100 Greatest NHL Players

In 2017, the National Hockey League commemorated its 100th anniversary with a list of the 100 Greatest NHL Players. The list was made through voting compiled by a panel of 58 people, including media members, NHL alumni and NHL executives.Greg Wyshynski
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Yahoo! Sports The list is in alphabetical order rather than ranked.

The first 33, representing players who played prior to 1966, were unveiled during a pre-game ceremony at the NHL Centennial Classic outdoor game on January 1, 2017. The remaining players were announced on January 27, 2017, at a special ''NHL 100 Gala'' ceremony held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, two days before the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.

Reaction

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''Los Angeles Times'' Dale Hawerchuk, Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla, Zdeno Chara, Pierre Pilote and Michel Goulet were considered to be notable players omitted from the list. Malkin responded to his omission by joking that he could be the 101st best player, and remarked that all who were featured on the list earned the honour.

Summary

Of the players on the list, 39 are centremen, 21 are defencemen, 15 are goaltenders, 15 are right wingers and 10 are left wingers. There are 21 players who started their NHL career in the decade of the 1980s, and 22 who last played in the NHL during the decade of the 2000s, the most by decade for each category. The player on the list with the shortest NHL career is goaltender Bill Durnan, who played for six seasonswinning the Vezina Trophy and selected to the NHL First All-Star team in every season. The two players on the list with the longest NHL career, at 26 seasons each, are: right winger Gordie Howe, over a 33 year period, having retired for two seasons before returning to the World Hockey Association for six seasons, closing with a final year in the NHL; and defenceman Chris Chelios, over a 27 year period, playing in the International Hockey League during the cancelled 2004–05 NHL lockout season.

See also

*'' The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time'' - a 1998 book created by ''The Hockey News''

References

{{reflist, 30em

National Hockey League lists