Posted on December 4, 2018
Top 10 Favorite NHL Players Of All Time
Scroll below and enjoy
presents a
Favorite
Players
Of All Time
Let’s Do That Hockey
Most folks think of ice hockey as bare-knuckle boxing on skates and to be honest, I used to be one of them. It’s not exactly a sport that a lot of kids played in California so my exposure to it was somewhat limited growing up. Thankfully, Wayne Gretzky 
skated into my heart and brought a style and grace that helped translate the game from an all-out royal rumble on a rink into a nonstop action thrill-ride filled with extremely skilled players who utilize pinpoint precision while putting their bodies on the line as much (or more) as anyone else across the sports spectrum. With the trade that brought “The Great One” to my hometown LA Kings, ice hockey had become more accessible than it had ever been to those of us living in the naive sun-belt and I was ready to dive head-first into this awesome world full of bone-rattling body checks and buzzer-beating slap shots.
Right away, the first thing I picked up after watching a few games as a kid was that these dudes were tough. I mean REALLY TOUGH 
! Injuries are as frequent in this crazy sport as any other thanks to a combination of the high speeds these guys are going as they glide back and forth on the ice, the hard rubber puck being smacked around which can be a dangerous projectile and every player being equipped with a long hooked stick which has the potential to be used as a weapon by anyone at anytime. They fight each other quite often too which seems kind of odd considering the risk for further injury but a sport this fast has all sorts of things going on that escape the referees eyes so it’s actually pretty cool that they allow for some “self-policing” though this should always be monitored by the league in my opinion. One thing’s for sure, the guys that sustain long careers playing this “car crash on ice” are cut from a different cloth and should be heralded as some of the ‘tudiest and most badass athletes ever.
Another aspect that sort of surprised me was how many different types of players there were. Initially, I guess I felt that every hockey player was like a big toothless oaf 
(…apologies to Brent Burns) but I was impressed to learn of all of the different types of roles that could be filled on a team. There’s stick-handling maestros that break the laws of physics with amazing ability to maintain control of the puck (like Pavel Datsyuk 
and Sidney Crosby 
), Hard-shooting snipers who blast the rubber biscuit like a laser with blistering slap shots (like Alex Ovechkin 
and Brett Hull 
), goaltenders who play perhaps the most mentally and physically exhausting position in all of sports while contorting their bodies in all sorts of precarious ways (like Dominik Hasek 
and Henrik Lundqvist 
) and of course big tough defenseman who utilize brute force and physicality to disrupt offensive rushes with big nasty body checks (like Zdeno Chara 
and Chris Pronger 
). So many other roles exist as well (like pesky grinders whose job is to knock into opposing defenders when a teammate has the puck and help clear the way for an open shot or offensive defenseman who can increase the potency of your scoring chance by giving your team another shooting threat during possession (just to name a few) and many of the best players exhibit traits from multiple types which can make it harder to quantify them into one label however this sort of characterization of each position really helped me to differentiate them from each other and also learn more about the game itself as a whole.
That darn Stanley Cup 
too! Has there ever been a cooler trophy in the history of mankind? I mean, it’s no wonder these guys are destroying themselves to get their hands on the thing… it’s freakin’ RAD as hell! Somehow, it has like the name of every past champions laser-etched onto it (how much room is left?), there’s a bowl on top for your choice of culinary delight to be enjoyed while you gloat about your championship to your rivals 
and it’s handled by white-gloved professionals who polish it to a pristine shine before handing it off to a reckless pack of toothless animals for all sorts of random hilarity as they celebrate with it all off-season 
! While every sport contains some kind of trophy or achievement for winning in the final round, nothing truly compares to the prestige and awesomeness of Lord Stanley’s Cup and it will forever be my favorite reward to see lifted at the end of any sports season.
Speaking of prestige, the roots of ice hockey run deep and the celebration of history is as prevalent in this great sport as any other which makes learning about its culture exciting and interesting. Birthed in Canada (…obviously), hockey is entrenched as its nation’s pastime and produces the best players per capita in the NHL by a wide margin however it has also grown in extensive popularity in Europe and Asia (and of course here in the U.S.A.) where the climates are similarly frigid. There are tons of different amateur and professional leagues across the world but I think it’s fair to say that the NHL is without a doubt the premiere organization where the greatest players on Earth are assembled for the ultimate face-off of hockey skill. While the United States is inundated with all kinds of different sports, ice hockey has always fit in thanks to its non-stop action and edgy demeanor and stories like The Miracle On Ice 
show just how relevant this competition on skates can be to us upstart Americans. Move over ball sports, make room for hockey on U.S.A.‘s grand mantle of prime time competition!
News flash (in case you needed it)… ICE HOCKEY RULES!!! It’s fast-moving, has a ton of great history and is full of all kinds of charismatic players that broaden the game’s reach to the masses. Most of these guys are filled to the brim with ‘tude as well 
which certainly raises their appeal to me and also makes them a fun study when deciding who ranks higher on my most-liked chart. So join me, The ‘Tude Dude, as I break down my favorite slap-shooters, body checkers, net defenders and penalty boxers of all time into one nice and tidy list. Now that’s using your head 
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The following is a list of The ‘Tude Dude’s 10 favorite NHL players of all time.
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Gordie Howe, Martin Brodeur, Joe Sakic, Chris Pronger, Bobby Hull, Shea Weber, Mario Lemieux, Anze Kopitar, Maurice Richard, Ray Bourque, Luc Robitaille, Guy Lafleur, Brent Burns, Eric Lindros, Mike Richards, Chris Chelios, Patrick Kane, Peter Forsberg, Henrik Lundqvist, Brian Leetch, John Tavares, Rick Tocchet, Ryan Kesler, Stan Mikita, Bob Probert, Nicklas Lidstrom, Rod Brind’amour, Evgeni Malkin, Dale Hawerchuk, Ed Jovanovski, Jonathan Toews, Steve Yzerman, Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Teemu Selanne, Brett Hull, Wayne Simmonds, Kris Letang, Joe Thornton, Erik Karlsson, Mike Modano, Kelly Hrudey, George Parros, Gary Roberts, Vincent Lecavalier, Derian Hatcher, Mike Cammaleri, Nicklas Backstrom, Adam Oates, Pavel Bure, Pekka Rinne, Doug Gilmoure, Keith Tkachuk, Dustin Byfuglien, Theoren Fleury, Justin Williams, Markus Naslund, Tie Domi, Logan Couture, Jari Kurri, Ed Belfour, Simon Gagne, Jarome Iginla, Pierre Turgeon, Eric Staal, Alec Martinez, Mike Richter, Auston Mathews, Mike Bossy, Patrick Sharp, Pavol Demitra, Petr Sykora, Dustin Brown, Martin St. Louis, Sergei Federov, Georges Laraque, Mattias Norstrom, Felix Potvin, Al Macinnis, Chris Neil, Alex Kovalev, Daniel Alfredsson, Marian Gaborik, Braden Holtby, Jeff Friesen, Keith Primeau, Marcel Dionne, John Scott, Peter Bondra, Ron Francis, Ryan Suter, Pat LaFontaine, P.K. Subban, Cam Neely, Owen Nolan, Miroslav Satan, Chris Simon, Duncan Keith, Bill Guerin, Dave Andreychuk, Patrik Elias, Milan Lucic, Paul Coffey, T.J. Oshie, Curtis Joseph, Darryl Sydor, Steven Stamkos, Alexander Mogilny, Joe Pavelski, Donald Brashear, Matt Greene, Mark Recchi, Brad Marchand, Mats Sundin, Tony Twist, Paul Kariya, Connor McDavid, John Vanbiesbrouck, John Leclair, David Backes, Jeremy Roenick, Patrick Marleau, Jamie Benn, Tony Amonte, Carey Price and what the heck let’s get Ziggy with it… Zigmund Palffy |
.Thanks for reading! Questions/Remarks/Suggestions?
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