The 50 Most Important Players in NHL History

The 50 most important players in NHL history aren't the best players in league history, but their impact on the game will forever be remembered and felt throughout time.

These players changed the game the way was played, on the ice, and sometimes off it.

Let's take a look at the 50 most important players in NHL history.

Note: This list is in no particular order.

Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins featured columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston. Follow him on Twitter for NHL news and analysis. Follow @NicholasGoss35.

JGA Creighton

JGA Creighton brought hockey to its most famous city, Montreal, and also set most of the rules the game was played and is still played by.

He is credited with giving birth to the sport.

Borje Salming

Borje Salming helped pave the way for top European players to come play in the NHL.

The Hall of Famer of the Toronto Maple Leafs destroyed stereotypes of foreign players, and helped bring more skill and finesse into the game.

Bobby Orr

Bobby Orr is the greatest hockey player of all time, and forever changed the defenseman position.

Orr's puck-handling and offensive skills were as good as a top forward, and he became the first defenseman to win a scoring title.

He also achieved the rare feat of being the best offensive player and defensive player at the same time. 

The term offensive defenseman came from Bobby Orr's play.

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky is the best offensive player in NHL history, and by the time his career was over, he had rewritten the record books.

Other than his great on-ice accomplishments, his trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings greatly helped expand the interest of hockey in America.

Gretzky's affect on non-traditional hockey cities in America will be felt for a long time.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard

Maurice "Rocket" Richard was a pure goal scorer, and brought new offensive excitement to the game.

He also helped the Montreal Canadiens win multiple Stanley Cups.

The leading goal scorer in the NHL each season receives the Rocket Richard Trophy. 

Jacques Plante

Jacques Plante is the most important goalie of all time because he brought goalie masks into the game.

Plante first used a mask in 1959 for the Montreal Canadiens, and it helped him become one of the best and most successful goaltenders ever.

He also was one of the first goalies to use his good skating ability to handle pucks around and behind his net, as well as challenging skaters on breakaways.

Plante was a legend and innovator at the goalie position.

Can you imagine goalies with no mask today?

Anatoly Tarasov

Anatoly Tarasov was a good Soviet player, but had far more success as a coach. 

He brought more skill in terms of passing and creativity to the Canadian game. Anatoly Tarasov was also a major believer in being better conditioned than the opponent.

Viacheslav Fetisov

Viacheslav Fetisov was one of the best Soviet hockey players of all time, and was instrumental in helping top Russian players to be able to come to the NHL during and after the crumbling of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.

Frank and Lester Patrick

Frank and Lester Patrick were very good players, but their greatest impact came after their careers in management.

They implemented many of the staples of the current game, like the blue line, playoff system and the forward pass.

They also were instrumental in putting names on the back of jerseys to help fans identify their stars.

Image taken from here.

Stan Mikita

Stan Mikita is the father of the curved stick, and helped make toughness and grit a major part of winning hockey.

Jim Craig

Jim Craig was the goalie of the American team that shocked the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

He still has a major impact on young American goaltenders who want to someday represent their nation in the NHL and Olympics.

Mike Eruzione

Mike Eruzione was the captain of the miracle 1980 USA Olympic team, and his leadership on the team was crucial to their gold medal run.

Doug Harvey

Doug Harvery was one of the best defensemen of all time and was one of the most offensively minded defensemen before Bobby Orr.

He won seven Norris Trophies in his career.

Bobby Hull

Bobby Hull made the game much more exciting during his career, using the slapshot as a real weapon and forcing goalies to run for cover.

His combination of size and speed helped pave the way for the power forwards of today.

Steve Yzerman

Steve Yzerman showed us what real loyalty in sports is by captaining the Detroit Red Wings for two decades, and retired as the longest-serving captain of any North American team in sports history.

Guy LaFleur

Guy LaFleur took goal scoring to another level during his playing days with the Montreal Canadiens, scoring 50 goals for six straight seasons.

He also is the only player other than Gordie Howe to play in the NHL after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Denis Savard

Denis Savard may have invented the spin-o-rama deke, but even if he didn't he made it a big part of his game and it was very useful in helping him achieve multiple 100-point seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Pavel Bure

Pavel Bure was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the early 1990s, and helped bring a new generation of Russian stars along with Sergei Fedorov.

Alexander Ovechkin

Alexander Ovechkin has helped hockey in Washington flourish, and along with Sidney Crosby, he has brought star power and excitement to the game after the lockout of 2004-05.

Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby has helped make the sport of hockey matter to American fans post-lockout, and has brought Stanley Cup-winning hockey back to Pittsburgh, one of the better hockey markets in America.

Marc Savard

Marc Savard's concussion from Matt Cooke changed hockey forever, and the incident has made the game safer from the rule changes that have been made to limit hits that cause concussions and other major injuries.

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux was supposed to be the next great offensive player and help revolutionize the game when he was drafted in 1984, and he did.

He helped bring a winning tradition to Pittsburgh, and brought unbelievable excitement to hockey fans everywhere with his flair and offensive prowess.

Vladislav Tretiak

Vladislav Tretiak had a great effect on European goalies who would one day be very good NHL players. 

Dominik Hasek

Dominik Hasek's butterfly style changed the way the goalie position was played, and he also is one of the few goalies to win the Hart Trophy in the last 25 years.

He also helped pave the way for European goalies to become quality NHL players.

Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy made kids want to play goalie, instead of being the guy who scores all the goals. His athletic style of goaltending changed the game and was exciting to watch.

He is also the all-time NHL leader in playoff wins by a goaltender, and is the only player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies.

Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe is Mr. Hockey, and is best remembered for his longevity and being the all-time points leader pre-Wayne Gretzky.

He is an icon of the sport, and invented the "Gordie Howe hat trick" (goal, assist, fight).

Paul Henderson

Paul Henderson was instrumental in helping Canada win the 1972 Summit Series versus the Soviet Union.

Ray Bourque

Ray Bourque winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche after a long career, mostly with the Boston Bruins, is perhaps the greatest and most touching moment in hockey history.

It showed that determination, hard work and perseverance pay off.

Jarome Iginla

Jarome Iginla is one of the most respected players in NHL history, and is the modern version of the power forward. 

He has been the face of the Calgary Flames for a long time, and is the first black captain in NHL history.

Nicklas Lidstrom

Nicklas Lidstrom helped pave the way for European defensemen to be successful in the NHL, and he is the first European captain to lift the Stanley Cup.

Lidstrom has won seven Norris Trophies, and is one of the greatest players ever.

Martin Brodeur

Martin Brodeur brought hockey success to the New Jersey Devils, a team that had little playoff success before he was drafted.

He has won four Vezina Trophies, three Stanley Cups and has been a model of consistency for New Jersey.

Brian Leetch

Brian Leetch is one of the best American players ever, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy after he led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup title in decades in 1994. 

Sergei Federov

Sergei Federov paved the way for the new generation of Russian players in the NHL during the 1990s, and for the Detroit Red Wings was one of the best players in the game. He excelled as one of the best two-way forwards.

Chris Chelios

Chris Chelios is known for his longevity, and was still playing at age 47.

Chelios was one of the best offensive defensemen after Bobby Orr, and brought a new style of physical play to defensemen.

Peter Forsberg

One of the best players in the NHL from 1995-2003, Peter Forsberg was one of the best Swedish players ever and helped the Colorado Avalanche win two Stanley Cup titles.

Jari Kurri

Jari Kurri was one of the best European players of the 1980s, and proved he wasn't a product of Wayne Gretzky's talents when he helped the Oilers win the 1990 Stanley Cup.

He is the third-highest-scoring European player in NHL history with 1,398 points.

Jaromir Jagr

Jaromir Jagr helped prove that European players could play major roles on Stanley Cup teams, and he was a major reason the Pittsburgh Penguins won two consecutive Cups in 1991 and 1992.

He also helped pave the way for many good players from the Czech Republic to come to the NHL.

Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic is not only one of the best players to play in the NHL, he is the classiest player to ever play the game.

He is an example to show kids that winning can be done with a high level of respect and honor.

Sakic was also instrumental in making the new Colorado Avalanche franchise a Stanley Cup champion in the 1990s.

Milt Schmidt

Milt Schmidt is Mr. Bruin, and was instrumental to the Bruins winning multiple Stanley Cups in the early days of their franchise.

He also was one of many NHL players to fight in World War II during their careers.

Bobby Clarke

Bobby Clarke was part of the "Broad St. Bullies" that helped lead the Philadelphia Flyers to multiple Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s.

He was one of the best offensive players of his generation, and made rough-and-tough hockey a major part of winning hockey.

Denis Potvin

Denis Potvin was a major reason the New York Islanders brought Stanley Cup hockey back to the state of New York in the 1980s, when the team won four straight titles.

He won three Norris Trophies during his career as well.

Eddie Shore

Eddie Shore helped prove that defensemen were just as valuable as the best goal scorers during his career with the Boston Bruins in the 1930s.

He won four Hart Trophies in a six-year span during the 1930s, and only Bobby Orr has won the MVP award that many times as a defenseman.

Howie Morenz

Howie Morenz was one of the first true superstars in NHL history, and helped make the sport exciting and popular in Canada during the 1920s.

He won three Stanley Cups and three Hart Trophies during his career.

Mark Messier

Not only was Mark Messier one of the best players in NHL history, he was an amazing leader and his 1994 Stanley Cup title run with the New York Rangers is legendary.

He helped the Rangers win their first Cup in decades, and his leadership award is one of the best honors current players can win.

Jean Beliveau

Jean Beliveau won 17 Stanley Cups as a player and executive, and helped make the Montreal Canadiens the most dominant franchise in the history of the NHL.

Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey helped make offense an important part of defensemen's play, like Bobby Orr did a few years prior to him.

Coffey eclipsed the 100-point mark five times, and was one of the best skaters in hockey history.

Ted Lindsay

Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe helped make physical and rough hockey an exciting and important part of the game.

They also proved this style of play could result in Stanley Cup success.

Herb Brooks

Herb Brooks makes this list because he was the greatest coach in the history of American Olympic hockey.

His motivational and teaching abilities as coach led the Americans to an upset of the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, and a gold medal triumph.

Note: He was also a player, therefore he can be included on this list.

Mats Sundin

Mats Sundin helped Swedish players have confidence that they can be successful NHL players. He also was one of the best Maple Leafs players ever, and served as the team's captain for many seasons.

Pavel Datsyuk

One of the best European players ever, Pavel Datsyuk is the example of what a two-way player looks like.

His ability to be one of the premier offensive players in hockey and still be great defensively is something to marvel at.