Top 10 most exciting players in history

NHL.com is taking the summer hockey-free period as an opportunity to recall the best of the NHL’s 100-year history. Today it’s the turn of the ten most exciting players of all time.

Everyone knows those players who set off fireworks every time they’re on the ice. Those players who get fans out of their seats with their moves and who make the NHL one of the most spectacular sports leagues in the world.
In its eventful history, the NHL has produced a number of such exciting players, but here are the absolute top 10 most exciting players of all time:

Alex Ovechkin
Winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 was the icing on the cake of Alex Ovechkin’s career. The career of a player who is undisputedly one of the most talented strikers in the history of ice hockey. He was already no unknown when he was selected first overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL Draft, but what he conjured up on the ice over the next 14 years catapulted him to the top of ice hockey’s Olympus. There he is now mentioned in the same breath as the sport’s greatest.
On October 5, 2005, Ovechkin made his debut at the same time as Sidney Crosby , and in his first season he was actually a nose ahead of his long-time rival. In his first game, Ovechkin scored two goals, and at the end of the season he was awarded the Calder Trophy for the best rookie. With seven Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy wins and 607 goals in 1,003 regular season games, Ovechkin is one of the most successful goal scorers of all time.
But he is not on this list because he scores so many goals, but because of how he scores them. His list of jaw-dropping goals is so long that they could easily be edited together into several feature-length films.

Pavel Datsyuk
Of course, Pavel Datsyuk never achieved the same results as his compatriot Ovechkin. But this does not detract from his impressive career. Datsyuk’s goals are at least as spectacular as Ovechkin’s in their own way. With his infamous “Datsyuk move” he caught one or two goalies off guard.
From 2001 to 2016, Datsyuk played for the Detroit Red Wings. In 953 NHL games he scored 918 points (314 goals, 604 assists). He impressed with numerous puck wins and a team-oriented style of play, but Datsyuk was best able to show off his qualities in the shootout. When he ended his NHL career, Datsyuk was ranked fourth in the penalty shootout with a total of 40 goals.

Wayne Gretzky
Anyone who cracks the 100-point mark these days is one of the absolute elite. When Wayne Gretzky was at the peak of his career in the 1980s and early 1990s, he scored points in a way that is hard to imagine today.
From 1981 to 1994, Gretzky never scored less than 130 points. He still holds the record (215 points), which he set in the 1985/86 season. What set him apart from his competitors was his intelligence. He was cleverer than all of his opponents and could read the game like no other.
Similar: [The ten most memorable games in NHL history ]

Dominik Hasek
It would be cheeky to claim that Gretzky was only able to score so many goals because goalies were worse in the past. But there must be a small grain of truth in that. When Dominik Hasek came to the NHL for the 1990/91 season, goalkeeping was a very different beast. The common saying that a goalkeeper is like a fish on land was widespread.
Only one person didn’t want to stick to it. The Czech Hasek did gymnastics in his goal, threw himself on his back, cleared shots with his head, left his blade on the ice and caught the puck with his blocker. Hasek not only enchanted his fans with his masterstrokes, he also made the butterfly style socially acceptable.
Denis Savard
The Montreal Canadiens had first pick in the 1980 NHL Draft; they could have used him for Denis Savard, but didn’t. They chose Doug Wickenheiser, a center who would score 276 points (111 goals, 165 assists) in 556 NHL games. Savard, on the other hand, went to the Chicago Blackhawks, who were delighted.
After just his fourth season, Savard had already surpassed Wickenheiser’s career scoring record and was known as one of the most entertaining players in the league. Thanks to his legendary “Savard Spin-o-Rama,” he cracked the 100-point mark five times in the 1980s.

Pavel Bure
Before Pavel Bure came to the NHL in 1991, he trained for three years with the Soviet military sports club CSKA Moscow. Training that had honed his skills to such an extent that he was miles ahead of most of his opponents. He was a gifted skater, an agile and puck-safe winger.
Bure was equally impressive on both sides of the ice. Thanks to his speed, he was omnipresent. In defense, he put pressure on the opposing strikers and as soon as he had captured the puck, he quickly joined the offensive game.
Maurice Richard
Hardly any other ice hockey player achieved such legendary status as Maurice Richard. He was simply much better than all the other players of his generation. Richard, a native of French-Canadian, scored at will. In the 1943/44 season, he scored 32 goals and led the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup.
Richard, known as “The Rocket”, shaped an entire era. He won the championship eight times with the Canadiens, five times in a row from 1956 to 1960. When Richard retired, he was the most successful goalscorer in league history (544 goals in 965 games). The top scorer’s trophy has been named after him since 1999.
You can get the latest NHL news on Twitter at [@NHLde ]
Bobby Orr
Of course, there is some debate about who the greatest player of all time was. Gretzky was a big name and so was Gordie Howe, but neither of them were more revolutionary than Orr. When Orr came to the league, defensive players had to play defensively. Period.
But Orr did not abide by this rule. He was faster and more talented than any defender before him. His 1970/71 season was sensational. With 102 assists and 37 goals, he was the first and to date last defender to win the scoring crown.
Bobby Hull
In the 1950s and 1960s, NHL goalies were stunned by one name: Bobby Hull. His slap shot was a weapon that put fear into goalies. Nicknamed “The Golden Jet” because of his blond mane and impressive speed, the striker could accelerate the puck to a rapid 190.5 km/h.
He cracked the 50-goal mark five times for the Blackhawks. Hull’s best haul came in the 1968/69 season, when he scored 58 goals with his curved blade.
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux was just 19 when he made his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins. He made his first substitution, stole the puck from Ray Bourque and scored his first of a total of 690 NHL goals with his first shot.

Lemieux is the only player in league history to score five goals in five different ways in one game. Against the New Jersey Devils in 1988, the Penguins legend scored one goal at 5-on-5, one shorthanded, one powerplay, one penalty shot and one empty-netter.