Gordie Howe
Jean Beliveau
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Gordie Howe leads 3 of 5 categories. Our all-time ranking places Gordie Howe at #4 and Jean Beliveau at #8.
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The case for Gordie Howe
Mr. Hockey combined scoring, toughness and almost supernatural longevity across an astonishing five decades of professional play. Gordie Howe won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings, six Hart Trophies as MVP and six Art Ross scoring titles, finishing in the NHL's top five in scoring for 20 consecutive seasons, a record of sustained excellence unmatched in the sport. He retired, then returned at 45 to play alongside his sons in the WHA, and skated one final NHL shift at age 52 in 1980. Howe scored 801 NHL goals and 1,850 points, figures that stood atop the all-time list until Gretzky surpassed them. He was as feared as he was skilled: the Gordie Howe hat trick, a goal, an assist and a fight in one game, immortalizes his willingness to punish anyone who challenged him. Ambidextrous, powerful and endlessly durable, he defined the complete power forward and served as the standard against which every scorer was measured for a generation.
The case for Jean Beliveau
Regal, powerful and impossibly graceful, Jean Beliveau captained the Montreal Canadiens through the most successful era any franchise has known. He won ten Stanley Cups as a player, more than anyone in history except his teammate Henri Richard, and lifted seven more as a club executive, putting his name on the Cup a record 17 times. Le Gros Bill scored 507 goals and 1,219 points, won two Hart Trophies and the inaugural Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1965, and did it all with a dignity that made him one of hockey's most respected figures long after retirement. A big centre at a time when the position was being redefined, he combined a scorer's touch with a playmaker's vision and a leader's presence. Beliveau declined an offer to become Governor General of Canada, so revered was he. On the ice, his elegant stride and commanding two-way game set the template for the complete franchise centre that every organization has sought ever since.