NHL at 100: The top 10 players of all time

Full disclosure: This was very difficult. Damn near impossible.

With the NHL set to reveal its full list of the 100 Greatest Players at the All-Star break, in celebration of its centennial season, we took a crack at our own top 10.

Related: The top 50 players in the post-lockout era

So many incredible talents have played in the NHL over the years. Here are the best of the best:

10. Patrick Roy

Going with Roy over Martin Brodeur was the first of many very difficult decisions, but here's why Roy gets the edge: He was a Stanley Cup winner in different eras, with two teams, and won three Conn Smythe trophies to Brodeur's zero.

Brodeur deserves all the praise in the world. His 691 regular-season wins will never be matched, he's first all time with 125 shutouts, and bests Roy in save percentage .912 to .910.

But Roy won Cups in 1986, 1993, 1996, and 2001. Three decades. Two of them in hockey-mad Montreal, one as a rookie, and while it's unfair to credit all of Brodeur's success to the systems employed by the New Jersey Devils, there's no denying their impact on Brodeur's success.

Hell, let's call it a tie, how about that?

9. Alex Ovechkin

"The Great Eight" comes in at No. 9, because there hasn't been a sniper like him since Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.

Among players with at least 500 regular-season games to their name, only Bossy, Lemieux, and Pavel Bure averaged more than Ovie's 0.617 goals per game. And Ovechkin's done all his damage when goalies have never been better in the history of the league.

Ovechkin's 1.139 points per game ranks 17th all time, but he's on this list because of the era his body of work falls in. And he ain't done yet.

8. Mark Messier

It's crazy for Gordie Howe not to be on this list. He's Mr. Friggin' Hockey - his career spanned five decades, his final season at age 51. But, like we said, difficult decisions had to be made, and Mark Messier's inclusion - and Howe's exclusion - was one of them.

But Messier, a key member of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty, won six Stanley Cups - two without Wayne Gretzky. In fact, it's Messier's postseason exploits that land him on this list. Only Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were better in the playoffs.

Just three players played for the Cup more than Messier: Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Roy. "Moose" was the ultimate leader, and it's impossible to forget his reaction as he waited for the Stanley Cup in 1994 as the New York Rangers' drought ended after 54 years.

There's never been a happier person than Stanley Cup winner Messier.

7. Jaromir Jagr

Longevity counts for something - for a lot, actually - and that's why Jagr is on this list, and he's representing Howe while he's at it.

Jagr, turning 45 on Feb. 15, ranks third all time in goals with 758, and should he play a couple more seasons - he talks about going until he's 50 - he'll pass Howe (801) and finish second to only Gretzky's 894. Had No. 68 not left North America in 2008 to play in Russia for three seasons, he'd be chasing Gretzky, not Howe.

There's more: His 134 game-winning goals rank first all time, his 1,139 assists fifth, and after recently passing Messier, only Gretzky has more points than Jagr's 1,887. He did some of his best work in the dead puck era, and is still going, leading his team in scoring last season (!), at a time when players are faster, bigger, stronger, and train harder than ever.

While Jagr's 1.130 points per game rank 20th all time, there's no denying his name deserves to sit amongst the top 10 greatest to ever lace them up.

6. Dominik Hasek

Dominik Hasek was before his time. He changed goaltending - period.

Hasek has the highest save percentage in history among goalies who have played at least 700 regular-season games: .922. His 81 shutouts rank sixth all time.

"The Dominator" did it in the playoffs, too. His .925 postseason save percentage is highest all time among goalies who played at least 100 games in the spring, better than Ed Belfour (.920), Brodeur (.919), and Roy (.918).

5. Mike Bossy

No player in NHL history scored goals at Bossy's 0.762 clip. Only Lemieux (0.754) comes close.

Bossy's 1.497 points per game rank third to only Gretzky and Lemieux. He may have only played 752 games, but they were something.

In fact, in only one of Bossy's 10 seasons did he not hit the 50-goal mark. He scored 38 in 63 games in 1986-87, his final campaign at only 30 years old. He scored 60 or more five times.

Part of the New York Islanders' dynasty, Bossy certainly did his part. In winning four Stanley Cups in a row from 1980 through 1983, Bossy scored a ridiculous 61 goals in 72 games.

4. Sidney Crosby

You better believe it.

Crosby's 1.326 points per game ranks fifth all time. And he's done it in an era when goalies actually stop the puck. With 749 regular-season games to his name, the sample's big enough. "The Kid" has lived up to the hype.

No. 87 has won everything there is to win in hockey, and his 1.105 points per game in the playoffs ranks 12th in history.

3. Bobby Orr

Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden said it best in his book "The Game" about Bobby Orr:

Then there was Orr ...

He was the rare player who changed the perceptions of his sport. Until Orr, defensemen had been defenders, usually stocky and slow-footed, their offensive game complete when the puck had cleared the defensive zone.

Even so-called "rushing defensemen" in pre-Orr times ... rarely went much beyond the center line, moving up only as a forward moved back, dropping out of the play as soon as they made their first pass. It was Orr who broke down the barriers separating offense and defense.

Lining up as a defenseman, when the puck dropped, he became a "player," his game in instant and constant transition, until with no real transition at all, neither defenseman nor forward, both defender and attacker, he attacked to score and keep from being scored against; he defended to prevent goals and create chances to score. It was what soccer commentators would call a "total" game, what we knew as hockey of the future, and it became the model for all defensemen to follow.

Knee injuries limited Orr to only 657 regular-season games - practically a crime. But he won two Stanley Cups, and his 1.393 points per game ranks fourth all time. He's one of only two defensemen (Paul Coffey's the other) in the top 50 with respect to that statistic.

Orr literally changed his position. There's no denying his place in history.

2. Mario Lemieux

Only one player averaged more points per game in his career than "Super Mario" - that Gretzky dude.

No. 66 and No. 99 stand alone. They're the only two players in NHL history, spanning now a century, to average more than 1.50 points per game in the regular season and the playoffs.

Injuries and a cancer diagnosis cut Lemieux's career far too short. Between 1989 and 1994, Lemieux played only 231 of a possible 408 regular-season games. Remarkably enough, he scored 496 points over that span, winning the Art Ross Trophy in 1992-93 with 160 points in only 60 games after returning to the ice from cancer treatment.

1. Wayne Gretzky

Gretzky's numbers speak for themselves.

It's often said in sports about a player: "There will never be another." It's usually hyperbole. In Gretzky's case, it's not.

A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Oilers, Gretzky averaged 2.40 points per game in nine seasons in Edmonton. Sure, the game was different back then, and you have to watch video to believe goalies were actually in the crease, but in a five-season span from 1981-86, Gretzky scored 200 or more points four times. He finished with career bests in 1985-86: 215 points and 163 assists.

There's a reason why 99 is the only number retired NHL-wide.

Notable Omissions

• Again, leaving Howe off this list was the hardest decision of them all. He's represented in spirit, by Jagr, as mentioned.
• Marcel Dionne belongs on this list, his 1.314 points per game average ranking sixth all time. He scored 50 or more six times, his 0.542 goals per game coming in at 11th among those who played at least 700 games.
• We're seriously very sorry, Mr. Brodeur.
• Only one defenseman on the list, and he produced like a forward. That'll upset some folks. Ray Bourque and Coffey definitely deserve some more love, that's for sure.
• Peter Stastny, Phil Esposito, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Guy Lafleur, Peter Forsberg. The list goes on and on and on.