100 Greatest NHL Players of the 20th Century

It’s been more than a decade since I first saw this list, but I think it stands the test of time.

When The Hockey News published the list in early 1998, it was called The Top NHL Players of All Time.

I’m calling it the 100 Greatest NHL Players of the 20th Century, since the selection process spans almost all of that century — but doesn’t touch on the players who have emerged in the first decade of the 21st Century.

The Hockey News enlisted an A-Team of hockey talent to compile their Top 100 — coaches, general managers, former players, referees, journalists and broadcasters.

Here’s the list of participants, some still front and centre, some now retired and others, sadly, dead:

Scotty Bowman, Don Cherry, Bud Poile, Sam Pollock, Marcel Pronovost, Billy Reay, Glen Sather, Harry Sinden, John Davidson, Dick Irvin, Brian McFarlane, Bob McKenzie, Harry Neale, Al Arbour, Emile Francis, Howie Meeker, Roger Neilson, Red Storey Milt Dunnell, Stan Fischler, Jim Matheson, Frank Orr andScotty Morrison (the former ref and Hockey Hall of Fame honcho, not the journalist, Hockey Night In Canada commentator and ME of hockey for Rogers Sportsnet).

What an incredible crew. Wouldn’t you like to be in a room with all those people?

Now, as I said, the list was published in early 1998, so the 20th Century still had the last half of the 1997-98 season, all of the 1998-99 season and the first half of the 1999-2000 season to go before you could make the definitive 20th Century list. I’m sure a few active players would have slid up or down a few spots (probably more in at least two cases I can think of) if the list was published in early 2000 instead of 1998.

Players who probably would have gone up in the rankings if the poll had been done two years later would have been, in my estimation, Patrick Roy, Jaromir Jagr, Steve Yzerman, Chris Chelios, Joe Sakic, Brett Hull and Dominik Hasek. Players who would have dropped in that timeframe (again, only in my humble opinion) would have been Eric Lindros and Brian Leetch.

(Personally, I think Darryl Sittler, Charlie Conacher and Bob Gainey should all rank much higher than they are, but that’s just my personal bias.)

All in all, I think the distinguished panel of hockey gurus got it pretty much right. The great thing about a list like this is that you can argue about it forever.

And we aren’t even talking about players who are in the process of becoming NHL stars of the 21st Century. That’s fodder for another time.

For now, here’s the list of 100 Greatest NHL Players of the 20th Century as compiled by The Hockey News:

1.Wayne Gretzky

2.Bobby Orr

3.Gordie Howe

4.Mario Lemieux

5.Maurice Richard

6.Doug Harvey

7.Jean Beliveau

8.Bobby Hull

9.Terry Sawchuk

10.Eddie Shore

11.Guy Lafleur

12.Mark Messier

13.Jacques Plante

14.Ray Bourque

15.Howie Morenz

16.Glenn Hall

17.Stan Mikita

18.Phil Esposito

19.Denis Potvin

20.Mike Bossy

21.Ted Lindsay

22.Patrick Roy

23.Red Kelly

24.Bobby Clarke

25.Larry Robinson

26.Ken Dryden

27.Frank Mahovlich

28.Milt Schmidt

29.Paul Coffey

30.Henri Richard

31.Bryan Trottier

32.Dickie Moore

33.Newsy Lalonde

34.Syl Apps

35.Bill Durnan

36.Charlie Conacher

37.Jaromir Jagr

38.Marcel Dionne

39.Joe Malone

40.Chris Chelios

41.Dit Clapper

42.Bernie Geoffrion

43.Tim Horton

44.Bill Cook

45.Johnny Bucyk

46.George Hainsworth

47.Gilbert Perreault

48.Max Bentley

49.Brad Park

50.Jari Kurri

51.Nels Stewart

52.King Clancy

53.Bill Cowley

54.Eric Lindros

55.Busher Jackson

56.Peter Stastny

57.Ted Kennedy

58.Andy Bathgate

59.Pierre Pilote

60.Turk Broda

61.Frank Boucher

62.Cy Denneny

63.Bernie Parent

64.Brett Hull

65.Aurel Joliat

66.Toe Blake

67.Frank Brimsek

68.Elmer Lach

69.Dave Keon

70.Grant Fuhr

71.Brian Leetch

72.Earl Seibert

73.Doug Bentley

74.Borje Salming

75.Georges Vezina

76.Charlie Gardiner

77.Clint Benedict

78.Steve Yzerman

79.Tony Esposito

80.Billy Smith

81.Serge Savard

82.Alex Delvecchio

83.Babe Dye

84.Lorne Chabot

85.Sid Abel

86.Bob Gainey

87.Johnny Bower

88.Sprague Cleghorn

89.Mike Gartner

90.Norm Ullman

91.Sweeney Schriner

92.Joe Primeau

93.Darryl Sittler

94.Joe Sakic

95.Dominik Hasek

96.Babe Pratt

97.Jack Stewart

98.Yvan Cournoyer

99.Bill Gadsby

100.Frank Nighbor