10 All-Time Greatest Hockey Players

1) WAYNE GRETZKY – C

To argue that  Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. One need only state that. If goals were deducted from his point total, he would top the NHL’s all-time scoring list. Despite Jaromir Jagr playing 246 more games, Gretzky’s 1,963 assists in 1,487 games would still give No. 99 a 42-point advantage over Jagr’s point total.
The Great One’s point advantage rises to 936 if goals are taken into account (Gretzky owns the record with 894).

Gretzky’s output at his best surpasses all. In terms of goals (92 in 1981–82) and points (215 in 1985–86), he owns the single-season records. The only player to reach 200 points is him, and he accomplished it four times. Including a three-year run from 1983 to 1986 when he scored 628 points in 234 games. In addition, he won two Conn Smythe Trophies and guided the Oilers to four Stanley Cups in five years.

Gretzky’s record of 50 goals in Edmonton’s first 39 games of the 1981–82 season is arguably the most unbreakable. (He also scored fifty in 42 and fifty in 49, but those aren’t mentioned too much. Because they weren’t played in the team’s first fifty ho games.)
To put even more weight on your jaw, here are some more Gretzky accomplishments. Nine Hart Trophies (eight in a row from 1980 to 1987). Ten Art Ross Trophies, sixty-five hat tricks, 1,016 goals (including playoff goals). And the most points in a single playoff game (47).
Gretzky retired from the NHL in 1999 with 61 official records, and the list goes on.

MARIO LEMIEUX – C

In his draft year, Mario Lemieux of the Laval Voisins of the QMJHL scored 133 goals. And 282 points in 70 games. Giving him a chance to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the greatest hockey player of all time. He possessed skill on par with Gretzky, but he was taller by five inches, right-handed, and had a longer reach and a superior shot.
Even though Lemieux played in 673 fewer games, including playoffs, than Gretzky did in the end, no one came close to dethroning The Great One. Six seasons in a row with 100 points or more marked the start of Lemieux’s career, broken only by his 199-point, 85-goal campaign in 1988–89. Not too long after, Super Mario won the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cups in consecutive years, 1991 and 1992.

Though he never tied Gretzky’s record for most goals in a season, he scored goals more frequently overall, concluding his career with the second-best goals per game average ever (.754).
Lemieux had one of the greatest careers in sports history, despite having to deal with persistently serious health problems that prevented him from playing a full season.

Mario underwent back surgery in 1990 and 1993, but his back pain kept him very limited. He couldn’t fit his bags in the overhead bin on the team plane, needed a trainer to tie his skates, and hardly practiced for two seasons, but he persevered and kept producing at a Hall of Fame caliber.
After receiving a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease in January 1993, Lemieux was unable to receive radiation treatment for six weeks. After that, he made a comeback to secure the scoring crown, tallying 69 goals and 160 points in 60 games.

3 BOBBY ORR – LD

Two defensemen are among the 50 greatest point-per-game scorers in NHL history. The Edmonton Oilers dynasty’s Paul Coffey is ranked 28th. Number four on that list is  Bobby Orr.
With 915 points in 657 games, Orr is without a doubt one of the greatest and most influential defensemen in history in terms of style. By holding and rushing the puck in a way that no one before him had ever done, Orr broke free from the stereotypes associated with a D-man.
In his career, he scored 139, 135, 122, 120, 117, and 101 points, making him the first defenseman to surpass 100 points. There are just four defensemen who have accomplished this feat.

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To this day, Orr is the only blueliner to have taken home the scoring title. Throughout his ten-season career, he also took care of business, winning the Norris Trophy eight times in a row. He won MVP honors in both 1970 and 1971 while leading the Bruins to Stanley Cup victories. Orr’s career was hampered by knee problems; during his career, he underwent at least 12 surgeries. As a result, he was forced to retire at the age of 30 after 657 regular season games. Hockey historians refuse to discount Orr’s status as one of the all-time greats because of his indisputable greatness, but we can’t help but wonder what could have happened to him if he had had better fortune.

If Orr had played 1000 games and accrued 1,200 points—a conservative estimate based on a lower points-per-game output—he would have finished at least fifth in the all-time blueliner production chart. And lastly, THE GOAL.

4 SIDNEY CROSBY – C

At the age of 18, Sidney Crosby joined the NHL with the body and mind of an experienced player, but the face (and tendency to complain) of a teenager. His 5-foot-11 build did not intimidate, but his legs were like those of a tree trunk.
From the start of his career, Crosby’s vision, passing, and puck-handling skills were on par with the best in the league. He could also protect the puck in traffic. With a 39-goal, 102-point rookie season, he exploded out of the gate thanks to his special skill set.

The Penguins named Crosby the youngest captain in league history shortly after the season; Sid the Kid and Evgeni Malkin formed a fantastic tandem that sophomore year, starting a playoff run that hasn’t been broken. The following season, he became the league’s youngest-ever scoring champion, winning the Hart and Art Ross trophies at the age of 19.

After losing the 2008 Stanley Cup Final, Crosby’s first championship and a rematch with the Red Wings in 2009 were made possible. He would go on to win the Conn Smythe in 2016 and 2017, adding two more titles. Along the way, he won two Rocket Richard trophies as the league’s top goal scorer, another scoring title, and an MVP award. Let’s not overlook the golden goal either.

Early in the 2010s, Crosby battled concussion issues that could have ended his career. Nevertheless, he returned after a protracted absence and continued to produce amazing work.
As he approaches his mid-thirties, Crosby is still defying the aging curve and ranks sixth all-time in points per game.

5 ALEX OVECHKIN – LW

It’s possible to rewrite history if you win the Stanley Cup and score enough goals. That is Alex Ovechkin’s career arc. Following the NHL’s season-ending lockout in 2004–05, the league returned with a double class of recent draft picks, led by Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, and a redoubled commitment to applying light penalties.
As a result, star players were freed from harassment and scoring increased significantly. Ovechkin’s debut came at the ideal time.

With 426 shots, he dominated opponents at full speed, scoring 52 goals and dishing out 54 assists to lead the league. In addition to winning the Calder Trophy, he fell four goals short of the Richard Trophy. The Moscow native was the league’s ostentatious new goal-scoring king, and to many, a new supervillain.
Ovechkin reached an unprecedented peak in his third season, scoring 65 goals (he has only scored 60 goals once since 2004–05). Ovechkin hasn’t stopped scoring goals; he just keeps getting more every year. Nevertheless, descriptors like “selfish,” “one-dimensional,” and “immature” remained. That you can’t win with Ovechkin was a widely held belief.

When he led the Washington Capitals to a championship in his thirteenth season, that all changed. Ovi added the Conn Smythe Trophy to his already impressive Hall of Fame resume. He’s still the top goal scorer in the league well into his mid-thirties.
He’ll most likely overtake Gordie Howe to take second place in history’s goals scored, and he may even surpass Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals.