NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Top 14 Money Performers in Playoff History

The Stanley Cup is the most difficult trophy for any player in professional sports to earn.

After a long season of 82 games, these players then have to endure a long and grueling playoff run in order to hoist the 35-pound cup.

Some players see this challenge and shrink in front of it, and are forced to endure labels like "choker" for their entire careers.

There are other players, however, that not only rise to the challenge, but play their best hockey when the pressure is at its greatest.

These are the 14 most money playoff performers in NHL history.

14. Jari Kurri

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INGLEWOOD, CA - 1989: Right wing Jari Kurri #17 of the Edmonton Oilers gets into position against the Los Angeles Kings during the 1989-90 season at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)

I can't believe that I actually almost left Jari Kurri off of this list.

Perfect example of how overlooked he was on the juggernaut Edmonton Oilers team of the 80s, on which he won five Stanley Cups.

During the five years that the Oilers won the Stanley Cup, Kurri's playoff goal totals were as follows; 14, 19, 15, 14, 10.

For his playoff career, Kurri 106 goals and 127 assists, for a total of 233 points.

And those 19 playoff goals that he scored in the 1985 Stanley Cup Playoffs, is tied for the most in a single playoff season in NHL history.

This guy was absolutely money when it came to playoff performance in his career, and almost nobody really remembers it.

Darn shame for such a great player.

13. Steve Yzerman

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - NOVEMBER 13: Steve Yzerman #19 of the Detroit Red Wings looks on from the bench during the NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at General Motors Place on November 13, 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Canucks defeat

Steve Yzerman has won a Conn Smythe Trophy, but that really isn't the main reason that I've included him.

Nor have I included him because of his offensive prowess in the playoffs, which is still really good.

I have him on this list because Yzerman is one of the best leaders in playoff history.

He didn't have a lot of huge scoring playoff years, his career high was nine goals in the playoffs, but he always managed to provide his team with exactly what they needed.

While not a dazzling scorer, he came up with huge goals.

More importantly, he was always very good in all three zones of the ice and could play physically when the situation called for it.

He is lower on the list because his raw productivity wasn't as great as many of the others who are higher, but you can't have a list like this and not include Stevie Y.

12. Martin Brodeur

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NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 09: Martin Brodeur #30 of the New Jersey Devils stretches prior to the game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on April 9, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jonathan Klein/Getty Images)

Martin Brodeur will go down as one of the best goalies to ever play the game, yet I have him ranked very low on this list.

He does have three Stanley Cups to his name, yet he's still low.

I'm sure there are many people who will just dismiss this as "hating," and that's fine, won't cost me any sleep.

The main reason that I don't have Marty Brodeur higher on this list is because he played in a system that would make many mediocre goalies look good, many good goalies look really good and make a great goalie, like him, look unbelievable.

Still, the tale with the goalies as being money playoff performers is the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded to a goalie 14 times, a few times to members of the losing team, but never once has Marty Brodeur won the Conn Smythe.

Has he helped win some seriously tough games and series along the way?  Absolutely, there's no doubt about that.

But, there is also no doubt that Brodeur has never been THE reason that his team won the Stanley Cup.

His success is more of a by-product of the incredibly defensive trap that caused some of the most boring years in the NHL.

11. Nicklas Lidstrom

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DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 24: Nicklas Lidstrom #5 of the Detroit Red Wings skates with the puck while playing against the Dallas Stars on February 24, 2011 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Lidstrom is a one-time Conn Smythe Winner, but has always been a big-game performer.

Easily one of the best defensemen of the modern era of the game, he is also usually in the conversation as one of the best defensemen in history as well.

Lidstrom gets onto the list for a different reason than most of the other people on this list. 

While he has never once tallied more than 19 points in a playoff season, Lidstrom is easily one of the most money playoff players in history because of how solid he is defensively.

Every night of every series, Lidstrom is out against his opposition's best talent, shutting them down.

He is also able to throw a few points together in the process, which makes him even more valuable.

He might not have the flashy offensive numbers, but he is easily one of the best playoff performers in hockey.

10. Jean Beliveau

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MONTREAL- APRIL 19: A photo of the banner commemorating the retired jersey of Jean Beliveau hanging in the Bell Centre prior to Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens during the 2010 NHL

Jean Beliveau holds a very impressive record.

He has won the most Stanley Cups of any person involved with the game of hockey, ever.

He has won 17 Stanley Cups. Ten of those came as a player, while the other seven came as a coach.

Beliveau was another part of the Montreal Canadiens franchise from their sheer domination of the NHL from 1952-1971.

In an era where you usually only had to play 10 games at the most in order to win the cup, Beliveau tallied a very impressive 79 career playoff goals and 97 assists.

It's hard to compare players and teams of a different era, but I do feel that he deserved to be included in this list.

9. Paul Coffey

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EDMONTON, CANADA - NOVEMBER 22: Paul Coffey #7 and Wayne Gretzky #99 of the Edmonton Oilers pose for a photo during the Molson Canadien Heritage Classic against the Montreal Canadiens on November 22, 2003 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada. The

Paul Coffey is a four-time Stanley Cup Champion and is easily one of the best defensemen to have ever played the game of hockey.

While Coffey never won a Conn Smythe Trophy, he was always a vital member of the teams that he played for.

While with the Edmonton Oilers, Coffey set several playoff records for defensemen, including most points scored by a defenseman in a playoff season (37), most goals scored by a defenseman in a playoff season (12) and most assists scored by a defenseman in a playoff season (25).

In his playoff career, Coffey had 59 goals and 137 assists, for 196 points.

During his career, Coffey was the standard for playoff proficiency at the defenseman position.

8. Bobby Orr

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BOSTON, MA - MAY 23: A sculpture of Bobby Orr stands in front of TD Garden prior to Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 23, 2011 in Boston, Massachus

Bobby Orr is the man that scored one of the most iconic goals in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals, and is one of the greatest defensemen ever to play the game of hockey.

Though he only played in eight postseasons, Bobby Orr was still very money when it counted, as you can see by the video.

Bobby Orr was actually the first person ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice, as playoff MVP.

I wish that I had been alive during the time when Bobby Orr played hockey, because he was clearly an innovator within the game of hockey.

7. Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic is one of the classiest players in the history of the game and is also one of the best scorers.

Sakic has arguably the best wrist shot that the game has seen, and he used it with great efficiency in the playoffs.

Sakic is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion and a Conn Smythe winner.

He is tied for second in playoff goals in a single playoff with the 18 that he tallied in the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He tallied more than 20 points three times in the playoffs and had two seasons where he notched 19 points.

He holds the NHL record for most overtime goals scored in the playoffs, with eight.

He is also seventh in NHL history when it comes to playoff goals (84) and points (188).

He was simply the picture of consistency whenever he played, and his team always reaped the benefits.

6. Jacques Plante

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MONTREAL- APRIL 19: A photo of the banners commemorating the retired jerseys of Jacque Plante, Bernard Geoffrion and Jean Beliveau hanging in the Bell Centre prior to Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Washington Capitals and

Plante was a part of a very different era of hockey, but was immensely clutch in the playoffs nonetheless.

Plante was part of the incredibly dominant Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1950s, which won five straight Stanley Cups at one point.

The major difference of this time period was the number of series played in order to win the cup. 

Where the teams today have to win three rounds just to get to the Stanley Cup Finals, the original six only had to win one playoff series to get to the finals.

Plante had 71 playoff victories in his career, which isn't even half of Patrick Roy's record, but if you transposed it into modern terms, which is a bit of a jump I grant, he could easily have challenged this number, especially based on the teams that he played with.

The thing that has me put Plante up this high on my list is his numbers.

For his playoff career, Plante had a 2.16 goals-against average, which is incredibly low. 

In addition to this great career average, Plante had eight playoffs where he posted a goals-against average lower than 2.00.

His all-time low playoff goals-against average was an astounding 1.35 in the 1959-1960 year.

Plante was absolutely money when it came to playoff performances.

5. Mario Lemieux

It must have been very obvious to the hockey world how good Mario Lemieux was going to be when he scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot during his first NHL shift.

Very few people have ever dominated the game of hockey the way that Lemieux did, and he did it in a very different way than pretty much anybody before him.

When it came to the playoffs, Lemieux was always a peak performer.

He holds several single game scoring records, which include; most points in a single playoff game (eight), most goals in a playoff game (five) and most goals in one period of a playoff game (four).

Lemieux is also one of two people ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, for playoff MVP, in back-to-back seasons.

The only other player to do this was Bernie Parent for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Super Mario could rank on top of some people's list because of this accomplishment, but there are a couple more people that I see above him.

4. Mark Messier

Mark Messier has an incredibly impressive playoff resume that includes six Stanley Cup Championships and a Conn Smythe.

Messier was largely overshadowed by the presence of Wayne Gretzky during much of his time in Edmonton, but proved that he was just as effective of a captain when the Oilers won their final Stanley Cup in 1990, and again when he captained the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994.

He will probably be best remembered for his performance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 1994.

When the Rangers were down 3-2 in the series, Mark Messier guaranteed that the Rangers would win Game 6 on the road in New Jersey.

Not only did the Rangers win that game, but Messier netted a hat-trick in that game to seal the deal and send the series back to New York for Game 7, and one of the most memorable series-clinching goals in playoff history.

This won't be the last of that vaunted Oilers dynasty to be heard from on this list.

3. Mike Bossy

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UNIONDALE, NY - MARCH 02: Former New York Islanders legend Mike Bossy waves to the crowd before the game against the Florida Panthers at the Nassau Coliseum March 2, 2008 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders are celebrating the 17 men that were part of

Mike Bossy was an absolute beast when he played for the New York Islanders.

Bossy was the centerpiece of the Islanders dynasty of the 1980s, and when you look at his numbers during the playoffs, it's no wonder that he is ranked so high in this list.

In 129 playoff games, Bossy has 85 goals and 75 assists, for 160 points.

The kicker of his points comes when you look at the four straight years that the Islanders won their Stanley Cups.

In those four seasons, Bossy scored 10 goals, 17 goals, 17 goals and 17 goals. 

To put this in perspective, Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player that has every played the game, only managed to tally 17 goals in the playoffs once.  Mike Bossy didn't only do it three times; he did it three years in a row.

Bossy won the Conn Smythe award in the 1981-1982 season and is a member of the NHL Hall of Fame.

2. Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever play the game.

I still can't believe that the Oilers traded him away while he was still in his prime playing age, but that is history.

It's hard to think of a record that Wayne Gretzky doesn't own, regular season or playoffs.

Gretzky has four Stanley Cup Championships to his credit, all while he was with the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers team of the 1980s.

Gretzky holds the NHL records for most goals scored in playoff history (122), most assists in a playoff year (31), most assists in playoff history (260), most points scored in a single playoff year (47) and most points scored in playoff history (382).

To say that "The Great One" was money when it came to playoff time is like reminding people that the Pope is Catholic; it just goes without saying.

So who could possibly beat "The Great One" in playoff performance?

1. Patrick Roy

This could be a serious point of debate, but Patrick Roy earns my No. 1 money playoff performer of all time.

Patrick Roy holds several records for goalies and, at the time of his retirement, held pretty much every single one that mattered.

While Martin Brodeur has passed Roy's major regular season records, Patrick Roy still holds the playoff records that matter.

His 151 playoff wins is first all-time amongst goalies, and his 23 playoff shutouts is tied for first with Martin Brodeur.

The numbers that matter the most for Patrick Roy are his total Stanley Cups (four) and his Conn Smythe Trophies (three).

No other player in history has been awarded three Conn Smythe Trophies, for playoff MVP, in the history of the NHL.

This includes some seriously amazing names like: Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and others.

The reason I put Roy above everybody else is simple: Goalie is the position that most affects the outcome of a game, and Roy was the one that had the greatest impact for the teams that he played on.

No other player has ever won three playoff MVP awards, which shows how meaningful he was to all of his championship teams.

Obviously arguments can be made for other players, but in my book, there is no playoff performer in the history of the NHL who is more clutch than Patrick Roy.