In every sporting fandom, debate rages over who the best players are, whether it’s Jordan or James, Brady or Rice, or Federer versus Nadal versus Djokovic. Canadian ice hockey fans are fortunate to have so many NHL greats come from their country, so the dispute here is about which Canadian hockey player is the best.
The Prominence of Hockey in Canada
Canada has two national sports, ice hockey, and lacrosse. But it’s pretty clear which is the most prominent (and offers the more lucrative career for talented Canadian athletes). Ice hockey is played throughout the year and is seen by many as the country’s national pastime.
The sport’s history is rooted in the country, dating back to the Victorian era when Lord Stanley of Preston started what became the Stanley Cup. Since then, Canada’s ice hockey team has faced the Soviet Union in the Rocky-Esque Summit Series and Canada Cup, and the country has furnished the NHL with many of its finest players. With a bevy of elite athletes and widespread popular participation, ice hockey has never been more popular in Canada, with over a million adult participants in 2010.
Viewing figures are even higher for the Stanley Cup, and the recent relaxation of previously restrictive betting laws means more and more Canadians are enjoying a little flutter on the outcome.
Betting on Hockey and More
With the USA and Canada opening more to sports betting (with single-event sports betting legalized and increasing numbers of domestic online sportsbooks). Hockey fans have more opportunities than ever to put their money where their mouth is and bet on the outcomes of games. Whether you prefer the basics of predicting the winning team or diving into the more complex markets of puck line and goal totals, there’s no shortage of chances to wager and make hockey even more fun, meaning you can check out any of the popular Canadian online sportsbooks and casino sites if you feel like wagering.
Canadian Hockey Legends
Here are three of the most iconic Canadians ever to play in the league.
Wayne Gretzky
If one name was guaranteed to be on the list of most outstanding Canadians to ever feature in the NHL, then it was Wayne Gretzky – who can lay claim to being not merely the best Canadian but the best player in the NHL. His not-very-subtle nickname of The Great One is entirely deserved. He remains the yardstick by which every aspiring legend of the sport is measured and retains some fantastic records despite having retired in 1999.
Gretzky’s 20-season stint in the NHL saw him score over 200 points in a season on four occasions. Nobody else has managed this feat even once. In 16 of his seasons, he racked up more than 100 points, so it’s no surprise he’s also the leading goal and point scorer in NHL history. Gretzky was never the most significant player, but what he lacked in raw size, he more than made up for with intelligence and an ability to read the game. This instinctive understanding put him ahead of the curve.
His trophy cabinet is pretty sizeable, too, including leading the Edmonton Oilers, who later traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for a quartet of Stanley Cups. Gretzky was named MVP (winning the Hart Memorial Trophy) on nine occasions and was voted by players the winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award five times. Between the records and trophies, there’s no doubt Gretzky is one of the greatest sportsmen the world has ever seen.
Mario Lemieux
If Wayne Gretzky is the unstoppable Alexander the Great of hockey, then Mario Lemieux, who achieved great things in the face of adversity, must be Hannibal Barca. Almost always considered a clear second behind Gretzky and ahead of everybody else, Lemieux (who had a few nicknames, including Super Mario) racked up his points and scored his goals often while in considerable pain. Combining size with grace, Lemieux has unique achievements that make some view him as better than Gretzky if medical woes hamstring him. He is second to The Great One in both points and assists per game but is also the only man to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and owner. He owned the Pittsburgh Penguins, which he sold for a tidy sum.
In addition to winning Stanley Cups as both player for and owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lemieux led Canada to the Olympic gold medal in 2002 and the epic win in the 1987 Canada Cup (against the Soviet Union). Players voted him four Lester B. Pearson Awards, and he also won a trio of Hart Trophies. Unfortunately, Lemieux’s 17 seasons were often partly due to medical problems. Sometimes his back hurt so much that other people had to tie his laces, and he was diagnosed with spinal disc herniation and Hodgkin’s lymphoma (among other things). Lemieux retired twice, the first due to a fight against lymphoma and the second when he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Debate rages, but there’s every chance he’d be the most outstanding player the NHL had ever seen, but for serial lousy luck regarding his health. Despite all this, most people still see Lemieux as second only to Gretzky.
Bobby Orr
There was a lot of overlap between the careers of Gretzky and Lemieux, but one Canadian from a bit further back who made a big impression was Bobby Orr. Orr changed the game from one where the defenceman did only what was in their job description to one in which they could also pose an offensive risk to the opposition. He even won a pair of Art Ross Trophies for leading the league in regular season scoring (something no other defenceman has ever accomplished). As the NHL’s best defenceman, he won the Norris Trophy eight times in a row (a record) and three Hart Trophies on the bounce. And he’s still fifth on the all-time list (at the time of writing) regarding points per game.
A two-time Stanley Cup winner, this defenceman and scoring powerhouse also starred in one of the most significant moments in NHL history during the 1970 Stanley Cup Final. It was game four, and overtime had arrived. Orr had scored 120 points during the regular season that year, and before a minute of overtime passed, he scored one more goal to claim the Stanley Cup. His Superman-style celebration went down in history. Sadly, Orr’s career ended when he was 30 due to a knee injury.