Whos The Best NHL Player?
Contents
With the NHL season well underway, we’re taking a look at some of the best players in the league so far. From established veterans to promising rookies, here are some of the best players in the NHL right now.
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He is a retired professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed “The Great One”, he has been called “the greatest hockey player ever” by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. Gretzky is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and assists than any other player. He scored over 200 points in a season four times, a feat no other player has accomplished even once.
His stats
Wayne Gretzky is widely considered the greatest NHL player of all time. During his 20-year career, he played for four different teams and amassed an incredible 2,857 points. He is the only player to have scored more than 200 points in a single season and holds or shares 61 NHL records.
His impact on the game
Wayne Gretzky is widely considered the greatest player in the history of NHL. He played 20 seasons in the NHL for four different teams from 1979 to 1999. During that time, he won four Stanley Cups, nine Hart Trophies as the league’s MVP, 10 Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer, and many other awards. He retired as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,857 points.
Gretzky’s impact on the game of hockey is immeasurable. He popularized hockey in the United States and brought it to new markets in Canada. He raised the level of play for everyone who came after him and his influence is still felt today. If you ask anyone who the best player in NHL history is, they will likely say Wayne Gretzky.
Mario Lemieux
In his prime, Mario Lemieux was without question the best player in the NHL. He could do it all – score goals, set up plays, and play defense. He was a big, strong, fast skater with great vision and an uncanny ability to score goals. He was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players of all time.
His stats
Lemieux’s NHL career totals of 690 goals and 1,033 assists for 1,723 points in 915 games are all records for a Pittsburgh player. He ranks seventh in NHL history with a 0.754 goals-per-game average and is the only player besides Wayne Gretzky to average more than 1 point per game (1.88) over the course of an NHL career. When scoring his 100th point, Lemieux needed only 44 games, making him the fastest player to reach that mark in NHL history. He holds numerous other offensive records for the Penguins, including most goals (601), assists (934), points (1,535), power-play goals(236), shorthanded goals(33), game-winning goals(122) and hat tricks(52).
His impact on the game
Mario Lemieux is widely regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He played his entire career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, leading the team to two Stanley Cup championships. He also won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada in 2002.
Lemieux was known for his size and strength, as well as his skilled passing and shooting. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, and his number 66 was retired by the Penguins in 2006.
Sidney Crosby
Sidney Crosby is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who serves as captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time.
His stats
Sidney Crosby, nicknamed “Sid the Kid”, is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who serves as captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played junior hockey for the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 2003 to 2005, winning consecutive Memorial Cup championships. The first overall selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, he was one of the most highly-regarded draft picks in hockey history, leading many to label him the “next Wayne Gretzky”.
Crosby began his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005–06. He scored 102 points, finishing sixth in league scoring, and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. A slow start to his second season was overshadowed by a dozen game-winning goals – an NHL record for a sophomore – which helped him achieve an average of almost a point per game. In 2007–08, Crosby received numerous awards and led Pittsburgh to its first Stanley Cup championship in 17 years. During his second Stanley Cup run in 2008–09, he received Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and Conn Smythe Trophy as play-off MVP after scoring 31 points en route to his first Stanley Cup championship.
In 2010–11, Crosby eclipsed his previous career highs with 51 goals and 109 points to capture fourth Rocket Richard Trophy as league’s leading goal-scorer and Art Ross Trophy as league’s scoring champion. During that season’s playoffs he suffered a concussion after being checked into the boards from behind by Washington Capitals defenceman David Steckel then from a blindside hit by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Victor Hedman. The resulting concussion sidelined Crosby for most of remainder of that season plus all but 22 games over next 14 months due to post-concussion symptoms
His impact on the game
During hisentry-level campaign in 2005–06, Sidney Crosby exploded onto the NHL scene and became an immediate superstar.Crosby led the NHL with 102 points (36 goals, 66 assists) in 79 games to capture the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, becoming the youngest player and the only teenager to accomplish the feat. He also became the youngest player to ever be named to either an All-Star Game or a post-season All-Star team. for his play during the season, Crosby was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as most outstanding player, becoming
