Who are some of your favorite NHL (hockey) players all-time?

bluzman61

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Sep 3, 2019
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I thought I'd change gears and ask about another one of my favorite sports. IF the Chinese Virus hadn't hit us as strongly as it did we'd be deep into the NHL playoffs right now. My favorites include - 1) Wayne Gretzky, this guy never ceased to amaze me, even later in his career, when I watched quite a few LA Kings games on cable just to see him play. He had incredible awareness of where the puck was at all times. He's called the "Great One" for good reason. 2) Mario Lemieux, he was almost as fun to watch as Gretzky. I got a chance to see him play live, just once, in a 1995-96 game against my home team Arizona Coyotes. He was splendid, and scored a couple goals and assisted on another in a Penguins win. Unfortunately I never saw Gretzky PLAY live, but I did see him as head coach for the Arizona Coyotes after his playing days were over. 3) Bobby Hull, just a fantastic player who had a super hard slap shot. I only saw him play live once, I believe it was in the 1970-71 season when my dad took me to a Blackhawks game. I don't remember much about the game, but Bobby scored a couple goals in a Blackhawks win. 4) Tony Esposito, one of the best and most exciting goalies I've seen. He helped fans appreciate the goalie position more during his career. 5) Phil Esposito, Tony's older brother, he was tough and one heck of a goal scorer. He was the first player in NHL history to score over 70 goals in a season when he scored an amazing 76 in the 1970-71 season. Of course Gretzky obliterated that record when he scored an incredible 92 goals in one season. Here are some of my favorites, who are some of yours?
 
Joe Junkin and Brian Bradley were good friends of mine in the mid seventies. Canuks but I have no idea what teams. They were involved with a 2nd/amateur team called the rebels. I should goofle those dudes...if they're even above ground.
 
The Hanson Brothers
Slap-Shot-Hanson-Brothers-700x523.jpg
 
We had season tickets to the North Stars when I was a kid.
Henry Boucha was my favorite, but had his career cut short due to an eye injury in a fight with the Boston Bruins. I was at that game when he got a sucker hit in the eye with a hockey stick from a Boston player as they both left their penalty boxes. Crowd was ready to riot. Blood everywhere. Link has some details about the following court case.
 
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Joe Junkin and Brian Bradley were good friends of mine in the mid seventies. Canuks but I have no idea what teams. They were involved with a 2nd/amateur team called the rebels. I should goofle those dudes...if they're even above ground.
Thanks for your post, Likkmee. I believe I've HEARD of Junkin, but not Bradley. I'll "goofle" them, as well.
 
Hockey is a great game, but I got turned off in the mid-90s when the Trap and the Left-Wing Lock were in vogue, and the game became boring as hell. It got better in later years, but living in Florida, you don't see much of it. I had Center Ice for awhile, but absolutely nobody talks about it down here. More people are interested in the Premier League than the NHL.
 
Joe Junkin and Brian Bradley were good friends of mine in the mid seventies. Canuks but I have no idea what teams. They were involved with a 2nd/amateur team called the rebels. I should goofle those dudes...if they're even above ground.
Thanks for your post, Likkmee. I believe I've HEARD of Junkin, but not Bradley. I'll "goofle" them, as well.
I "goofled" both of these guys. Junkin played just one season in the NHL as a goalie for the Bruins in the late 1960's. Unfortunately he died in January of 2014, of cancer. Bradley, however, is still very much alive, and he had a pretty darn good NHL career. He scored 182 goals in his playing time.
 
Joe Junkin and Brian Bradley were good friends of mine in the mid seventies. Canuks but I have no idea what teams. They were involved with a 2nd/amateur team called the rebels. I should goofle those dudes...if they're even above ground.
Thanks for your post, Likkmee. I believe I've HEARD of Junkin, but not Bradley. I'll "goofle" them, as well.
I "goofled" both of these guys. Junkin played just one season in the NHL as a goalie for the Bruins in the late 1960's. Unfortunately he died in January of 2014, of cancer. Bradley, however, is still very much alive, and he had a pretty darn good NHL career. He scored 182 goals in his playing time.
AND he had 321 assists, for a total of 503 points in 651 games. Pretty impressive.
 
The only ones I knew personally.
The Howe brothers....
Other than that I dont give a shit about hockey...unless it's tonsil hockey.
Are you referring to Gordie's sons? That's cool that you knew them personally. Were they nice guys? I know Gordie always seemed to be a nice guy in every interview I saw him in. Gordie was a REAL hockey player, a terrific offensive player AND a tough guy.
 
The only ones I knew personally.
The Howe brothers....
Other than that I dont give a shit about hockey...unless it's tonsil hockey.
Are you referring to Gordie's sons? That's cool that you knew them personally. Were they nice guys? I know Gordie always seemed to be a nice guy in every interview I saw him in. Gordie was a REAL hockey player, a terrific offensive player AND a tough guy.

The old man was the head trainer for the Rockets and I was a ballboy at the time.
Met them many times and even went to a Christmas party at one of the bothers houses,cant remember which one.
It was cool as hell when they laid the basketball court over the ice so the Rockets could practice.
I spent a lot of time sprinting down the edge of the court and jumping on the ice to see how far I could go without busting my ass.
 

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