Three Of The Best N H L Players Of All Time

One of the most exciting and unique sports on ice is hockey. It is a team sport which would require creativity and teamwork on ice.

NHL is the major league in ice hockey. It has produced several truly remarkable players to have ever played the sport. The league is filled with amazing talent and it is also one of the major leagues in North America.

However, there are only a few players that have truly made the sport memorable and fun to watch. They are the legends of ice hockey and in the sports business. Here are the players that have made memorable performances and achievements in this sport.

• Wayne Gretzky. In every sport, there are players and athletes that have popularized and improved the game. Michael Jordan changed the pace of basketball, Jerry Rice did it for American football, Muhammad Ali did it for boxing and Tiger Woods for golf.

In hockey particularly in the NHL, it was the Canadian hockey player named Wayne Gretzky that modernized and improved the sport. He is arguably the best player to have ever played the sport and was the one who truly made the sport exciting.

He wasn't as strong and quick as the other players in the league but there was no hockey player that was as smart and intelligent as him. His intelligence and vision in the sport of hockey was unparalleled; no one could ever match his wits and ideas. He retired in 1999 and was elected immediately in the hockey hall of fame. Currently, he is the head coach and part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NFL.

• Mario Lemieux. Even with a career plague with injuries, he was still able to stand out and is considered to be one of the best hockey players to have ever played in the NHL. He had injuries such as chronic back pain, Hodgkin's lymphoma and spinal disc herniation. Those injuries might be serious; however, it never stopped him from winning several awards and trophies such as two Stanley cups, six Art Ross trophies, an Olympic medal, a couple of World cups for hockey, three Hart trophies and two Conn Smythe Trophies.

He is also ranked as seventh in the all time scoring list with 690 goals and 1,033 assists. These statistics plus awards received were incredible. Just imagine what he could have done if he wasn't plague with injuries. He retired twice because of the injuries and he just played 915 games out of the possible 1,428 games.

• Gordie Howe. He is considered to be one of the best hockey players of all time and is often called as Mr. Hockey because of his unique physical strength, scoring abilities and endurance. He has also the longest career in hockey history. He played for five decades during the 1940s up to the 1980s.

He was the first player to receive the NHL lifetime award in 2008. Gordie was also able to win four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, six Art Ross trophies and six Hart trophies in his career. No has ever seen a player like Gordie Howe and perhaps we will never ever see a player like him to play the sport of hockey in the NHL.