The greatest players in NHL history: Nos. 50-40. https://t.co/QlMFyZY3VV pic.twitter.com/sjlP98cVDm
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) January 27, 2017
Deadspin
In ranking the NHL’s top 100 greatest players, we were aware of two things. The first was that our list – created by rating players through several distinct categories – was immediately going to be better than the NHL’s own list, which will be released this weekend. This is because unlike the NHL, we actually rank the players, rather than list them alphabetically, because we don’t have to hold any professional athlete’s hand and explain why he’s less special than his friends are.
The second thing was that the modern era of the NHL is demonstrably better than previous eras. Today’s players are faster, stronger, better trained and better equipped than any other generation. Skaters have to fight through defensive systems and goalies that are better skilled, or certainly better coached, than they’ve ever been.
Only two of the top 50 seasons in goals-per-game happened since the 2005 lockout – and they were the two seasons that immediately followed it, and we all know how freaky those were. Making the playoffs is harder. Winning awards is harder. Surviving the grind is harder.
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