List of 100 greatest NHL players by The Hockey News

This is The Hockey News top 100 National Hockey League players of all-time. The Hockey News is a newspaper that write about ice hockey. This list is included in the book The Top 100 NHL Players of All-Time (ISBN 978-07710-4175-4).

Judges

The judges who helped make the selections for this list included writers, journalists, and broadcasters (Don Cherry, John Davidson, Milt Dunnell, Stan Fischler, Dick Irvin, Brian McFarlane, Bob McKenzie, Jim Matheson, Harry Neale, Frank Orr), as well as coaches, referees, general managers, and former players (Al Arbour, Scotty Bowman, Emile Francis, Howie Meeker, Scotty Morrison, Roger Neilson, Bud Poile, Sam Pollock, Marcel Pronovost, Billy Reay, Glen Sather, Harry Sinden, Red Storey).

The list

Players in boldface were active when the list was published in early 1998. Flags of players born outside of Canada (regardless of nationality) are included next to their names.

  1. Wayne Gretzky
  2. Bobby Orr
  3. Gordie Howe
  4. Mario Lemieux[1]
  5. Maurice Richard
  6. Doug Harvey
  7. Jean Beliveau
  8. Bobby Hull
  9. Terry Sawchuk[2]
  10. Eddie Shore
  11. Guy Lafleur
  12. Mark Messier
  13. Jacques Plante
  14. Ray Bourque
  15. Howie Morenz
  16. Glenn Hall
  17. Stan Mikita[3]  
  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[4]  
  38. Marcel Dionne
  39. Joe Malone
  40. Chris Chelios[5]  
  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
Notes
  1. Lemieux was retired at the time the list was published, but returned later for parts of five more seasons.
  2. Sawchuk is the highest-ranked goaltender.
  3. Mikita is the highest-ranked European-born player, though he was raised in Canada from a young age.
  4. Jagr is the highest-ranked European-born-and-trained player.
  5. Chelios is the highest-ranked player born in the U.S.A.