Hockey Digest Yearbook player rankings

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tabness

be a playa 🇵🇸
Apr 4, 2014
2,832
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Continuing from this topic: THN Yearbook Rankings - 1992-2008

Before The Hockey News started doing their player rankings in their yearbooks, Hockey Digest would put out a yearbook and started ranking players after the 1987-1988 season. It started off as just Stan Fischler ranking his top ten per position and the coaches, but then grew to include the editorial staff of the magazine, with input from people in the game, and it also is notable for including player ratings in different categories.

Rankings were positional, with the exception of the 1989-90 Yearbook which gave a top 25 ranking across all players and goalies.

1988-89 Yearbook

The ranking sections were all written by Stan Fischler. Players and goalies were ranked by position (top 10) and all 21 coaches were ranked. A brief writeup was given with each player/goalie/coach with quotes from either the guy himself or others. Although the cover does state "We Rate the Best Players at Every Position", it seems that Fischler himself did the rankings alone.

I know this place holds Fischler in low esteem and whatever but, hey, this place shares the same hobby of ranking players with Fischler right lol? :sarcasm:

Centers

1 Mark Messier
2 Mario Lemieux
3 Wayne Gretzky
4 Denis Savard
5 Dale Hawerchuk
6 Peter Stastny
7 Steve Yzerman
8 Pat LaFontaine
9 Stephane Richer
10 Kirk Muller

Right Wings

1 Cam Neely
2 Glenn Anderson
3 Hakan Loob
4 Jari Kurri
5 Mike Gartner
6 Rick Tocchet
7 Pat Verbeek
8 Joey Mullen
9 Mikko Makela
10 Tomas Sandstrom

Left Wings

1 Luc Robitaille
2 Michel Goulet
3 Mats Naslund
4 Craig Simpson
5 Bob Probert
6 Brian Propp
7 Tony McKegney
8 Gerard Gallant
9 Jim Peplinski
10 Aaron Broten

Defensemen

1 Kevin Lowe
2 Scott Stevens
3 Paul Coffey
4 Ray Bourque
5 James Patrick
6 Chris Chelios
7 Gary Suter
8 Brad McCrimmon
9 Phil Housley
10 Steve Smith

Coaches

1 Glen Sather
2 Jacques Demers
3 Terry O'Reilly
4 Terry Simpson
5 Terry Crisp
6 Ted Sator
7 Jim Schoenfeld
8 Mike Keenan
9 Bryan Murray
10 Robbie Ftorek
11 Michel Bergeron
12 Dan Maloney
13 Larry Pleau
14 Bob McCammoon
15 Pat Burns
16 Ron Lapointe
17 Paul Holmgren
18 John Brophy
19 Brian Sutter
20 Gene Ubriaco
21 Pierre Page

Goalies

1 Grant Fuhr
2 John Vanbiesbrouck
3 Kelly Hrudey
4 Ron Hextall
5 Brian Hayward/Patrick Roy
6 Pete Peeters/Clint Malarchuk
7 Rejean Lemelin
8 Mike Liut
9 Tom Barrasso
10 Greg Stefan

1989-90 Yearbook

This issue started the much more detailed and broader rankings. It also includes the only time they ranked all players and goalies together. The rankings were done by "ports writers who cover the NHL", seemingly with input/insight from coaches/GMs, who were asked compile a list of their top 25 players and a short writeup was given.

1 Mario Lemieux
2 Steve Yzerman
3 Wayne Gretzky
4 Paul Coffey
[note after rankings: "Note: Edmonton's Grant Fuhr, officially retired at press time, would rank No. 5 overall and No. 1 among goaltenders, should he come out of retirement."]
5 Mark Messier
6 Jari Kurri
7 Joe Mullen
8 Chris Chelios
9 Patrick Roy
10 Bernie Nicholls
11 Dale Hawerchuk
12 Luc Robitaille
13 Denis Savard
14 Jimmy Carson
15 Kevin Lowe
16 Ray Bourque
17 Ron Hextall
18 Kevin Dineen
19 Gary Suter
20 Steve Duchesne
21 Tim Kerr
22 Cam Neely
23 Pat LaFontaine
24 Esa Tikkanen
25 Tomas Sandstrom

Positional rankings were also given, and the top five each position were given extensive writeups (one spread/two pages) and also graded on categories from 1-10 relative to others in the position. There was a "Best of the Rest" listed as well (not explicitly ranked numerically and not graded)

Centers

1 Mario Lemieux
2 Steve Yzerman
3 Wayne Gretzky
4 Mark Messier
5 Bernie Nicholls

best of the rest:
• Dale Hawerchuk
• Denis Savard
• Jimmy Carson
• Pat LaFontaine
• Joe Nieuwendyk
• Mike Ridley
• Ed Olczyk
• Guy Carbonneau
• Pierre Turgeon
• Trevor Linden

Centers (all forwards) were rated on:
• Speed
• Quickness
• Agility
• Balance
• Passing
• Receiving
• Shot Release
• Puck Control
• Physical Play
• Forechecking
• Backchecking
• Durability
• Leadership
• Work Ethic
• Clutch Play
for a total score of 150

Right Wings

1 Jari Kurri
2 Joe Mullen
3 Kevin Dineen
4 Tim Kerr
5 Cam Neely

best of the rest:
• Rick Tocchet
• Stephane Richer
• Dino Ciccarelli
• Rob Brown
• Mike Gartner
• Glenn Anderson
• John MacLean
• Brett Hull
• Dirk Graham

Left Wings

1 Luc Robitaille
2 Esa Tikkanen
3 Tomas Sandstrom
4 Gerard Gallant
5 Mats Naslund

best of the rest:
• Michel Goulet
• Craig Simpson
• Petri Skriko
• Brian Propp
• Sylvain Turgeon
• Geoff Courtnall
• John MacLean
• Brett Hull
• Dirk Graham

Defensemen

1 Paul Coffey
2 Chris Chelios
3 Kevin Lowe
4 Ray Bourque
5 Gary Suter

best of the rest:
• Steve Duchesne
• Mark Howe
• Scott Stevens
• Al MacInnis
• Brad McCrimmon
• Brian Leetch
• Phil Housley
• Rod Langway
• Larry Robinson

Defensemen were rated on:
• Speed
• Quickness
• Agility
• Balance
• Passing
• Receiving
• Shot Release
• Puck Control
• Physical Play
• One on One
• Pinching In
• Durability
• Leadership
• Work Ethic
• Clutch Play
for a total score of 150

Goalies

1 Patrick Roy
2 Ron Hextall
3 Kelly Hrudey
4 Mike Vernon
5 Reggie Lemelin

best of the rest:
• Greg Millen
• Pete Peeters
• Brian Hayward
• Tom Barrasso
• John Vanbiesbrouck
• Sean Burke
• Alain Chevrier
• Clint Malarchuk

Goalies were rated on:
• Reflexes
• Glove
• Angles
• Temperment
• Clutch Play
• Breakaways
• Screened Shots
• Rebounds
• Use of Stick
• Durability
• Leadership
for a total score of 110

1990-91 Yearbook

The rankings format continued to evolve. 150 players and goalies were ranked within position. The categories were now the forward positions, defensive/offensive defensemen, and goalies. The split of defensemen into defensive/offensive actually confounds things a bit for defensemen, because defensemen are fundamentally shoehorned to a category. It seems to reflect stay at home defensemen/puck moving defensemen, but even categorizing like that would be a blurry line to draw for some. It did allow for some unheralded defensemen to get ranked, but I think I'd still prefer the all up categorization. Varying numbers of players were ranked depending on the category, and a one to five star rating in the scouting reports (with half stars) was given to defense, checking, shooting, passing, skating, and leadership for players (defensive defensemen got shot blocking instead of shooting). Each player got a quick writeup based on what scouts said, as well as a chief asset and main liability, and a stat projection for the upcoming season. Select players were profiled in feature length articles.

Defensive Defensemen

1 Kevin Lowe
2 Craig Ludwig
3 Steve Smith
4 Scott Stevens
5 Mike Ramsey
6 Charlie Huddy
7 Randy Hiller
8 Brad McCrimmon
9 James Patrick
10 Viacheslav Fetisov
11 Glen Wesley
12 Dave Manson
13 Rick Zombo
14 Paul Cavallini
15 Ulf Samuelsson

Offensive Defensemen

1 Paul Coffey
2 Ray Bourque
3 Chris Chelios
4 Brian Leetch
5 Kevin Hatcher
6 Al Iafrate
7 Al MacInnis
8 Jeff Norton
9 Dave Ellett
10 Phil Housley
11 Doug Wilson
12 Gary Suter
13 Doug Crossman
14 Steve Duchesne
15 Tom Kurvers
16 Jeff Brown
17 Larry Murphy
18 Doug Bodger
19 Alexei Kasatonov
20 Gord Murphy

Centers

1 Mark Messier
2 Mario Lemieux
3 Steve Yzerman
4 Wayne Gretzky
5 Pat LaFontaine
6 Joe Nieuwendyk
7 Bernie Nicholls
8 Ed Olczyk
9 Craig Janney
10 Dale Hawerchuk
11 Pierre Turgeon
12 Jeremy Roenick
13 Ron Francis
14 Shayne Corson
15 Kirk Muller
16 Guy Carbonneau
17 Brent Sutter
18 Mike Ridley
19 Doug Gilmour
20 Denis Savard
21 Adam Oates
22 Thomas Steen
23 Neal Broten
24 Joe Sakic
25 Kelly Kisio
26 Dave Gagner
27 Dale Hunter
28 Peter Zezel
29 John Cullen
30 Peter Stastny
31 Christian Ruuttu
32 Steve Kasper
33 Craig MacTavish
34 Dave Poulin
35 Pelle Eklund

Left Wings

1 Esa Tikkanen
2 Luc Robitaille
3 Vincent Damphousse
4 Brian Bellows
5 Craig Simpson
6 Patrik Sundstrom
7 Dave Andreychuk
8 Gerard Gallant
9 John Ogrodnick
10 Steve Thomas
11 Gary Roberts
12 Murray Craven
13 Geoff Courtnall
14 Alexander Mogilny
15 Bob Carpenter
16 Bob Errey
17 Randy Wood
18 Petri Skriko
19 Brent Ashton
20 Mike McPhee
21 Paul Ranheim
22 Kevin Stevens
23 Mark Osborne
24 Greg Adams
25 Doug Smail

Right Wings

1 Cam Neely
2 Jari Kurri
3 Brett Hull
4 Rick Tocchet
5 Tomas Sandstrom
6 Steve Larmer
7 Stephane Richer
8 Gary Leeman
9 John MacLean
10 Dino Ciccarelli
11 Mike Gartner
12 Joe Mullen
13 Pat Verbeek
14 Glenn Anderson
15 Pat Elyniuk
16 Sergei Makarov
17 Kevin Dineen
18 Ulf Dahlen
19 Brenden Shanahan
20 Rob Brown
21 Patrick Flatley
22 Russ Courtnall
23 Trevor Linden
24 Tim Kerr
25 Rick Vaive
26 Mike Foligno
27 Dirk Graham
28 Joe Kocur
29 Darren Turcotte
30 Tony Granato
31 Mark Recchi
32 Brian Mullen
33 Paul MacLean
34 Daniel Marois
35 Dave Christian

Goalies

Rated on glove hand, angles, rebounds, recovery, and puck handling.

1 Bill Ranford
2 Andy Moog
3 Patrick Roy
4 Daren Puppa
5 John Vanbiesbrouck
6 Kelly Hrudey
7 Ron Hextall
8 Grant Fuhr
9 Mike Vernon
10 Don Beaupre
11 Jon Casey
12 Bob Essensa
13 Tom Barrasso
14 Sean Burke
15 Chris Terreri
16 Mike Richter
17 Mike Liut
18 Mark Fitzpatrick
19 Brian Hayward
20 Vincent Riendeau
21 Kirk McLean
22 Glen Healy
23 Ken Wregget
24 Tim Cheveldae
25 Clint Malarchuk

1991-92 Yearbook

Basically identical format of categorization and ranking/rating as the 1990-91 Yearbook.

Defensive Defensemen

1 Mark Tinordi
2 Ulf Samuelsson
3 Scott Stevens
4 Joe Reekie
5 Alexei Kasatonov
6 Rick Zombo
7 Craig Muni
8 Mike Ramsey
9 Jamie Macoun
10 Brad McCrimmon
11 David Shaw
12 Kjell Samuelsson
13 Mathieu Schneider
14 Rod Langway
15 Kevin Lowe

Offensive Defensemen

1 Brian Leetch
2 Al MacInnis
3 Kevin Hatcher
4 Ray Bourque
5 Paul Coffey
6 Gary Suter
7 Chris Chelios
8 Phil Housley
9 James Patrick
10 Jeff Brown
11 Bruce Driver
12 Steve Smith
13 Steve Duchesne
14 Rob Blake
15 Fredrik Olausson
16 Doug Wilson
17 Dave Ellett
18 Al Iafrate
19 Zarley Zalapski
20 Gord Murphy

Centers

1 Mario Lemieux
2 Steve Yzerman
3 Mark Messier
4 Wayne Gretzky
5 Pat LaFontaine
6 Joe Sakic
7 Adam Oates
8 Theoren Fleury
9 Jeremy Roenick
10 Sergei Fedorov
11 John Cullen
12 Craig Janney
13 Ron Francis
14 Joe Nieuwendyk
15 Dave Gagner
16 Dale Hawerchuk
17 Mike Modano
18 Pierre Turgeon
19 Kirk Muller
20 Bernie Nicholls
21 Mike Ridley
22 Denis Savard
23 Brent Sutter
24 Guy Carbonneau
25 Pelle Eklund
26 Doug Gilmour
27 Ed Olczyk
28 Neal Broten
29 Thomas Steen
30 Dan Quinn
31 Ron Sutter
32 Ken Hodge Jr
33 Peter Stastny
34 Mike Ricci
35 Dale Hunter

Left Wings

1 Esa Tikkanen
2 Kevin Stevens
3 Luc Robitaille
4 Brian Bellows
5 Petr Klima
6 Mike McPhee
7 Gary Roberts
8 Steve Thomas
9 Craig Simpson
10 Vincent Damphousse
11 Tony Granato
12 Geoff Courtnall
13 Paul Ranheim
14 Kelly Miller
15 Jan Erixon
16 Alexander Mogilny
17 Murray Craven
18 Brian Propp
19 David Volek
20 Dave Lowry
21 Wendel Clark
22 Sergio Momesso
23 Dave Christian
24 Bobby Holik
25 Greg Adams
26 Dave Andreychuk

Right Wings

1 Brett Hull
2 Cam Neely
3 Rick Tocchet
4 Steve Larmer
5 Mark Recchi
6 Stephane Richer
7 Pat Verbeek
8 John MacLean
9 Tomas Sandstrom
10 Claude Lemieux
11 Trevor Linden
12 Pat Elyniuk
13 Mike Gartner
14 Brenden Shanahan
15 Russ Courtnall
16 Jaromir Jagr
17 Kevin Dineen
18 Mats Sundin
19 Joe Murphy
20 Darren Turcotte
21 Rob Brown
22 Dirk Graham
23 Joe Mullen
24 Gary Leeman
25 Dino Ciccarelli
26 Patrick Flatley
27 Rick Vaive
28 Bob Probert
29 Dave Taylor
30 Michel Goulet
31 Ulf Dahlen
32 John Druce
33 Ray Sheppard
34 Sergei Makarov
35 Glenn Anderson

Goalies

1 Mike Richter
2 Patrick Roy
3 Andy Moog
4 Grant Fuhr
5 Ed Belfour
6 Tom Barrasso
7 Jon Casey
8 Mike Vernon
9 Kelly Hrudey
10 Don Beaupre
11 Bill Ranford
12 Chris Terreri
13 Daren Puppa
14 Glen Healy
15 Vincent Riendeau
16 Tim Cheveldae
17 Ron Hextall
18 Troy Gamble
19 John Vanbiesbrouck
20 Daniel Berthiaume
21 Ron Tugnutt
22 Bob Essensa
23 Kirk McLean
24 Curtis Joseph
25 Clint Malarchuk

1992-93 Yearbook

Another evolution in the rankings/ratings. Top 25 in each position are rated and ranked. The rating categories are expanded like the 1989-90 Yearbook was before. Future Potential is now a category for every position. Aside from a wholistic positional ranking as usual, the top ten for each rating category is given as well. A small writeup is given for the top ten in each position (and the writeup rankings sometimes differ from the broader rating based ranking). Still the same offensive/defensive defenseman split. There is some recognization that the dual defenseman categorization isn't perfect, and they decided to put Ray Bourque, Scott Stevens, and Dave Manson in both categories (understandable, but why not a few others as well?).

Goalies

Rated on angles, leadership, puck handling, recovery, glove, rebounds, work ethic, clutch ability, durability, lateral mobility, future potential

1 Patrick Roy
2 Kirk McLean
3 Tom Barrasso
4 Ed Belfour
5 John Vanbiesbrouck
6 Bob Essensa
7 Mike Richter
8 Bill Ranford
9 Curtis Joseph
10 Andy Moog
11 Chris Terreri
12 Tim Cheveldae
13 Jon Casey
14 Don Beaupre
15 Grant Fuhr
16 Kelly Hrudey
17 Ron Hextall
18 Jeff Hackett
19 Rick Tabaracci
20 Mike Vernon
21 Mark Fitzpatrick
22 Daren Puppa
23 Kay Whitmore
24 Glen Healy
25 Darcy Wakaluk

Defensive Defensemen

Rated on skating, checking, slot coverage, clutch ability, outlet passing, leadership, work ethic, durability, shot blocking, penalty killing, future potential

1 Ulf Samuelsson
2 Ray Bourque
3 Scott Stevens
4 Steve Smith
5 Mark Tinordi
6 Brad McCrimmon
7 Dave Manson
8 Alexei Kasatonov
9 Craig Muni
10 Jamie Macoun
11 Jim Johnson
12 Rod Langway
13 Vladimir Konstantinov
14 Mark Hardy
15 Frantisek Musil
16 Kjell Samuelsson
17 Jeff Beukeboom
18 Mike Ramsey
19 Garth Butcher
20 Joe Reekie
21 Mike Lalor
22 Robert Dirk
23 Keith Brown
24 Lyle Odelein
25 Peter Ahola

Offensive Defensemen

Rated on skating, point shot, clutch ability, power play, checking, speed, outlet passing, leadership, work ethic, durability, future potential

1 Brian Leetch
2 Phil Housley
3 Paul Coffey
4 Chris Chelios
5 Ray Bourque
6 Larry Murphy
7 Kevin Hatcher
8 James Patrick
9 Al MacInnis
10 Al Iafrate
11 Steve Duchesne
12 Scott Stevens
13 Fred Olausson
14 Gary Suter
15 Dave Ellet
16 Jeff Brown
17 Nicklas Lidstrom
18 Zarley Zalapski
19 Dave Manson
20 Glen Wesley
21 Calle Johansson
22 Jyrki Lumme
23 Tom Kurvers
24 Mikhail Tatarinov
25 Doug Bodger

Centers

Rated on skating, leadership, passing, shooting, checking, faceoffs, work ethic, clutch ability, durability, defense, future potential

1 Mario Lemieux
2 Jeremy Roenick
3 Mark Messier
4 Wayne Gretzky
5 Pat LaFontaine
6 Steve Yzerman
7 Pierre Turgeon
8 Joe Sakic
9 Sergei Fedorov
10 Adam Oates
11 Doug Gilmour
12 Rod Brind'Amour
13 Craig Janney
14 Dale Hawerchuk
15 Dimitri Khristich
16 Theo Fleury
17 Bernie Nicholls
18 Michal Pivonka
19 Jimmy Carson
20 Benoit Hogue
21 Ron Francis
22 Dale Hunter
23 Cliff Ronning
24 Denis Savard
25 John Cullen

Left Wing

Rated on skating, leadership, passing, shooting, checking, durability, speed, clutch ability, defense, work ethic, future potential

1 Kevin Stevens
2 Gary Roberts
3 Luc Robitaille
4 Vincent Damphousse
5 Esa Tikkanen
6 Pavel Bure
7 Kirk Muller
8 Adam Graves
9 Dave Andreychuk
10 Brendan Shanahan
11 Shayne Corson
12 Brian Bellows
13 Bob Probert
14 Craig Simpson
15 Kelly Miller
16 Sergio Momesso
17 Tony Granato
18 Wendel Clark
19 Steve Thomas
20 Michel Goulet
21 Derek King
22 Randy Burridge
23 Murray Craven
24 Geoff Courtnall
25 Claude Vilgrain

Right Wing

Rated with same as left wing

1 Brett Hull
2 Mark Recchi
3 Trevor Linden
4 Rick Tocchet
5 Cam Neely
6 Jaromir Jagr
7 Mike Modano
8 Joe Murphy
9 Steve Larmer
10 Alexander Mogilny
11 Paul Ysebaert
12 Claude Lemieux
13 Mats Sundin
14 Russ Courtnall
15 Joe Mullen
16 Owen Nolan
17 John MacLean
18 Pat Verbeek
19 Stephane Richer
20 Kevin Dineen
21 Mike Gartner
22 Dino Ciccarelli
23 Pat Flatley
24 Tony Amonte
25 Sergei Makarov

1993-94 Yearbook

Basically identical format of categorization and ranking/rating as the 1992-93 Yearbook. All 25 players in a position get a small writeup now. These writeup based rankings do differ slightly from the rating based rankings, basically seems based on not taking into account the future potential rank? (the listed rankings here are the rating based ones that do include future potential) Top ten teams for positions are given as well.

Centers

1 Mario Lemieux
2 Pat LaFontaine
3 Jeremy Roenick
4 Steve Yzerman
5 Mats Sundin
6 Pierre Turgeon
7 Doug Gilmour
8 Adam Oates
9 Wayne Gretzky
10 Eric Lindros
11 Joe Sakic
12 Mark Messier
13 Mike Modano
14 Sergei Fedorov
15 Kirk Muller
16 Craig Janney
17 Rod Brind'Amour
18 Mike Ricci
19 Joe Juneau
20 Theoren Fleury
21 Ron Francis
22 Robert Reichel
23 Dale Hawerchuk
24 Geoff Sanderson
25 Alexander Semak

Right Wings

1 Mark Recchi
2 Rick Tocchet
3 Brett Hull
4 Teemu Selanne
5 Alexander Mogilny
6 Jaromir Jagr
7 Cam Neely
8 Trevor Linden
9 Owen Nolan
10 Joe Murphy
11 Steve Larmer
12 Pat Verbeek
13 Dino Ciccarelli
14 Tomas Sandstrom
15 Peter Bondra
16 Claude Lemieux
17 Steve Thomas
18 Russ Courtnall
19 Tony Amonte
20 Stephane Richer
21 Kevin Dineen
22 Andrei Kovalenko
23 Nelson Emerson
24 Nikolai Borschevsky
25 Mike Keane

Left Wings

1 Kevin Stevens
2 Pavel Bure
3 Gary Roberts
4 Luc Robitaille
5 Brendan Shanahan
6 Vincent Damphousse
7 Dave Andreychuk
8 Adam Graves
9 Brian Bellows
10 Valeri Kamensky
11 Tony Granato
12 Shayne Corson
13 Dimitri Khristich
14 Derek King
15 Andrew Cassels
16 Wendel Clark
17 Darrin Shannon
18 Bob Probert
19 Keith Tkachuk
20 Murray Craven
21 Geoff Courtnall
22 Craig Simpson
23 Dmitri Kvartalnov
24 Johan Garpenlov
25 Yuri Khmylev

Defensive Defensemen

1 Ulf Samuelsson
2 Ray Bourque
3 Chris Chelios
4 Mark Tinordi
5 Steve Smith
6 Scott Stevens
7 Vladimir Konstantinov
8 Lyle Odelein
9 Dave Manson
10 Ken Daneyko
11 Frantisek Musil
12 Teppo Numminen
13 Darius Kasparaitis
14 Kjell Samuelsson
15 Jim Johnson
16 Jeff Beukeboom
17 Jamie Macoun
18 Mike Ramsey
19 Garth Butcher
20 Adam Foote
21 Dana Murzyn
22 Don Sweeney
23 Bryan Marchment
24 Terry Carkner
25 Joe Reekie

Offensive Defensemen

1 Phil Housley
2 Brian Leetch
3 Paul Coffey
4 Ray Bourque
5 Larry Murphy
6 Al MacInnis
7 Gary Suter
8 Kevin Hatcher
9 Al Iafrate
10 Jeff Brown
11 Steve Duchesne
12 Chris Chelios
13 Rob Blake
14 Vladimir Malakhov
15 Zarley Zalapski
16 Matthieu Schneider
17 Fredrik Olausson
18 Scott Stevens
19 Steve Smith
20 Steve Chiasson
21 Doug Bodger
22 Nicklas Lidstrom
23 Norm Maciver
24 Glen Wesley
25 Dave Ellet

Goalies

1 Patrick Roy
2 Ed Belfour
3 Tom Barrasso
4 Curtis Joseph
5 Kirk McLean
6 Felix Potvin
7 John Vanbiesbrouck
8 Tim Cheveldae
9 Bob Essensa
10 Grant Fuhr
11 Mike Vernon
12 Bill Ranford
13 Ron Hextall
14 Kelly Hrudey
15 Glen Healy
16 Chris Terreri
17 Rick Tabaracci
18 Andy Moog
19 Kay Whitmore
20 Tommy Soderstrom
21 Stephane Fiset
22 Jon Casey
23 Dominic Roussel
24 Mike Richter
25 Dominik Hasek
 

reckoning

Registered User
Jan 4, 2005
7,081
1,407
Fischler was always a big Kevin Lowe supporter. He seemed to always be praising him in his THN columns back in the mid-80s. I remember seeing an article by him in a sports magazine (Inside Sports maybe?) where he ranked the best players by position in a preview for the 86-87 season, and he had Lowe at #1 even back then.
 

tabness

be a playa 🇵🇸
Apr 4, 2014
2,832
5,133
So for me things that stand out:

This is pretty much the only contemporaneous source I've found where Lemieux is consistently ranked above Gretzky before he won the cup. Usually, Gretzky gets the winner benefit, whereas Lemieux is actually criticized quite a bit (so you see these types of sentiments in some of the other hockey magazines like Superstar Hockey, and you even see it in the Hockey Scouting Reports of that time). Much of that disappeared after the back to back cups as expected.

Poor Larry Murphy right? He got his due after the cups as well.

Nice to see Esa Tikkanen get some love. I always point to him as an example of a player who was much better than his numbers suggest, both in all the other things in hockey, but also straight up that his talent would allow him to be a much better scorer if that was his role.

The defensive defensemen category confuses things for sure, but I did enjoy the spotlight in shined on many unheralded guys.

These guys were quick to drop off the Bill Ranford tip lol
 
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Johnny Engine

Moderator
Jul 29, 2009
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These guys were quick to drop off the Bill Ranford tip lol
Which is strange, because I have a distinct memory of getting issues of Hockey Digest from around 1996 (the year my parents owned an independent bookstore and had tons of old magazines kicking around), and they were still beating the drum that Ranford was the best goaltender in the league, even after a really rough 1995 season in Edmonton. Not sure why, but the line from Mariusz Czerkawski's blurb in one issue (a Top 300 players list) sticks out to me, saying "they turned him into Bill Ranford, which was a nice trick" (never mind the 1st round draft pick, but whatever).
Perhaps there were different staff working on the yearbook vs. the regular issues?
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,893
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Tokyo, Japan
Yes, Fischler had some kind of irrational love-affair with Kevin Lowe. As early as 1988, Fischler ranked Lowe one of his "Hockey's 100" greatest players of all time.

Even for Fischler-influenced lists, though, some things here are wonky:

As everyone knows, I love Messier, but ranking him 1st over Lemieux and Gretzky after the 1987-88 season?? Uhh, no.

Also, I would love to know the rationalization for this ranking after the 1990-91 season:
1 Mario Lemieux
2 Steve Yzerman
3 Mark Messier
4 Wayne Gretzky

Lemieux barely played in the RS, Yzerman was 7th in scoring and his team finished sub-.500, and Messier was injured all year and had his 2nd-lowest points in 10 years (and wasn't a big factor in the playoffs).

Meanwhile, all Gretzky did was lead in scoring by 32 points, finish 4th in ES goals, earn a mid-80s' level of assists (122), lead his team by 72 points (over a Hall of Famer), and go +30. His team finished in 1st place for the first time ever.

I mean, obviously they're putting Lemieux on top due to his playoffs in 1991, but Yzerman and Messier over Gretzky here is a major insult. But that's what Fischler specialized in more than hockey knowledge.
 

quietbruinfan

Salt and light
Feb 2, 2022
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Land of Nod in the East of Eden
The defensemen rankings are quite bad. The love affair with Kevin Lowe and placing Bourque consistently fourth is just ridiculous. Rick zombo as one of the better defensive d? Get out of town. Thank for finding the lists but there is half an hour I will never get back. I read "Hockey's 100" and some of this in the mid 80s and I remember he loved Messier, and liked defensive or combo d, but come on Stan.
 
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JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
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Yes, Fischler had some kind of irrational love-affair with Kevin Lowe. As early as 1988, Fischler ranked Lowe one of his "Hockey's 100" greatest players of all time.

Even for Fischler-influenced lists, though, some things here are wonky:

As everyone knows, I love Messier, but ranking him 1st over Lemieux and Gretzky after the 1987-88 season?? Uhh, no.

Also, I would love to know the rationalization for this ranking after the 1990-91 season:
1 Mario Lemieux
2 Steve Yzerman
3 Mark Messier
4 Wayne Gretzky

Lemieux barely played in the RS, Yzerman was 7th in scoring and his team finished sub-.500, and Messier was injured all year and had his 2nd-lowest points in 10 years (and wasn't a big factor in the playoffs).

Meanwhile, all Gretzky did was lead in scoring by 32 points, finish 4th in ES goals, earn a mid-80s' level of assists (122), lead his team by 72 points (over a Hall of Famer), and go +30. His team finished in 1st place for the first time ever.

I mean, obviously they're putting Lemieux on top due to his playoffs in 1991, but Yzerman and Messier over Gretzky here is a major insult. But that's what Fischler specialized in more than hockey knowledge.
Let me know when Wayne Gretzky is given an NHL trophy to keep by Lady Byng herself like Rangers great Frank Booshay.
 

Hockey Outsider

Registered User
Jan 16, 2005
9,392
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Interesting how Bourque wasn't included on the list of top 15 defensive defensemen in 1991 or 1992, then suddenly jumps up to 2nd place in 1993 and 1994.

Also surprising to see Chelios was ranked 3rd best offensive defenseman in 1991, and not on the defensive defenseman list either. (Same thing in 1992 and 1993 - never on the top defensive list, but ranked 7th and 4th on the offensive D list). I think Chelios's scoring ability has become underrated, but it's crazy that he's not on the defensive D list.
 

JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
19,073
14,322
Interesting how Bourque wasn't included on the list of top 15 defensive defensemen in 1991 or 1992, then suddenly jumps up to 2nd place in 1993 and 1994.

Also surprising to see Chelios was ranked 3rd best offensive defenseman in 1991, and not on the defensive defenseman list either. (Same thing in 1992 and 1993 - never on the top defensive list, but ranked 7th and 4th on the offensive D list). I think Chelios's scoring ability has become underrated, but it's crazy that he's not on the defensive D list.
I believe, as alluded to in the OP, there was a complete separation between the guys on the defensive and offensive defencemen list until 1993, when multiple defencemen make both lists for the first time.
 
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67 others

Registered User
Jul 30, 2010
2,919
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Moose country
If it's a Fischler list, just throw it out. The guy knew Jack s about hockey and basically ranked them based on if they interacted with him favorably
 

tabness

be a playa 🇵🇸
Apr 4, 2014
2,832
5,133
The defensemen rankings are quite bad. The love affair with Kevin Lowe and placing Bourque consistently fourth is just ridiculous. Rick zombo as one of the better defensive d? Get out of town. Thank for finding the lists but there is half an hour I will never get back. I read "Hockey's 100" and some of this in the mid 80s and I remember he loved Messier, and liked defensive or combo d, but come on Stan.

Rick Zombo was great for Detroit one of the few bright spots for the awful 1989-1990 season (assuming you saw him mostly in Boston at the tail end of his career where yeah he really dropped off)
 

quietbruinfan

Salt and light
Feb 2, 2022
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Land of Nod in the East of Eden
Rick Zombo was great for Detroit one of the few bright spots for the awful 1989-1990 season (assuming you saw him mostly in Boston at the tail end of his career where yeah he really dropped off)
I saw him all the way through, but yes his time in Boston biased me against him. He was a hard working , jouneyman stay at homer who had a couple good years. He still does not belong on that list. I saw him go-8 one night all 8 against Mario's line. It was sad.
 

Staniowski

Registered User
Jan 13, 2018
3,799
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The Maritimes
Lowe is certainly higher than he deserved to be on some of these lists....however, he was a really good defenseman. He would've been an automatic for Team Canada '87 if available.
 

Staniowski

Registered User
Jan 13, 2018
3,799
3,413
The Maritimes
Another interesting thing is Gretzky/Messier....these lists have Messier as better basically from their last season in Edmonton, and most of the time after that.

The only thing I would say about that is that there were indeed many hockey people who thought that Messier surpassed Gretzky sometime around late '80s/1990. I remember having these conversations with people.

I think it depends....it's true that Gretzky was declining a bit, while Messier was getting better, and rounding into the best player he would ever be. In some situations, Messier could outplay Gretzky....but it still depended on the situation.
 

crobro

Registered User
Aug 8, 2008
3,873
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I recall the first hockey digest issue I bought had Mark Howe of the whalers as best player in the NHL

GRETZKY CAME THIRD!!!!!
 

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