Hockey fans and media members alike have been talking about how much better players are on the ice than they were in their prime.
But what about those players who were great in their first season of NHL hockey, but then had a disappointing year or two?
There are two ways to look at this.
One, some of the greatest hockey players ever aren’t the ones who were truly great in the first place.
And two, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not the best in the world.
Here’s what you need to know about the world’s best players.
1.
A.
Frank Mahovlich, Montreal Canadiens: The greatest of all time A.
Frank Mahovich is one of the greats.
He’s had more than 1,000 games played, more than 300 goals and 500 assists.
He has also scored over 100 goals and 300 assists in the NHL, the best total in NHL history.
The Montreal Canadiens legend, who played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1981 to ’91, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016.
Mahovics father, Frank, was also an NHL legend, and his uncle and former teammate, Guy Lafleur, was an NHL player himself.
Mahotli was also a member of the Montreal Alouettes, an NHL powerhouse from 1970 to 1984.
He retired after the 1985-86 season, but he returned for the 1991-92 season and had a strong career with the Montreal Impact.
MahoVic also had a career-high 28 goals and 40 assists in ’91-92, a year in which he also scored at least 20 goals in seven consecutive seasons.
The most recent greats to average at least a point per game in the same season were Alexei Emelin, with 23 goals in ’08-09 and Ilya Bryzgalov, with 22 goals in 2009-10.
2.
Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings: The best of all-time One of the biggest myths about Wayne Gretlsey is that he’s the greatest player of alltime.
Gretz’s career total of 2,906 points ranks first on the all- time scoring list behind Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretnias.
His point totals for his career, though, rank among the top ten in the league.
He is the only player in NHL History to average more than a point-per-game during his first four seasons.
Gretlshys record-breaking career started in 1988 when he was selected first overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft.
He scored at a pace that was unheard of in the sport’s history, averaging over 50 points per season, which led the league at the time.
He also led the League in scoring for two consecutive seasons from 1990-91.
He was traded to the New York Rangers for Steve Yzerman and a second round pick in 1991.
He played in the Hall of Famer’s final NHL game in 1990 when the Rangers defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 6-4.
He then played in seven more seasons for the Rangers, scoring at a rate of almost a point every game during his career.
3.
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks: The most important player in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane has been the most important hockey player in Chicago Blackhawks history.
His career total is currently at 1,982 points, which is the third-highest total in the League.
He led the NHL in scoring three times and had the fourth-highest scoring average of his career in 2006-07.
He went on to score 1,631 points in seven seasons with the Blackhawks, the last three of which were with the Los Angeles Lakers.
His numbers were so impressive that he was inductee into the NHL Hall of Heroes in 2016, where he was honored with the Wayne Gretzlaf Memorial Trophy for outstanding contributions to the sport.
4.
Patrick Roy, Edmonton Oilers: The first true No. 1 Roy was born to an elite hockey family.
His father was an Olympic gold medalist in hockey, while his mother was a top hockey player.
His family moved to Montreal when Roy was three years old and grew up playing sports such as hockey, basketball, baseball and football.
His love of hockey was also intense.
His mother was the youngest player to ever score a goal in a World Hockey Association (WHA) game.
He would often be frustrated by the lack of play from his teammates and the referees, so he began to study tape of the game.
At the age of 16, he was drafted in the third round by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).
He played one season with the Eskimoes, where his numbers weren’t good enough to make him a prospect.
But Roy was able to overcome those obstacles and develop into one of Canada’s top players.
Roy has been an essential part of the
