributor to consistent 30-goal scorer with the Rangers. He posted a career-best 109 points in 1971-72 - winning the Lester B. Pearson Award in the process - and recorded five more 90-point seasons in his 30s. He finished top 10 in assists six times.
77. Dino Ciccarelli
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1232 | 608 | 592 | 1200 | -2 | 1425 |
Ask anyone who played against Ciccarelli, and they'll surely tell you how much of pain he was. But of the 10 players in NHL history with at least 1,200 points and 1,300 penalty minutes, nine of them are in the Hall of Fame, while a 10th - Jeremy Roenick - has a decent shot at making it. And only four - Ciccarelli among them - finished with more than 600 goals.
76. Jacques Lemaire
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 853 | 366 | 469 | 835 | 349 | 217 |
Among younger hockey fans, Lemaire is largely known as a successful head coach and executive - but before that, he was a member of the Canadiens' dynasty in the 1970s, winning eight Stanley Cups over the course of his 12-year NHL career. He was a terrific two-way talent in his prime, and never finished with more than 35 penalty minutes in a season.
75. Pavel Datsyuk
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 953 | 314 | 604 | 918 | 249 | 228 |
In an era when star players routinely play at least 1,200 NHL games, North American fans have to be disappointed that Datsyuk gave them less than a thousand. But most of those contests featured at least some form of puck wizardry from the Russian, who was taken 171st overall in 1998 and proceeded to win four Lady Byngs, three Selke Trophies, and two Stanley Cups.
74. Henrik Lundqvist
| GP | W | L | T/O | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 742 | 405 | 249 | 76 | 2.32 | 61 |
It's hard to believe Lundqvist has just one Vezina Trophy on his resume, given how dominant he was for an 11-year stretch beginning with his 2005-06 rookie campaign. However, he's finished in the top three on four other occasions, and his 405 regular-season victories entering 2017-18 rank him 10th on the all-time list.
73. Dave Andreychuk
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1639 | 640 | 698 | 1338 | 38 | 1125 |
Some guys get into the Hall of Fame because they're among the best players in the league over a short stretch. And others, like Andreychuk, get in because they're very good for a very long time. Andreychuk didn't make an All-Star team or resonate with Hart Trophy voters, but his 1,639 games played - seventh most in history - helped him finish with an elite career goal total.
72. Frank Mahovlich
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1181 | 533 | 570 | 1103 | -- | 1056 |
Mahovlich was the heart and soul of the Maple Leafs in the early 1960s, racking up six consecutive All-Star nods following his Calder Trophy season in 1958. After winning four Stanley Cup titles in the blue and white, Mahovlich made his way to Detroit before wrapping up his NHL career in Montreal, where he won two more championships.
71. Darryl Sittler
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1096 | 484 | 637 | 1121 | 53 | 948 |
Sittler would probably have been considered for this list simply for setting the NHL record with 10 points in a game back on Feb. 7, 1976. But he earned a spot on the all-time ledger by virtue of a terrific career in which he finished in the top 10 in Hart Trophy voting five times, and made an All-Star team in 1978 on the strength of a career-best 117 points.
70. Eddie Shore
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 550 | 105 | 179 | 284 | -- | 1047 |
Points are sexy - which is the only explanation for why a four-time Hart Trophy winner and eight-time All-Star finds himself way back here. Shore was a menace to play against in his prime, leading the league in penalty minutes in his second NHL season and finishing in triple digits on five occasions. He also led the Bruins to a pair of Stanley Cup titles over his 14-year career.
69. Henri Richard
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1256 | 358 | 688 | 1046 | -- | 928 |
Imagine winning so many Stanley Cup rings that you actually run out of fingers and thumbs to put them on. While older brother Maurice was the superior player, Henri - nicknamed "The Pocket Rocket" - was one of the linchpins of two Canadiens dynasties. He won five straight Cups in the 1950s, and then earned six more titles over his final 10 seasons.
68. Yvan Cournoyer
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 968 | 428 | 435 | 863 | 271 | 255 |
He was never the face of the franchise, but most NHL players would love to have a career like Cournoyer's in Montreal. He was an NHL All-Star four times, finished top 10 in Hart voting on four occasions, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1973. Oh, and by virtue of spending his entire career with the Canadiens, he retired with eight shiny Stanley Cup rings.
67. Bernie Geoffrion
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 883 | 393 | 429 | 822 | -- | 689 |
Most die-hard hockey fans know that Maurice Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals - but few outside Montreal are aware Geoffrion was next to reach the plateau. Geoffrion won the Hart Trophy for his 50-goal, 95-point effort in 1961, the highlight of a career that saw him earn a Calder Trophy, three All-Star nods, and six Stanley Cup championships.
66. Glenn Hall
| GP | W | L | T/O | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 906 | 407 | 326 | 163 | 2.49 | 84 |
The bar is a lot higher for goaltenders than it is for forwards or defensemen on this list, but Hall is more than worthy of inclusion. Between the three Vezina Trophies, the 10 All-Star honors, and the distinction of playing every game in seven straight seasons from 1955-62, we can easily overlook the fact that Hall won just one Stanley Cup title.
65. Chris Chelios
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1651 | 185 | 763 | 948 | 350 | 2891 |
Only two players in history have appeared in an NHL game after turning 48: Gordie Howe and Chelios, who's one of the greatest two-way blue-liners the game has ever seen. His bruising style earned him three Norris Trophies and six All-Star nods, and he won his first two Stanley Cup titles 16 years apart, and then added a third in 2008 at age 46.
64. George Hainsworth
| GP | W | L | T/O | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 465 | 246 | 145 | 74 | 1.93 | 94 |
No goaltender in history has recorded a three-year stretch like the one Hainsworth enjoyed in the late 1920s. He opened his NHL career by winning the Vezina Trophy three straight seasons - a span that included a 76-32-24 record with a 1.15 goals-against average and 49 shutouts. He couldn't keep up that incredible pace throughout his career, but he did lead the league in wins four times.
63. Mark Recchi
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1652 | 577 | 956 | 1533 | 0 | 1033 |
Recchi is one of those players who was good for a very long time; he only earned one All-Star accolade - coming way back in 1992 - but with 1,533 career points, he'll be in the top 20 in that category for a while. One interesting note: Recchi played 1,652 regular-season games and was on the ice for the exact same number of even-strength goals for and against.
62. John Bucyk
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1540 | 556 | 813 | 1369 | -- | 497 |
Bucyk had a curious career, serving as a decent scoring option for the Bruins through his first 13 seasons before really taking off. His top six scoring seasons all came from age 35 onward, during which he won the Lady Byng twice and finished in the top 3 on three other occasions. He also won a pair of Stanley Cups, finishing with a playoff-best nine goals in 1972.
61. Evgeni Malkin
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 706 | 328 | 504 | 832 | 75 | 726 |
Malkin has played just over 700 regular-season NHL games, but has already established himself as one of the most gifted forwards of the past 50 years. The Russian star has a pair of scoring titles under his belt and was awarded the Hart Trophy in 2012 after recording a career-best 50 goals and a league-high 109 points. Those three Stanley Cup rings don't hurt his resume, either.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
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