NHL unveils full list of 100 Greatest NHL Players
By @StefanKubus & @MichaelCaples –
Friday night marked the National Hockey League’s unveiling of their 100 Greatest Players list as part of its centennial celebration.
The first 33 players, who predominantly played during the NHL’s first half century, from 1917-1966, were named on Jan. 1 at the Centennial Classic. That list, which includes the likes of Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk, can be found here.
The remaining 67 players were revealed Friday in Los Angeles to help kick off the NHL All-Star weekend.
Red Wings honored:
Steve Yzerman
Yzerman spent his entire 22-season playing career with the Wings. The No. 4 overall draft pick in 1983, the Cranbrook, B.C. native captained Detroit to three Stanley Cups – 1997, 1998, 2002 – before retiring in 2006. Yzerman’s individual awards include a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2002, a Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2000 and Bill Masterton Trophy in 2003. His 65-goal, 155-point season in 1988-89 marks the highest single-season totals in Wings history. Yzerman, currently GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, finished his career with 692 goals and 1,063 assists in 1,514 regular season games and 185 points in 196 playoff games.
Nick Lidstrom
Lidstrom, dubbed by teammates as “The Perfect Human,” was a rock on the Red Wings’ blue line for 20 seasons. Detroit made the playoffs every season Lidstrom played, from 1991-2012. The Swedish defenseman is a four-time Stanley Cup winner, a seven-time Norris Trophy winner and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015. Lidstrom finished his career with 1,142 points in 1,564 game.
Pavel Datsyuk
Datsyuk wore the winged wheel from 2001 to 2016 and compiled 314 goals and 918 points in 953 games. He was known for his silky moves with the puck, but also his defensive prowess and gentlemanly play. Datsyuk won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy four years in a row from 2006-09 and the Selke Trophy three years consecutively from 2008-10.
Brendan Shanahan
He didn’t spend his whole career in Hockeytown, but ‘Shanny’ certainly left his mark. Shanahan spent a decade in Detroit, serving as the final piece to the puzzle in the Red Wings’ quest for the Stanley Cup. He helped the team win Lord Stanley’s Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002. In a career with New Jersey, Detroit and the New York Rangers, Shanahan posted 1,354 points and 2,489 penalty minutes over 1,524 games.
Sergei Fedorov
Known for his blazing speed and flashy finesse, Fedorov was one of the most exciting Red Wings during his time in Detroit. The Russian forward spent the first 13 seasons of his career in Detroit and helped form the famous Russian Five unit, winning three Stanley Cups with the Wings. Fedorov later joined Anaheim, Columbus and Washington before finishing his career in Russia. A two-time Selke Trophy and one-time Hart Trophy winner, Fedorov compiled 483 goals and 1,179 points in his 1,248-game career.
Chris Chelios
Arguably the best American-born defenseman in league history, Chelios played from 1983 to 2010, having retired at age 48. The Chicago native joined the Red Wings in 1999 and helped Detroit capture two Stanley Cups, in 2002 and 2008. Chelios is a three-time Norris Trophy winner, as he took home the award in 1989, 1993 and 1996. Over the course of his 26-season career, Chelios amassed 948 points in 1,651 games while providing a hard-nosed game on the back end. He is currently an assistant coach with Detroit.
Dominik Hasek
He only spent four seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, but he certainly made an impact on Hockeytown. Hasek, who came to Detroit in time to help the Red Wings capture Stanley Cup championships in 2002 and 2008, recorded a career 389 wins, a .922 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average. He won six Vezina Trophies as the league’s top goaltender.
Brett Hull
The Golden Brett spent three seasons in Detroit and was a key member of the 2002 Stanley Cup team that also featured the likes of fellow Hall of Famers Dominik Hasek and Luc Robitaille. Hull captured the Hart Memorial Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award following the 1990-91 season that saw him net 86 goals. He lit the lamp 741 times in his career, good for fourth all-time behind Jaromir Jagr, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky. Hull also finished with 1,391 points in 1,269 games.
Paul Coffey
He forged a Hockey Hall of Fame-worthy career with the Edmonton Oilers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, but Coffey played a role in Hockeytown’s revitalization, as well. The smooth-skating defenseman played for Detroit from 1992-96, leaving just before the team captured their first Stanley Cup championship in four decades the next season. Coffey recorded a career 1,531 points in 1,409 games from the blue line.
Luc Robitaille
Robitaille won’t be remembered as a Red Wing, but he was many Hall-of-Famers on Detroit’s remarkable 2002 Stanley Cup championship roster. ‘Lucky Luc’ recorded 81 points in two seasons with the Wings in the twilight of his career – a career that featured 668 total goals and 1,394 total points.
Adam Oates
Oates is better known for his days with the St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals, but he got his start in Hockeytown. Oates joined the Wings after playing college hockey at R.P.I., and he spent four seasons in Detroit before heading to St. Louis. One of the best set-up guys the game has ever seen, Oates recorded more than 1,000 assists in his career, and he finished with 1,420 total points.
Marcel Dionne
Marcel Dionne was part of the group of the 1970s forwards named to the centennial list. He isn’t remembered as a Red Wing, but he got his start in Detroit, playing from 1971-75 in a Winged Wheel uniform. Dionne finished his career – the majority of which was spent in Los Angeles – with a remarkable 1771 career points.
Borje Salming
One of the first Europeans to shine in the NHL, Salming certainly isn’t known for his one season with the Red Wings, but here’s a little, ‘hey did you know…’ bit of information. After 16 legendary seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Salming concluded his NHL career with the Wings during the 1989-90 season. He still managed to post 19 points in 49 games. Salming then played three seasons with AIK in his native Sweden before officially retiring in 1993.
The names honored by the NHL Friday evening with Michigan ties:
Mike Modano
A Livonia, Mich. native, Modano is the lone Michigan-born-and-bred representative on the list. His 561 goals and 1,374 points are the highest in history among American-born players. A former No. 1 overall pick of the Minnesota North Stars in 1988, Modano went on to the face of the Stars’ franchise for 21 seasons before playing one final season at home with the Wings.
Pat LaFontaine
His hometown is listed as St. Louis, Mo., but for a stretch during his youth hockey days, Pat LaFontaine was dominating games in rinks around Metro Detroit. In a 15-year NHL career, he scored at least 40 goals in six consecutive seasons. LaFontaine recorded 1013 total points during an NHL career that featured time with the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and one year with the New York Rangers.
Tony Esposito
Michigan Tech alum Tony Esposito was named during the 1970s presentation. The legendary goaltender led the Huskies to a national title in 1975 before a hall-of-fame career with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Patrick Kane
The Blackhawks’ No. 88 lived in Michigan while playing for Honeybaked as a midget, and then he starred for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor.
Duncan Keith
The Chicago defenseman played for Michigan State for almost two campaigns before heading home for half a season in the WCHL and then a pro career that will certainly end with a Hockey Hall of Fame induction.