by Travis Mitchell

Created on: December 15, 2009

From various “greats” to The Great One himself, Canada has produced many of the best hockey players the world has ever seen.

Sidney Crosby:

Drafted 1st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005, Sid the Kid began his NHL career by proving that he was every bit as good as he was projected to be.

During his rookie season in 2005-06, Crosby set franchise records for the Penguins in both assists and points for a first year player, surpassing previous records held by Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux.

He would finish the season with a total of 102 points and with several milestones under his belt, including being the youngest player in the history of the NHL to score 100 points in a season.

Although he had set the league on fire, he would eventually lose out to rival rookie Alexander Ovechkin for the NHL’s rookie of the year award.

Wayne Gretzky once famously mused that out of all the prospects at the time, he thought Crosby had the best chance to beat many of his records. But while this doesn’t appear at present to be possible, The Next One (as he became known after Gretzky’s show of faith) is still a force to be reckoned with and is without a doubt one the very best players in the history of the NHL, even at the tender age of 22 and with his entire career still ahead of him.

NHL Totals:

GP - 322
G - 152
A - 283
PTS - 435

Gordie Howe:

When your nickname is eponymous with the very sport that it’s derived from (in this case, Mr. Hockey), it’s a pretty safe bet that you are the embodiment of pure awesomeness.

Howe began his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1946-47 season, where he netted a mere 22 points in 58 games played.

This would hardly foreshadow his future status as one of the greatest athletes of all time however. Howe would go on to play an astounding 26 seasons in the NHL during a career that spanned several decades.

In this time, he would lead Detroit to 4 Stanley Cups and would amass a slew of both personal awards and league records. Some of these include 6 Art Ross and 6 Hart trophies, as well as 23 All-Star Game appearances.

He is also recognized as being the only professional athlete to have placed among the top 5 in scoring in 20 consecutive seasons of their respective sport.

In 1998, Gordie Howe was named the 3rd greatest hockey player of all time in a list published by The Hockey News.

NHL Totals:

GP - 1,767
G - 801
A - 1,049
PTS - 1,850

Maurice Richard:

Maurice “Rocket” Richard played his entire NHL career

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