NHL 100 Greatest Players

Is Billy Smith one of the Greatest Goalies of All Time?

Billy Smith’s playoff accomplishments are legendary.

But are his stats good enough for him to be discussed among the greatest NHL goalies ever?

Listen to us discuss Billy Smith’s Hockey Hall of Fame case and where he ranks all time:

Hall of Fame class of 1993: Edgar Laprade, Guy Lapointe, Steve Shutt and Billy Smith

Is Larry Robinson one of the Greatest Defencemen of All Time?

Larry Robinson is the All Time Leader in Plus Minus and has a pretty remarkable career.

Yet sometimes he feels a bit forgotten, surrounded as he was by Hall of Fame Teammates on the Greatest Hockey Team of All Time.

Where does he rank among the All Time Greats? Does he even make your list?

Listen to us talk about Larry Robinson here:

Does Borje Salming Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Borje Salming was arguably the first European-trained (as opposed to European-born) NHL star. And for 6 years in a row he made the end of season All Star Team (though usually as a 2nd Team All Star).

But what about his lack of team success?

Does Salming still belong in the Hall of Fame? Listen to us discuss his case here:

Does Bryan Trottier Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bryan Trottier won six Cups, a Hart, an Art Ross, a Conn Smythe (and should have won a second) and was among the all time leading scorers in NHL history when he retired.

Really the only blemish on his career is that adjustments for era hurt him a little bit.

So it’s obvious he belongs in the Hall of Fame and the question really is, where does he rank all time among NHL centres?

Listen to us talk about Trottier here:

Is Mario Lemieux the Greatest of All Time?

Through a career riddled by injuries – including one induced retirement – Lemieux was one of the most dominant forwards the game has ever seen. He temporarily led the NHL in both career Goals Per Game and Points Per Game, despite debuting after Gretzky and despite playing more of his career in the Dead Puck Era.

Tony McCune, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

But Lemieux never reached Gretzky’s accomplishments either in terms of his peak or his longevity. He has fewer scoring titles and Cups than Gretzky, and Gretzky achieved Lemieux’s offensive feats many times over.

Listen to us discuss whether or not Lemieux is the Greatest Hockey Player of All Time, the Greatest Centre of All Time, or something else, here:

Does Peter Stastny Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Peter Stastny is a legend; one of the NHL’s first European-trained stars and in the Top 10 All Time in both APG and PPG.

Tsunami330, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

But he was never close to the best player in league – he has one Top 5 Hart finish in his entire career – and he was never a star in best-on-best international competition.

So, does he deserve his reputation as one of the great players of the 1980s?

Listen here:

Is Wayne Gretzky the Greatest Hockey Play of All Time?

Gretzky is The Great One. But some of us think Bobby Orr was better.

So maybe he’s the greatest forward ever. But then there’s Gordie Howe.

So maybe he’s the greatest centre ever. But then some people think Lemieux is.

For this episode, we spend it talking entirely about how incredible Gretzky was.

Listen here:

Does Denis Savard Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Denis Savard put up some gaudy regular season point totals in the ’80s and some impressive playoff numbers to boot.

But was he ever really among the best players in the league?

Listen to us discuss whether or not Denis Savard belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame:

Does Mike Gartner Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mike Gartner retired with the 5th most Goals of All Time. Yet he was never a star player and is derided in some corners of the internet as a “compiler”, i.e. a guy who was just very good and very healthy.

Does Mike Gartner actually belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Listen to us discuss his case here:

Does Jari Kurri Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Or, rather, is Jari Kurri the Greatest Finnish Hockey Player of All Time?

Kurri was a huge offensive star in the ’80s but, of course, he was playing on the wing of the greatest offensive hockey player the world has ever seen.

Listen to us talk about Kurri’s place in history here: