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Top 100 Defensemen of All-Time
In our 2020 Collectors' Edition, The Hockey News counts down the Top 100 Defensemen of All-Time and tells the tale of each legendary player on the list.
82. Leo Boivin
BORN: Aug. 2, 1932, Prescott, Ont. NHL CAREER: 1952-1970 TEAMS: Tor, Bos, Det, Pit, Min STATS: GP 1,152 G 72 A 250 P 322 PIM 1,192 TIME HAS FORGOTTEN all about the hipchecking defenseman, and in its wake skates a lot of carefree forwards admiring their stickwork. Things were much different in the 1950s and ’60s when “watch out for Leo Boivin” became a common mantra as NHL coaches prepared their forwards for Original Six matchups. When you cut, cut to the middle, the coaches would advise. That was code for “don’t get caught between the boards and Boivin.” They just don’t make blueliners like him anymore. That’s due mainly to the evolution of hockey from plodding to poetic. From brawn to brilliance. That’s not to say Boivin was a butcher carrying the puck. He just…
52. Harry Cameron
BORN: Feb. 6, 1890, Pembroke, Ont. NHL CAREER: 1917-1923 TEAMS: Tor, Ott, Mtl STATS: GP 128 G 88 A 51 P 139 PIM 189 STANLEY CUPS: 3 HHOF: 1962 LONG BEFORE Bobby Orr was making end-to-end rushes and scoring eye-popping goals, there was Harry Cameron. And long before Bobby Hull was terrorizing goalies with his curved stick, there was also Harry Cameron. Largely due to the fact that forward passes were not allowed in the early days of the game, Cameron would simply take the puck from his own end and skate it the length of the ice. That inspired some impressive goal totals, with Cameron potting 17 goals in just 21 games with the Toronto Arenas in the NHL’s first year of existence in 1917-18. He followed that up with back-to-back years of 18 goals with…
16. Scott Niedermayer
BORN: Aug. 31, 1973, Edmonton, Alta. NHL CAREER: 1991-2010 TEAMS: NJ, Ana STATS: GP 1,263 G 172 A 568 P 740 PIM 784 ALL-STAR: 4 (First-3, Second-1) TROPHIES: 2 (Norris-1, Smythe-1) STANLEY CUPS: 4 HHOF: 2013 ADMITTEDLY, SCOTT Niedermayer’s first Stanley Cup victory is no longer fresh in his mind. That was two-and-a-half decades ago, back when he was a fresh-faced 21-year-old kid a mere three seasons into what became a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Yet it’s still surprising – and, frankly, chuckle-worthy – to listen to Niedermayer speak about hoisting Lord Stanley’s mug high above his head for the first time. He does so with an enthusiasm generally reserved for a 9-to-5er retelling the tale of the day they hit nothing but green lights on the commute home. “I was excited, and it meant a whole…
14. Al MacInnis
BORN: July 11, 1963, Port Hood, N.S. NHL CAREER: 1981-2003 TEAMS: Cgy, StL STATS: GP 1,416 G 340 A 934 P 1,274 PIM 1,511 ALL-STAR: 7 (First-4, Second-3) TROPHIES: 2 (Norris-1, Smythe-1) STANLEY CUPS: 1 HHOF: 2007 NOBODY, BUT NOBODY, shot the puck like Al MacInnis. His signature slapshot was the reason the Calgary Flames drafted him in the first round in 1981, it was the reason he was called up to the NHL, and it was the reason he got the chance to develop into one of the best defensemen of his era. But the seven-time “hardest shot” winner at the All-Star Game would rather talk about current big shots than his own famous weapon. “The size of these players today, holy smokes, no wonder they shoot the puck as hard as they do,” said MacInnis, who spent…
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