All-Time Team: Left wings
You don't have to be on the fringe of things to play left wing in the NHL. Some of the greatest players in history have held that position and made tremendous contributions to their teams over the years.
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| Despite perceived softness, Luc Robitaille has gone on to become the league's top scoring LW. (Getty Images) |
Bobby Hull: During the prime of his career, Bobby Hull was the biggest and most dynamic star in hockey. He was called the "Golden Jet" because of his tremendous speed and strength along the wall, and his slap shot was the most feared sight for goalies of his era. In many ways, Hull saved a dying Chicago franchise when he arrived there as a teenager in 1957. The Blackhawks missed four consecutive playoffs before he got there and attendance dwindled, but the crowds returned for the exciting exploits of the blond farm boy from Ontario. Four years later, the team won a Stanley Cup. Hull's game was instant gratification on ice, speed and power without even a hint of nuance. He loved to take control of the puck in his own end to make a rink-long rush, a sight that pulled fans out of their seats in every NHL city. A two-time MVP, Hull led the league in goals seven times and in overall scoring three times. He scored more than 50 goals six times and was the first NHL player to reach that plateau more than once. Still, he was a controversial individual who always seemed to be at odds with his tight-fisted bosses in Chicago, which led him to join the fledgling World Hockey Association in 1972. Hull's marquee status helped the new league gain credibility, and other NHLers followed, but the league didn't last a decade, and Hull returned to finish his career where it started and where it should have ended, in the NHL.
Ted Lindsay: Someone once said no one in the NHL was a stranger to Ted Lindsay, only someone he hadn't fought yet. He was the most hated player of his generation, someone who felt his stick could be usefully employed as a hacksaw and ended up taking more than 700 stitches to his face during his career. But while he liked to rough it up, "Terrible Ted" was also a very skilled forward and a key reason the Detroit Red Wings won four Stanley Cups during his time there. Lindsay was only 5-feet-8 and weighed 163 pounds, but playing on what was called the "Production Line" with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel, he retired as the highest-scoring left wing in history. An eight-time All-Star, and the league's scoring champion in 1950, Lindsay was the first player to finish first in goals, assists, points and penalty minutes. Despite everything he accomplished on the ice, Lindsay's most noteworthy contribution was sowing the seeds for the first players association. Lindsay got a union organized in the late 1950s because he wanted answers about the players' pension funds, but it was crushed quickly by the owners and ended up getting the star player traded to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks in 1957. He spent three years in Chicago before mending fences and returning to Detroit for one final season in 1964-65.
Frank Mahovlich: He was a superstar as a junior and went on to score more than 500 NHL goals, win six Stanley Cups and get elected to the Hall of Fame. Still, Frank Mahovlich never quite lived up to expectations, at least in Toronto, where he spent the majority of his career. Funny thing though: He was the main offensive weapon of a defensive-minded Maple Leafs team that won four Stanley Cups when he was there. Mahovlich was a great skater, stick handler and shooter and outdueled Bobby Hull for top rookie honors in 1957, but his talents weren't fully exploited in Toronto's system. That became so apparent that every team in the league made a pitch for him, with Chicago owner Jim Norris famously making a then-unheard of $1 million trade offer in 1968. The Leafs accepted, then backed off. But when Mahovlich left the team, Toronto traded him to Detroit. The "Big M" had two very good seasons for weak Red Wings teams and then went to Montreal, where he helped the Canadiens win two Stanley Cups during the final three years of his career.
Dickie Moore: He played in the shadows of Canadiens greats such as Rocket Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion and Doug Harvey, but Dickie Moore was a key player on the most dominant team of the era. Moore spent his first three NHL seasons mostly riding the bench, but his apprenticeship turned into regular duty in 1954, and he soon became one of the league's top offensive stars. Moore skated very well and had a very accurate shot, but used his elbows and fists enough to earn the nickname "Dirty Digger." He won two scoring titles -- the first in 1957-58 when he played the final three months of the season with his broken left wrist in a cast -- and had the league's highest one-season point total to that time when he picked up 96 in 1958-59; it lasted for seven years. All told, Moore played on six Stanley Cup champions before retiring in 1963 because of a contract dispute. He made a limited comeback the following year in Toronto and played 27 games for the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1968, helping them get to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Johnny Bucyk: He was a very low-key player who became impossible to overlook because of the big numbers he put up. Bucyk spent the first two years of his career languishing in Detroit, but a 1957 trade to Boston changed his fortunes. Bucyk spent the next 21 seasons with the Bruins and retired in 1978 as the club's all-time leader in goals, points and games played. He was 43 at the time and the NHL's fourth all-time best goal scorer and point producer. There were some lean years to be sure, like an eight-year playoff drought beginning in 1960, but there were also two Stanley Cups playing alongside Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, seven 30-goal seasons and 51 goals at age 35, making him the oldest player in the league to score 50. Bucyk had good speed, but his size and grit were as responsible for his success as much as his skill. He took a pounding in front of other teams' nets but kept parking himself and took whatever he had to for the sake of loose pucks. In fact, Bucyk twice won the Lady Byng Trophy as most gentlemanly player.
Harvey Jackson: They called him "Busher," which was short for bush league and meant to put the confident -- some said arrogant -- Jackson in his place. But it was almost impossible to contain the Toronto Maple Leafs speedster during the 1930s, when Jackson played on was called the "Kid Line" with Joe Primeau and Charlie Conacher and tore through NHL defenses. Jackson had different linemates later in the decade, but still managed to score more than 20 goals in four consecutive seasons during the dead puck era. He won one scoring championship during his time in Toronto and helped the Leafs reached the Stanley Cup Finals six times before he injured his shoulder and ended up being traded to the New York Americans. Jackson played two seasons in New York and finished his career with three seasons in Boston.
Toe Blake: Blake will always be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of all time, but his playing career was impressive in its own right. Blake won eight Stanley Cups in 13 years as the Montreal Canadiens coach after winning three during his 14 years as a player. Blake played during the Maurice Richard era in Montreal and had the skill and the toughness to complement his linemate, acting as his bodyguard as often as he would set him with passes. A three-time All-Star (and twice second-team), Blake was the NHL scoring champion and MVP in 1938-39 and averaged nearly a point per game over his career. He scored the Stanley Cup-winning goals for Montreal in 1944 and 1946.
Luc Robitaille: Robitaille was an afterthought to most teams when he was draft-eligible in 1984, lasting until the Kings took a chance on him with the 171st pick. He was a high-scoring player as a junior, but his skating and the perceived softness in his game made few believe he could make an impact in the NHL. Robitaille proved critics wrong by scoring 45 goals and being named 1987 rookie of the year, and then reeled off seven more seasons in Los Angeles in which he never scored fewer than 44 goals (once hitting 63). Robitaille is 38 now and after winning a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2002 is back with the Kings for the third time. He will probably not return to play if the current lockout extends through the season, but he has lasted 18 seasons, played for four teams and stands as the highest-scoring left wing in history with 653 goals, 717 assists and 1,370 points.
