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Who are the top Detroit Red Wings of all time? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Sid Abel: a longtime linemate with fellow Hall of Famers Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe, Abel was the 1948-1949 Hart Trophy winner and helped guide the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups during his dozen years in Detroit.
9. Pavel Datsyuk: perhaps the best two-way player during his time in the NHL, Datsyuk spent 14 years as a Red Wing, compiling close to 1,000 career points while winning two Stanley Cups, three Selkes, and four Lady Byngs.
8. Red Kelly: though he played the latter part of his career as a winger, Kelly was the inaugural winner of the Norris Trophy and won more Stanley Cups (8x) than any player not associated with the Montreal Canadiens.
7. Sergei Fedorov: the first European-trained player to win the Hart Trophy, Fedorov won three Stanley Cups, two Selkes, a Pearson, and the Hart, and was the first Russian player to score 1,000 points in the NHL.
6. Alex Delvecchio: spending his entire 24-year career with the Red Wings, Delvecchio was a 3x Lady Byng winner and 3x Stanley Cup champion who retired second all-time in NHL history in games played, assists, and points scored (1,281).
5. Ted Lindsay: the namesake of the Lindsay Award (previously known as the Pearson Award) for most outstanding player in the regular season, Lindsay was tough as nails, winning the 1949-1950 Ross Trophy and accumulating 851 career points while leading the Red Wings to four Stanley Cups during his Hall of Fame career.
4. Terry Sawchuk: one of the legendary goalies of the Original Six era, Sawchuk won four Vezina Trophies (including three in a span of four seasons in the early 1950s with the Red Wings) and four Stanley Cups, and retired as the NHL’s career leader in both wins and shutouts.
3. Nicklas Lidstrom: the greatest European-born blue-liner of all-time, Lidstrom is tied with Doug Harvey for second-most Norris Trophies (seven), and was the first European-born Conn Smythe winner as well as the first European-born captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team.
2. Steve Yzerman: the longest-serving captain in NHL history, Yzerman played his entire career with the Red Wings, racking up 692 goals and 1,063 assists for 1,755 career points and leading the team to three Stanley Cups titles.
1. Gordie Howe: Mr. Hockey himself, Howe played an incredible 25 years with the Red Wings and won six Hart and Ross Trophies each while guiding the team to four Stanley Cup titles and retiring as the NHL’s all-time career scoring leader (though he has since been surpassed by Wayne Gretzky).
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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