NHL's All-Time Game Breakers- 1980's and beyond...

Aside from all the free agent signings, controversy and the occasional trade, the summer is a time for NHL fans to reflect on season’s past and the missed opportunities of our favorite teams.

With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the NHL all-time game breakers.

The criteria are simple. Combine a players game winning goals with their game tying goals and their short handed stats. Throw in a few incidentals like a player's “fear factor”, and their ability to bring the best out of those around them, and now we can acknowledge one guy as the NHL’s most feared game breaker.

Or can we?

One stat that I had to throw out was overtime goals. Overtime is a relatively new gig to the NHL, as such, many of the NHL’s greats missed out on the opportunity to net their share of OT goals.

I used NHL.com as my source and, while I am assured there will be lots of debate as to it’s validity, here is my list:

1. Wayne Gretzky—Scored a total of 91 game winners, 12th overall in the NHL, but it’s the Great One’s 73 short handed goals that separates him from the pack. Down a goal or down a man, Gretzky put the fear of God into every NHL player alive. Gretzky had 12 career game tying goals as well.

2. Jaromir Jagr—Leads the NHL with 112 game winning goals. Jagr’s 20 short handed goals and 11 game tying goals prove without a doubt that Jagr was more than just the one-dimensional player that many thought he was.

3. Mark Messier—“Moose”, as many of his teammates referred to him, had a total of 92 career game winners. His 63 short handed goals are second to only Gretzky on this list, while his 15 game tying goals ranks him right up there with the best of the best.

4. Brett Hull—With 110 career game winners, none of them bigger than the one he scored against the Buffalo Sabres to win the Stanley Cup for the Dallas Stars. Hull finds himself in the shadow of only Jagr in career game winners. His 23 short handed goals are low, but who is kidding who, Hull didn’t get a ton of action on the penalty kill! Hull also netted 12 game-tying goals.

5. Brendan Shanahan—Surprised to see Shanny here? Don’t be. Shanny had 109 career game winners and 23 short handed goals. His hard work around the net is what earned him most of those goals. Shanahan had 15 game tying goals.

6. Steve Yzerman—Noticing a trend here? A) There sure are a ton of Canucks on this list, B) There are a lot of teammates on this list too. Stevie-Y had 94 career game winners and 50 short handed goals to boot. His 12 game tying goals puts him right there with the best.

7. Mike Modano—90 career game winners, 29 career short handed goals and 15 game tying goals, not bad!

8. Joe Nieuwendyk—With 93 career game winners I could have easily put Nieuwendyk in front of Modano, but I decided Modano was a bigger threat in the minds of NHL players. With 36 short handed goals and eight game tying goals, Nieuwendyk is one of the NHL’s best clutch performers.

9. Sergei Fedorov—With 93 game winning goals scored Fedorov, who is only second European on this list, was a dangerous player. His 36 short handed goals served him well, as did his four game tying goals. Sorry, couldn’t knock Nieuwendyk down twice.

10. Mike Bossy—Bossy only played in 752 career games, which makes his total of 82 game winners and eight short handed goals stick out. Barring injuries, Bossy was one of the best pound for pound players in the NHL.

11. Mario Lemieux—Lemieux needs no introduction and, not unlike Bossy, if not for injuries he may have made a better case for himself as the NHL’s best player ever. Lemieux scored 74 game winners, 49 short handed and seven game tying goals.

12. Mike Gartner—Certainly one of the NHL’s most underrated players. Gartner, who spent most of his NHL career in the obscurity of Washington, scored 90 career game winning goals, 23 short handed and nine game tying goals.

13. Joe Sakic—Man, the NHL is gonna miss Joe Sakic this season...With just two active NHL players on this list, Sakic could have moved up the ladder had he continued to play, sadly, he too was forced to retire due to lingering injuries. Sakic had 86 career game winning goals, 32 short handed and 13 game tying goals.

14. Jeremy Roenick—JR, as he is known throughout NHL circles, just retired today. He hung around long enough to net 92 game winners, 28 short-handed and 12 game-tying goals. He hadn’t scored much lately, but there was a time when JR had a fearsome shot. Thanks for the memories JR, truly, one of the games best!

15. Guy Lafleur—A list just wouldn’t be a list without a Montreal Canadien on it, would it? Lafleur had 97 career game winning goals and three short handed. Needless to say, with Lafleur’s smoking habit, it must have been tough for him to play on the PK. Let’s give the guy a break and include him here.

That’s all folks! Disagree? Want to throw your list out there? Hit the comment box, I can take it!

Until next time,

Peace!

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter