Most perfect career in hockey?

[Beljavskij]

This is a very interesting question.

Is there any player that had a great early career and won cups/individual awards and then made a resurgence later career for another cup win?
Because that would be a nice bookend to a perfect career.

As someone said, I also view a perfect career as a great story or emotional arc rather than checking off everything you can win or do.

If it's a great winner than Gretzky and probably Crosby comes high up on the list. They basically won everything. However both their team success dropped off towards the twilight of their careers (Crosby might still add internationally or perhaps be traded a last season for a cup chance).

Bourque comes to mind as someone with a great emotional arc of being a superstar all his career and chasing an illusive win, then getting it his last game. Only problem is that it wasn't with Boston which would have been the more perfect ending. But he is probably very happy emotionally with his career.

Lemieux also comes to mind as someone who won everything early, then faced a lot of obstacles, and overcame them, did a glorious comeback (perhaps the best comeback in hockey history), and won Olympics and World cup in his twilight as the leader of those teams. But he's missing that final great run with the Penguins. To bad his body didn't hold up to be around another year so he could have gone to the playoffs with Crosby and Malkin.

Ovie might have a case if he would go on to win it this year (feels like a longshot though, liek all the energy is spent towards the record, is there anything left for playoffs?).

So, i don't know, is there a perfect career?
If the penguins does a major turnaround these last two years and puts together a team for a final cup run. Then Maybe Crosby.

 

[Pavels Dog]

How many players get 20 years on the same team without ever missing the playoffs? Barely any injuries, impeccable reputation, left on his own terms while still an elite player.
Beyond all the trophies and accolades Lidström is one of few players to have such a perfect run.

 

[Ulysses31]

Who do you think have the best career in hockey ? The most obvious answer is Gretzky, but I tried to make a top 10. Best career ≠ Best players

1. Wayne Gretzky (4 Cups, 9 MVP, 2 Playoffs MVP)
2. Sidney Crosby (3 Cups, 2 MVP, 2 Playoffs MVP)
3. Gordie Howe (4 Cups, 6 MVP, 2 Playoffs MVP)
4. Jacques Plante (6 Cups, 3 FT, 1 MVP, 3 Playoffs MVP)
5. Patrick Roy (4 Cups, 3 Vezina, 3 Playoffs MVP)
6. Mark Messier (6 Cups, 2 MVP, 1 Playoffs MVP)
7. Jean Béliveau (10 Cups, 1 MVP, 1 Playoffs MVP)
8. Nicklas Lidstrom (3 Cups, 7 Norris, 1 Playoffs MVP)
9. Maurice Richard (8 Cups, 1 MVP, 1 Playoffs MVP)
10. Howie Morenz (2 Cups, 3 MVP, 3 Playoffs MVP)

For the pre 1965 Playoffs MVP , I use the retroactive list.

For pre 1981-82 goalies , I use All-Star First Teams instead of Vezina.

Lidstrom 4 cups*

 

[solidmotion]

red kelly deserves a mention.

4 norris equivalents (1 norris +3 1st team all-stars before the norris existed)
4 cups as #1 d for detroit
4 more cups as a top centre for toronto
almost won a hart too and probably should've won, they decided to give it al rollins to make up for not giving it to him the year before

 

[Paper]

Lidstrom played 20 seasons. He never missed the playoffs. He won 7 Norris. His first was when he was 30. His last was when he was 40.

He was the first European, or at least European born and raised, player for a lot of categories. Including first European to win the Conn Smythe and Norris and first European captain to win the Cup. He won Sweden's second Olympic gold medal and only one with best on best.

He did age like wine, but he also perhaps didn't get the recognition he deserved being a Euro on a stacked team where he was arguably not the best defenseman even on his team for the early portion of his career. But at the same time remember when Pronger was a complete beast owning defensively and offensively scoring 62 points in the DPE for the only defenseman to win the Hart since Orr? Lidstrom had 73 points that year.

He may have got a couple reputation Norris later, but he took a bit to get his foot in that door for the biased writer voters. From 97-00 he had 246 points as a defenseman when the next best, Leetch, had 209. And he wasn't being mistaken for a Karlsson-like offensive defenseman. Yet he never got a Norris during that era.

Did he have a perfect career? No. But I bet not even he was expecting to accomplish what he did as a 3rd rounder who may have never made it over to the NHL in the first place.

 

[Terrier]

Dryden and Bossy come to mind, two players who didn't have the longest careers but packed a lot in.

 

[Section 104]

I wonder about adding post playing career into it…winning in some front office capacity. Obviously Beliveau was an executive for 7 Stanley Cup winners although I am not sure what he really did. Sakic has won as both player and GM; the same with Serge Savard.
I don’t know about winning as a coach..few seem to try it. Gretzky did in Phoenix and wasn’t exactly successful, although it was a bad situation. Maurice Richard coached the first game in Quebec Nordiques history and quit, realizing it wasn’t for him (he mailed back the check they paid him saying he didn’t earn it which shows real integrity). Jacques Plante was a playing coach for a year with Quebec although people say J C Tremblay had a lot to do with running a team. Patrick Roy is a coach of a team of over the hill mediocrities.

Jacques Lemaire was a long time coach and did win a Stanley Cup with the Devils. I always wondered if he was too good for the Wild in his tenure..kept them from getting a number of really high draft picks.
If you want to go back to Original Six there is Toe Blake as a player and coach.