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How could they forget the great Paul Bibeault at #0 and John Davidson at #00????????? Where I disagree w/ the NHL's list: #1 -- I have Plante above Sawchuk. Pretty close though. #2 -- Eddie Shore is easily the runner-up, if not the best. I'd pick Harvey though. #6 -- Housley is a joke, Frank Nighbor is #1, followed by Toe Blake. #7 -- Morenz is definitely better than Esposito, IMO. #9 -- I'd have Hull as the runner-up over Richard. #10 -- Francis over LaFleur is a joke. #11 -- Dickie Moore; i'd put Abel and Cournoyer ahead of Iginla as well. #14 -- Dave Keon easily over Shanahan. Possibly Claude Provost as well. #16 -- Easily Bobby Clarke over Brett Hull. #17 -- Seibert for runner-up, over Kovalchuk #18 -- I'd have Serge Savard over Denis Savard #19 -- Tough one. Yzerman, Trottier, Sakic and Robinson???? I might lean towards Trottier; bet Yzerman would as well. #25 -- I'd probably have Nieuwendyk and Lemaire over Andreychuk #26 -- St. Louis or Allen Stanley as runner-up #27 -- Mahovlich well ahead of Niedermayer #30 -- Belfour as runner-up #33 -- Draper should be "in the mix" #36 -- Yushkevich should be the runner-up #40 -- Tanguay should be the runner-up #41 -- I'd probably have Allison first #43 -- Brisebois #44 -- I love the snub, but how the hell do they leave off Pronger? He is easily the best here. #45 -- Gilbert Dionne #46 -- Jomphe and Bernier at least deserve mention #47 -- Stephan Lebeau #50 -- Fedotenko for runner-up #51 -- No mention of Kovalenko??? #54 -- Patrick Traverse should be mentioned #57 -- Stephen Heinze #58 -- Robert Kron #64 -- Armand Mondou probably for runner-up #66 -- Milan Novy is probably the 2nd greatest to wear this number #67 -- Robert Svehla deserves mention #70 -- Tim Thomas also wore 70 #72 -- Peter Schaefer for runner-up #75 -- Leroy Goldsworthy for consideration #76 -- Radek Bonk #78 -- Maybe Landry #93 -- Berezin for runner-up Phew!

They did not change anything. There is a clause in the CBA which allows the league to vetoe any contract that can be shown to be salary cap circumvention. Pretty open-ended, but there to address whatever loop holes they failed to iron out originally. They have simply exercised that clause.

Yzerman would never bow down to a british monarch.

It's great the sport is growing among women -- I remember reading a little while back that a greater percentage of female fans are actually 'for' fighting in the game versus male fans However, the extremely knowledgeable and dedicated female fans found on this site (who will watch every game and other NHL games as well) are definitely in the minority, IMO. Almost all female fans I ever talk to, outside of this site, would definitely fit into the above stereotypes... which, who really cares? A "fan" of almost every type (excluding certain elements now found in Chicago and Pittsburgh, as well as a common elelment found in Philadelphia) is great for the sport. You don't need to pour over stats, subscribe to center ice, or get paged whenever an NHL player is traded or waived to be a great fan. One distinction I have noted amongst male and female fans of all sports -- guys typically are much more knowledgeable and interested in the 'inner-workings' of a league. Salary cap structures, revenue sharing, player salaries, trades, waivers, arbitration, free agency and how it works -- Most female fans really could care less, though they might be extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the players and games on the ice. Even extremely casual male fans will typically know more about what is going on in the league. Just an observation, which also correlates to few females getting into fantasy sport leagues. One cool thing about a lot of female fans is that hockey is often by far and away their favorite sport to watch - which is great for me, because I only want to talk hockey, and not get bored over what the chances are the Lions might actually make the playoffs.

Devellano stated so in an interview... But who knows, Ilitch has never said a word about it and the family has never been given a reason, nor really be acknowledged. It is strange.

He is very comparable to Delvecchio, with a Hart on his resume as well.

Because the Red Wings have a long and extraordinary history which should be recognized and celebrated?

Larry Aurie was 'un-retired' because he is not in the Hall of Fame - a good comparison for him would be a high-scoring Kris Draper. He once led the league in goals and also once led the league in playoff points. Great leader with a lot of intangibles and equally valuable with or without the puck. Red Kelly is a Hall of Famer and a vital cog in 4 Cups. If the Norris was around in his time, he would have 5 of them. His Hart record is better than any Red Wing not named Gordie Howe. The only 'debate' is that he went on to have some good years w/ Toronto (as a forward) after being traded from Detroit. The "debate" keeping these two from going up is flimsy, in my opinion.

If they accept it, it will simply be because it has 2 less years on it - ending when he is 42 versus 44.

I'm sure the new structure is designed to show an 'incentive' to play out the entirety of the contract... though not really that great of one considering, as pointed out above, he has already made the vast bulk of his contract by age 38. Interesting spin though. This new one is probably 'less' of a circumvention than Hossa's but still more of one than Zetterberg's. Would not be surprised if it is approved.

This guy is my pick for being a huge steal in the years to come. Long, lanky kids like this who physically mature late... and yet are still good for their age bracket... Look out!

Jack Adams was pretty much a dictator at a time before there was a players' union (for which he traded away Ted Lindsay and planted false quotes attributed to him in the local newspapers, for Lindsay trying to form one). He made Kelly play in 1959 with a broken ankle, while Detroit was trying to make the playoffs. A reporter commented on his poor play and Kelly responded with "Might've been the ankle"... which was enough to prompt Adams to send him packing to the worst team at the league at the time. Kelly retired instead, until I believe Toe Blake talked him into playing for Toronto and traded Adams Marc Reaume for Kely -- in what is still one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. Kelly would go on to win 4 more Cups with Toronto, while Reaume would score all of 2 pts for Detroit in 47 games.

I believe Red Kelly is still alive. Kelly is probably the 3rd greatest Red Wing ever in terms of on-ice accomlishments (behind only Howe and Lidstrom), and it's really a shame he has never been honored by the Red Wings organization. The whole 'rift' stems from Jack Adams trading Kelly to the New York Rangers (at the time - hockey purgatory) after Kelly let it slip to a reporter that his production was down in the playoffs 'possibly' due to playing with a broken ankle. Trivial Fact: Current NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell also wore #4 for Detroit.

100% agreed. Probert did break Gordie Howe's franchise record for points in the playoffs in 1988 (without Yzerman centering him). That record actually lasted until Fedorov in 1995. Probert was a legitimate power forward for a time, and not just the greatest enforcer who ever lived. I'd still put Vladdie ahead, but it's not exactly undebateable.

Always liked Kariya.... So many "what if's'". Such a great talent.

Guerin's game has hit a brick wall, especially last year. Penguins' fans do not want him back at league minimum... he has utterly destroyed so many golden opportunities created by Malkin and Crosby it is amazing. Though Crosby does have Guerin to partially thank for his Rocket Richard trophy, since Guerin's ineptitude forced Crosby to finish his own opportunities more. I'll go ahead and state Kopecky could have 20 goals with 1st line and PP minutes playing with Crosby and Malkin.

If we're ignoring the intent of the OP I lprefer to rate Russian players based on the hotness of their daughters... Larionov is winning so far.

You two should know me better than that by now...

It's the overwhelming perception. It's also why few outside Devils' fans believe Brodeur is the greatest goalie of all-time, despite him holding the wins record. Most have a general understanding that the other 20 players on the team have more than a bit to do with wins. I brought them up because they are still not in -- Osgood has a LOT of waiting to do, if he ever does get in. To take it to an extreme example -- Would you really be against Hasek for the Hall of Fame if he had never been able to come to Detroit and get his sole Cup win as a starter? He had 6 Vezinas, 2 Harts and no Cup before that.

You'll be hard pressed to find people outside of Detroit who put Osgood on a similar level as Belfour and do not think Osgood had some significant help in piling up wins. Vernon and even Cujo are arguable ahead of Osgood as well - as well as Vachon and Barrasso who are unquestionably ahead of him.

This Mitchell signing really bolsters those screaming Detroit overpaid for Lidstrom. Doughty in the future is probably a pipe dream, but I wouldn't mind Detroit taking a stab at Myers in the future - Buffalo rarely is able to hold onto their stars.

Then why not 50? His cap hit could be $2m while making $15m per year! Sweet!

Obviously Belfour is ahead of him and Roy was still very good. Four from that time period just might be it. There are still a handful of better to just-as-good goalies still not in the HHoF. The committee has a much higher bar for goalies than it does for skaters.

Larionov needs to be placed on the Hall of Fame committee. A complete lack of russians on the committee is really a travesty, and a lot of russian greats have thus been completely overlooked.

Like your list - would probably have Salming 3rd.