The popular Irish and Scottish games Hurling and Shinty, which were first mentioned in 1272 B.C. and were immensely popular, are thought to be the origins of field hockey.
For about 1,000 years, the Mongolian people of China played a more complex variation of this game known as Beikou.
A comparable variation of this game known as Chueca, or The Twisted One, which was mostly played by the Araucano Indians in the sixteenth century, was also documented by European invaders of Chile.
Since that time, this sport has grown to become one of the most popular in the globe. The top 10 field hockey players of all time are listed below.
10. Phil Esposito
Born in Canada on February 20, 1942, Philip Anthony Esposito is a former professional ice hockey player, coach, and executive who now serves as the Tampa Bay Lightning’s colour commentator.
He spent 18 NHL seasons with the Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers, winning two Stanley Cups with Boston along the way. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
He is the elder brother of goaltender and fellow Hall-of-Famer Tony Esposito, who is also regarded as one of the best players of all time.
Why was Esposito considered as one of the greatest player in nhl history?
With 126 points in 1968–69, he became the first player in NHL history to score more than 100 points in a season, a feat he would later accomplish five more times.
He also made history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in a season five times in a row, including the then-record 76 goals and 152 points in the same season.
What did Esposito do after retiring?
Esposito spent two seasons as the Rangers’ head coach and general manager after his playing career ended.
He and his younger brother helped establish the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida’s first NHL expansion team, in 1991.
The senior Esposito currently works as Tampa Bay radio colour analyst after serving as the team’s first president and general manager from the franchise’s inception until 1998.
Esposito was ranked among the “100 Greatest NHL Players” of all time in 2017. On December 3, 1987, the Bruins retired his #7 jersey, and the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay has a statue of him.
What are the Achievements of Esposito?
The achievements of Esposito are as follows :-
- NHL second All-Star team (1968, 1975)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980)
- Art Ross Trophy winner (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974)
- Hart Memorial Trophy winner (1969, 1974)
- NHL first All-Star team (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974)
- Stanley Cup championships (1970, 1972)
- Lester B. Pearson Award winner (1971, 1974)
- Received Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1972.
- Won Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year in 1972.
- Lester Patrick Trophy winner (1978)
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984.
9. Jaromír Jágr
Jaromr Jágr, who was born on February 15, 1972, plays right wing for Ryti Kladno of the Czech Extraliga and also serves as the team’s owner (ELH).
Between 1990 and 2018, he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils, Florida Panthers, and Calgary Flames in the NHL.
He was the captain of the Penguins and the Rangers. He spent three seasons with Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) after leaving the Rangers in 2008.
He rejoined the NHL in 2011 with the Flyers and played for seven more seasons before the Flames loaned him to HC Kladno in 2018.
Jágr has had one of the longest careers in professional ice hockey history, having participated in nearly 2,000 games and 34 professional seasons (as of 2021).
He is recognised as one of the best players of all time and the most productive European to ever play in the NHL.
Why is Jagr regarded as one of the best player in nhl history?
After Wayne Gretzky, Jágr has the second-most points in NHL history. He was theyoungest player in NHL history in 1990 when he was 18 years old.
He is the oldest player to ever record a hat-trick and was the oldest player in the NHL prior to his transfer at age 45. Jágr was ranked among the top 100 NHL players of all time in 2017.
In the 1990 NHL Entry Draft, Jágr was selected as the fifth overall pick. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992.
Individually, he has won the Hart Memorial Trophy once as the league’s most valuable player, while placing second four other times, the Lester B. Pearson Award three times for the NHL’s finest player, and the Art Ross Trophy five times (four times in a row) as the league’s top scorer.
What are the achievements of Jagr?
Jágr belongs to the Triple Gold Club, which includes athletes who have competed for teams that have won the Stanley Cup (1991, 1992), the Ice Hockey World Championships (2005, 2010), and the Olympic gold medal in ice hockey (1998).
Jágr accomplished this milestone in 2005, making him one of just two Czech players in the Club. Jágr carried the Czech Republic’s flag during the Winter Olympics in 2010.
Jágr, along with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, was one of only three players from 1981 to 2001 to earn the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer during the regular season.
More than any other player who is not a Canadian, Jágr has received the honour. He belongs to the Hall of Fame of Czech Ice Hockey.
What are the nhl record established by Jagr?
These records are as of 9 October 2021 for regular season games unless stated otherwise.
- Most career game-winning goals – 135
- Most career points by a right wing – 1921
- Most career assists by a right wing – 1142
- Most single-season points by a right wing – 149
- Most single-season assists by a right wing – 87
- Most single-season points by a European-born player – 149
- Most single-season assists by a European-born player – 87
- Most career assists by a European-born player – 1142
- Most career points by a European-born player – 1921
- Most career game-tying goals by a European-born player – 11 (tied with Teemu Selänne)
- Most career playoff game-winning goals by a European-born player – 16
- Most consecutive 30-goal seasons (1991–2007) – 15 (shared with Mike Gartner and Alexander Ovechkin; included the shortened 1994–95 season, 48 games)
- Most consecutive 70-point seasons (15) (including the shortened 1994–95 NHL season, 48 games)
- Longest gap between Stanley Cup Finals appearances – 21 years (1992–2013)
- Only player to play in the Stanley Cup Finals as a teenager and at over 40 years of age
- Oldest player to score 60 points in a season
- Oldest player to score a hat-trick (42 years and 322 days old)
- Most different teams played on by a 1000-point scorer – 9
8. Mark Messier
Mark John Douglas Messier is a Canadian-born nhl player who played professionally as a centre for the NHL.
His 25-year NHL playing career (1979–2004) included stops with the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Rangers. He also participated in a professional hockey career with the Cincinnati Stingers and Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA).
In 1979, he also participated in a brief 4-game run with the Houston Apollos in the original Central Hockey League. He was the final former WHA player still playing professionally in hockey as well as the final current participant in any of the top North American professional sports leagues from the 1970s.
He worked as a special assistant to the Rangers’ president and general manager following his playing career.
Why is Messier considered as one of the best player in nhl history?
One of the best ice hockey players of all time is Messier. He ranks third overall for regular-season games played (1756) and regular-season points, and second overall for postseason points (295). (1887).
He has won the Stanley Cup championships six times—five times with the Edmonton Oilers and once with the New York Rangers—and is the only player to have led two different clubs to the trophy.
The nickname “The Messiah,” a play on his name, was given to him for his playoff leadership while in New York, which helped the New York Rangers overcome a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994. Because of his strength and hostility during his career, he was often referred to as “The Moose.”
In 1990 and 1992, he received the Hart Memorial Trophy twice as the league’s most valuable player. In 1984, he received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player.
He has been an NHL All-Star 15 times. In his first year of eligibility, 2007, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Messier was listed among the “100 Greatest NHL Players” of all time in 2017.
In recognition of his “contributions to hockey as an excellent player and captain, and for his leadership in encouraging children to take up the sport,” Governor General David Johnston appointed him an Officer of the Order of Canada on June 30, 2017.
What are the significant achievements of Messier in NHL history?
- The only player to have captained two Stanley Cup championship teams, the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers.
- In 1998, he was ranked number 12 on The Hockey News’ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.
- On November 13, 2006, the National Hockey League created the Mark Messier Leadership Award, given to an individual in the sport who leads by example on the ice, motivates his teammates and is dedicated to community activities and charitable causes.
- His 1,887 points in the regular season are third all-time to Jaromír Jágr and Wayne Gretzky’s 2857 (alongside whom he played for 11 seasons). Despite this feat, Messier never won a scoring title, as his best finish was runner-up in 1989–90. His career-high for regular-season goals was 50 which he accomplished just once in 1981–82.
- His 1,756 regular-season NHL games played are third most all-time to Gordie Howe and Patrick Marleau who played in 1,767 and 1,779 regular-season NHL games, respectively.
7. Sidney crosby
Sidney Patrick Crosby, NHL captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, was born on August 7, 1987.
He was chosen first overall by the Penguins in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and given the nicknames “Sid the Kid” and “The Next One.” One of the best ice hockey players of all time is considered to be Crosby.
How did the career of Sidney crosby start?
He won numerous honours and helped the Rimouski Océanic to the 2005 Memorial Cup final during his two-year major junior tenure with the team. In 2019, Océanic and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League retired Sidney Crosby’s 87th-game jersey.
When Sidney Crosby made his NHL debut in the 2005–06 campaign, he recorded 102 points and came in second place for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s Rookie of the Year.
He is the youngest player to date to reach 100 points in an NHL season at the age of 18 years and 253 days.
He became the youngest player and the only teenager to win a scoring title in any significant North American sports league at the end of his second season, when he led the NHL with 120 points and won the Art Ross Trophy.
Crosby received the Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player as determined by his peers and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player (MVP) during the same season.
Has Sidney crosby won the stanley cups?
He assumed the team’s captaincy at the beginning of the 2007–08 season, and he later guided the group to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in six games.
The next year, the Penguins faced Detroit in the Finals again and prevailed in seven games; Crosby was the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup in NHL history.
How was the later career of Sidney crosby at the National hockey league?
He won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal scorer in 2009–10 after scoring 51 goals and winning the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Early in 2011, Crosby suffered a concussion, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season and for the majority of the 2011–12 season.
Crosby earned the Hart Memorial Award once more in 2014, along with his second Art Ross Trophy (104 points) and third Ted Lindsay Award. As the player who guided Pittsburgh to Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, Crosby became the third person to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP) two years in a row.
In 2017, he was recognised as one of the 100 greatest NHL players of all time and won his second Richard Trophy.
How was the international career of Sidney?
On several occasions, Crosby has represented Canada abroad. He earned the gold medal at the 2005 World Junior Championships and was subsequently selected for Team Canada’s participation in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
He scored the game-winning goal in overtime while competing against the United States in the gold medal match. At the 2014 Winter Olympics, Crosby led Team Canada to their second consecutive gold medal.
He joined the Triple Gold Club and was the only player to have captained all three winning teams when he led his nation to gold in the World Championship in Prague a year later.
2016 saw Crosby lead Canada to victory in the hockey World Cup, and he was chosen MVP by a unanimous vote.
6. Bobby Hull
Robert Marvin Hull, a Canadian retired ice hockey player who was born on January 3, 1939, is recognised as one of the game’s all-time greats.
He was known as “The Golden Jet” because of his blonde hair, quick skating, end-to-end rushes, and ability to fire the puck with great velocity. His abilities were such that he frequently had one or two opponents assigned solely to follow him around.
Why is Bobby Hull considered as one of the best in nhl history?
Hull played with the Chicago Black Hawks, Winnipeg Jets, and Hartford Whalers throughout the course of his 23-year career in the NHL and World Hockey Association (WHA).
In addition to helping the Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961, he twice received the Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player and three times received the Art Ross Trophy for the league’s top point scorer. Additionally, he guided the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA to Avco Cup victories in 1976 and 1978.
He scored more goals than any other player in NHL history seven times, and he also led the WHA in scoring once while also winning the WHA’s Most Valuable Player award twice.
In addition to being inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, he also won the 2003 Wayne Gretzky International Award. Hull was listed among the “100 Greatest NHL Players” of all time in 2017.
What are the achievements of Bobby hull?
The achievements of Bobby hull are as follows :-
- Art Ross Trophy winner (1960, 1962, and 1966)
- NHL First All-Star Team Left Wing (1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972)
- Stanley Cup champion (1961)
- NHL Second All-Star Team left wing (1963 and 1971)
- Hart Memorial Trophy winner (1965 and 1966)
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner (1965)
- Lester Patrick Trophy winner (1969)
- Became third hockey player to appear on the cover of Time magazine
- NHL All-Star game MVP (1970, 1971), only player to win consecutive All-Star game MVP awards
- WHA First All-Star Team (1973, 1974, and 1975)
- WHA Second All-Star Team (1976 and 1978)
- WHA Most Valuable Player (1973 and 1975)
- Avco Cup (WHA) Championships (1976, 1978, and 1979)
- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983
- Retired as the second leading goal scorer and ninth leading point scorer in NHL history (currently 17th and 50th respectively)
- Second in WHA history in goals, sixth in assists and third in points.
- In 1998, he was ranked number 8 on The Hockey News‘ list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking left winger
- Honoured member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
- Member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame
- Inaugural member of the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame.
- Honoured member of the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame
5. Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice “Rocket” Richard, a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL, was born on August 4, 1921, and passed away on May 27, 2000.
In 1944–1945, he became the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a single season, doing it in 50 games, and the first to 500 goals in a career.
Why is Richard considered as one of the greatest players of all time?
With 544 goals overall, Richard retired in 1960 as the league’s all-time leading scorer. He participated in 13 All-Star Games, was selected to 14 NHL postseason All-Star teams, eight of which were the first team, and was awarded the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 1947.
Richard was ranked among the top 100 NHL players of all time in 2017. Henri, Maurice’s younger brother, spent the final five years of his career playing with him on the Canadiens.
Henri, a centre known as the “Pocket Rocket,” is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame alongside Maurice.
In the 1940s, the “Punch line,” a high-scoring forward line, was made up of Richard, Elmer Lach, and Toe Blake. Richard played on eight Stanley Cup winning teams, including a league-record five straight from 1956 to 1960.
He captained the team for the final four of those seasons. Richard was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1961 after the five-year eligibility waiting period was lifted.
He was admitted to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. In 1960, the Canadiens retired his number, 9, and in 1999, they gave the NHL the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, which is given annually to the league’s top goal scorer during the regular season.
Where did Richard come from?
Richard, the oldest of eight kids, came from a poor household during the Great Depression and was at first thought of as a weak player. He was unable to enlist in the Canadian military during World War II due to a series of wounds.
He was intense and well-known for his aggressive, occasionally brutal style of play. Late in the 1954–1955 season, Richard was involved in a violent on-ice incident in which he hit a linesman.
The Richard Riot in Montreal started when NHL President Clarence Campbell suspended him for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs.
In the years since, the riot has developed a mythological character and is frequently seen as a forerunner to Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. Richard was a symbol of culture for the Francophone community in Quebec, and the legend of him appears prominently in The Hockey Sweater, a classic piece of Canadian literature by Roch Carrier.
Richard received an abdominal cancer diagnosis in 1998 and passed away from the condition two years later. He was the first non-politician to receive a state funeral from the province of Quebec.
4. Gordie howe
Gordon Howe, a Canadian professional ice hockey player, died on June 10, 2016. He was born on March 31, 1928.
He played hockey for the Detroit Red Wings for his first 25 seasons before moving on to play 26 NHL seasons and six World Hockey Association (WHA) seasons between 1946 and 1980.
Howe, who goes by the moniker “Mr. Hockey,” is frequently regarded as one of the best players of all time and the finest all-around athlete to ever play the game.
What are the nhl record of Gordie howe?
At the time of his retirement, Howe held NHL records for 801 goals, 1049 assists, and 1850 total points. These marks stood until Wayne Gretzky, who has been a huge supporter of Howe’s legacy, broke them.
He was a 23-time NHL All-Star, still maintains the league record for seasons played, and only Patrick Marleau broke his record of 1,767 games played in NHL history in 2021. In 2017, Howe was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players”.
How did the career of Gordie howe start?
With the Red Wings, Howe made his NHL debut in 1946. He earned the Art Ross Trophy six times in total, second most in NHL history, for leading the league in points from 1950–51 to 1953–54, then again in 1956–57 and 1962–63. Four times, he was the NHL’s top goal scorer.
Most 21 straight seasons, he was among the top 10 scorers in the NHL. In 1953, he set an NHL record for points in a season (95), which wasn’t surpassed until six years later.
He earned six Hart Trophies as the NHL’s most valuable player and four Stanley Cups with the Red Wings. Additionally, he six times held the NHL postseason point lead.
When did Howe retire?
Howe took his first retirement in 1971, and the following year, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
The following year, he was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he returned two years later to play for the Houston Aeros of the WHA alongside his sons Mark and Marty.
He won two successive Avco World Trophies (1974 and 1975) despite being in his mid-40s, scored more than 100 points twice in six years, and was awarded the 1974 most valuable player.
In 1979–80, he briefly returned to the NHL, playing one season with the Hartford Whalers before retiring at the age of 52.
He played a key role in the WHA’s brief pre-NHL merger success, which forced the NHL to hire European players and open up new markets. He inspired the “Gordie Howe hat trick,” which was a goal, an assist, and a fight in one game.
What was the speciality of Gordie howe?
Howe changed what it meant to be a forward by setting new standards for physical prowess, career longevity, and scoring prowess.
The only player to have played in the NHL from the 1940s to the 1980s, he also participated in a 1997 IHL game for the Detroit Vipers, making his professional hockey career span a sixth decade.
Although he only had two such games in his career, he became known as the “Gordie Howe hat trick” because he once scored, assisted on another goal, and got into a brawl. In 2008, he received the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award for the first time.
3. Bobby orr
Robert Gordon, a retired professional ice hockey player from Canada, is regarded as one of the best ever. Orr revolutionised the defenseman position with his blazing speed on the ice, scoring prowess, and ability to create plays.
He participated in 12 seasons of NHL hockey, spending the first 10 with the Boston Bruins and the next two with the Chicago Black Hawks. With two Art Ross Trophies, Orr is still the only defenseman to have taken home the league scoring crown.
What are the NHL records held by Bobby orr?
He currently owns the defenseman record for both points and assists in a season. Orr set a record by winning a league-high eight Norris Trophies in a row for top defenseman and three Hart Trophies in a row for most valuable player (MVP).
At age 31, Bobby Orr was the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The NHL selected Bobby Orr as one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in 2017.
How did the career of Bobby orr start?
Orr made his varsity hockey debut at the age of eight. He started out as a forward but switched to defence where he was urged to use his skating prowess to direct play.
NHL scouts took notice of Orr’s performance in Ontario provincial competition when he was just twelve years old. At the age of 14, Orr joined the junior hockey team of the Boston Bruins, the Oshawa Generals, and he spent three of his four seasons as an all-star.
Orr joined the Boston Bruins in 1966, a group that hadn’t had playoff success since 1959 and hadn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1941.
The Bruins lost in the 1974 Final while Orr was on the team, but they won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1970 and 1972. Orr was the postseason MVP and the player who scored the game-winning goal in both games.
He won the MVP award at the 1976 Canada Cup international hockey competition, marking his career’s pinnacle accomplishment.
Bobby Orr joined the Black Hawks in 1976 after leaving Boston as a free agent, but by 1978, at the age of 30, he had retired due to repeated injuries that had irreparably damaged his left knee.
One of the earliest professional ice hockey contracts to be negotiated by an agency was Orr’s first one. He became the first rookie to earn the most money in NHL history as a result. The NHL’s first million-dollar contract was his second one.
Bobby Orr, however, discovered after retiring that he was heavily in debt and had to liquidate most of his possessions. In order to resolve his contract, Orr parted with his agent Alan Eagleson and sued the Black Hawks.
Orr started a business to repair his finances after moving back to Boston with his family. The investigations that resulted in Eagleson’s fraud convictions and disbarment were supported by Orr. Orr also backed a legal action that criticised the NHL for controlling its pension plan.
What does Bobby orr do after retirement?
Bobby Orr worked as a scout for various professional teams after his hockey career. When the Wasserman Media Group acquired the Orr Hockey Group agency in 2018, Orr had been a player agent since 1996 and served as its president.
Orr also participates in television ads and charitable endeavours. A junior hockey squad that participates in the annual CHL Top Prospects Game is coached by Orr every year since 1996.
2. Mario lemieux
A retired professional ice hockey player from Canada, Mario Lemieux was born on October 5, 1965. Between 1984 and 2006, he spent a portion of 17 NHL seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and in 1999, he became the team’s owner.
He is widely considered as one of the best players of all time and goes by the nicknames “The Magnificent One,” “Le Magnifique,” and “Super Mario” after the fictitious character of the same name.
Despite being a big man, Lemieux was a talented playmaker and a quick skater who frequently beat defensemen with fakes and dekes.
How did the career of Mario lemieux start?
Lemieux, who was selected first overall by the Penguins in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, helped Pittsburgh win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992. The Penguins added championships under his ownership in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
As both a player and an owner, he is the only guy whose name appears on the Cup. In addition, he guided Team Canada to victories at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, a Canada Cup in 1987, and a gold medal at the 2002 Summer Olympics.
He received four Lester B. Pearson Awards as the best player as chosen by his teammates, three Hart Awards as the NHL’s regular-season MVP, six Art Ross Awards as the league’s leading scorer, and two Conn Smythe Awards as the playoff MVP in 1991 and 1992.
He accomplished the rare feat of scoring a goal in each of the five scenarios in a single NHL game in 1988, making him the only player to do so. With 690 goals and 1,033 assists, he was the seventh-highest career point scorer in the NHL at the time of his retirement.
With a 0.754 career goals-per-game average, he is second only to Mike Bossy in NHL history (0.762). With a career average of 1.129 assists per game, he is second only to Wayne Gretzky in NHL history (1.320). With an average of 1.883 points scored per game, he is second only to Wayne Gretzky in NHL history (1.921).
When did Mario lemieux retire?
Lemieux became the third member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (after Guy Lafleur and Gordie Howe) to play after induction when the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted him in 2000, skipping the customary three-year waiting period.
Mario Lemieux had a big impact on the NHL; Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review referred to him as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ saviour, and Wayne Gretzky said after Lemieux retired that “A player like Mario Lemieux cannot be replaced. He’ll be missed in the game.”
He was said to as “the most talented player I’ve ever seen” by Bobby Orr. Orr, Bryan Trottier, and many other fans conjectured that Lemieux’s accomplishments on the ice may have been much higher if he hadn’t struggled with his health as much.
He was listed among the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in 2017. He was honoured with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2004.
1. Wayne gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach, was born on January 26, 1961. From 1979 through 1999, he competed in 20 NHL seasons for four different teams.
Based on comprehensive polls of hockey writers, former players, general managers, and coaches, he is known as “the Great One” and has been hailed as the best hockey player to ever play the game by many sportswriters, players, the NHL, and The Hockey News. In NHL history, Gretzky has scored more goals, produced more assists, and accrued more points than any other player combined.
He also has the most career assists. He was the only NHL player to score more than 200 points in a single season four times.
In addition, Gretzky scored more than 100 points in 16 of his professional seasons, including 14 straight. He held 61 NHL records when he retired in 1999, including 6 All-Star records, 15 playoff records, and 40 regular season records.
Why is Wayne gretzky the greatest hockey players of all time?
At the 1978 World Junior Championships, Gretzky led all scorers. He signed with the World Hockey Association’s (WHA) Indianapolis Racers in June 1978, and played there for a short while before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers.
He set numerous scoring records and guided the Oilers to four Stanley Cup victories until the WHA disbanded and they moved to the NHL. Gretzky is credited with popularising hockey in California after he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988.
This move immediately improved the team’s performance and eventually got them to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. Before concluding his playing career with the New York Rangers, Gretzky spent a brief time with the St. Louis Blues.
In addition to winning two Conn Smythe Trophies for playoff MVP, Gretzky also won nine Hart Trophies for most valuable player, ten Art Ross Trophies for most points scored in a season, and five Lester B. Pearson Awards (now known as the Ted Lindsay Award) for most outstanding player as determined by his peers.
Five times and 16 times respectively, he had the most assists in the league. He also frequently advocated against fighting in hockey and earned the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy five times for sportsmanship and performance.
Gretzky is the most recent player to have the waiting period eliminated; he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately following his retirement in 1999.
Along with Jackie Robinson, whose uniform number 42 was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997, and Bill Russell, whose uniform number 6 was retired by the National Basketball Association in 2022, he is the only hockey player and one of only three athletes in professional sports history to receive such an honour.
Six players, including Gretzky, were selected for the Centennial All-Star Team of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
Just like the greatest players in NHL history, we have also posted the the best baseball players of all time. Do not forget to check it out.
