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About This Quiz
Not every NHL franchise is the same, and some teams better benefit certain players than others. That's why a young star needs to end up on the team that best fits their style of play, so they can start establishing their legacy from the start of their career rather than wasting their talent year after year on a team that isn't going anywhere. Of course, that doesn't mean players can't still be great on mediocre teams, but to really shine, a star has to show what they have in the playoffs.
Some NHL legends learned this lesson the hard way, spending the prime of their career trying to elevate a team that never went anywhere. Then, they finally moved on to better horizons, where they were able to show their skills off on the biggest stages. Others were able to hit the ground running, and a lucky few spent their entire career with one team, winning both individual awards while also having team success.
Do you know which NHL legends flocked from team to team and which ones will forever be remembered as stars for a single franchise? From the top scorers to the best goalies, this quiz covers them all. Get started and see if your knowledge of the game matches the legacies these players established on the ice.
Bobby Orr
Gordie Howe
Wayne Gretzky
As a player who sits atop the record books, there's a reason Wayne Gretzky is called "The Great One." Gretzky started his career in 1979 and continued to dominate the league until 1999. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year he retired, as the NHL wanted to honor him by waiving the waiting period.
Maurice Richard
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Alexander Ovechkin
Martin Brodeur
Mark Messier
Mario Lemieux
Near the end of his career, Mario Lemieux went from a player for the Pittsburgh Penguins to an owner of the team as well. A testament to his greatness on and off the ice, Lemieux won two championships as a player and three as an owner.
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Bobby Orr
Even with all the individual accolades from Hart Trophies to All-Star selections, Bobby Orr will probably best be remembered for scoring "The Goal" in overtime of Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final. The goal helped Orr capture his first of two championships.
Gordie Howe
Jaromir Jagr
Mike Bossy
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Sidney Crosby
Alexander Ovechkin
Evident by his eight Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophies, Alexander Ovechkin is one of the top goal scorers in NHL history. Ovechkin's highest-scoring season came in 2007-08 when he scored 65 goals and 112 points.
Maurice Richard
Martin Brodeur
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Jaromir Jagr
Gordie Howe
Gordie Howe is one of the few players who continued to excel even as he aged. He didn't officially retire until he was 52 after playing his final season with the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.
Jean Beliveau
Mike Bossy
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Maurice Richard
Maurice "The Rocket" Richard earned his nickname because he approached the other team's goal like a rocket when he was going in to score. The reference wasn't just to his speed, either, as Richard had a level of determination that few other players could match.
Steve Yzerman
Ray Bourque
Nicklas Lidstrom
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Mark Messier
Guy Lafleur
Bobby Hull
Martin Brodeur
Known for his reflexes around the net and ability to handle a puck, Martin Brodeur shut down opposing offenses. His dominance led the NHL to change its rules, where it was required that goaltenders only play the puck within a designated area.
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Mike Bossy
Steve Yzerman
Jaromir Jagr
In the 1990s, when Jaromir Jagr was most dominant, scoring was down across the league because of tougher defensive play. However, that didn't apply to Jagr, who scored over 100 points three times in the decade.
Nicklas Lidstrom
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Patrick Roy
Paul Coffey
Phil Esposito
Jean Beliveau
Jean Beliveau was the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, an award given to the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He received the award in 1965, the same year he won his sixth championship.
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Art Ross
Mark Messier
Mark Messier's NHL playing career spanned four decades from the 1970s through the 2000s. Messier made his first All-Star Game in 1982 and continued to make them until his final season in 2004.
Bobby Clarke
Ted Lindsay
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Mike Bossy
Mike Bossy was one of the leaders and top scorers for the New York Islanders when they won four straight Stanley Cup championships between 1980 and 1983. The team went to the Stanley Cup Finals again in 1984 but finally lost to the Edmonton Oilers.
Ray Bourque
Guy Lafleur
Bobby Hull
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Nicklas Lidstrom
Bobby Clarke
Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman was a player known for his leadership, which is why he became the captain of the Detroit Red Wings in 1986 at the age of 21. He went on to captain the team longer than anyone else in NHL history.
Ted Lindsay
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Ray Bourque
After playing for the Boston Bruins from the 1979-80 season until halfway through the 1999-00 season, Ray Bourque was shipped to the Colorado Avalanche after he requested a trade in hopes of finally winning a championship. The move paid off as the Avalanche won the title in 2001, sending Bourque out a champion.
Patrick Roy
Paul Coffey
Art Ross
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Doug Harvey
Joe Sakic
Nicklas Lidstrom
Regarded as one of the best at his position, Nicklas Lidstrom played defenseman throughout his NHL career and won seven James Norris Memorial Trophies, an award given to the NHL's best defenseman. As a member of the Detroit Red Wings, his team never missed the playoffs during his tenure.
Phil Esposito
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Patrick Roy
Ted Lindsay
Brett Hull
Guy Lafleur
An offensive juggernaut, Guy Lafleur scored at least 50 goals and 100 points for six consecutive seasons between 1974-75 and 1979-80. He accomplished that feat while playing for the Montreal Canadiens, as he wouldn't move on from the team until the end of his career.
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Paul Coffey
Bobby Hull
Nicknamed "The Golden Jet," Bobby Hull had a speed that could get him from one side of the ice to the other in seconds. That, combined with his shooting power, made him a versatile offensive threat, as he led the league in goals seven times.
Bobby Clarke
Art Ross
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Terry Sawchuk
Patrick Roy
It's easy to see why Patrick Roy is an NHL legend considering he's the only player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy three times for his heroics in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's also the only player to win the award with two different teams, the Canadiens and Avalanche.
Doug Harvey
Teemu Selanne
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Paul Coffey
Paul Coffey holds the regular-season record for most goals scored by a defenseman at 48, which he accomplished during the 1985-86 season. He also scored over 100 points a total of five seasons, an extremely rare accomplishment for his position.
Pavel Bure
Marcel Dionne
Brett Hull
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Ted Lindsay
Dominik Hasek
Stan Mikita
Phil Esposito
Having spent his prime with the Boston Bruins, the team honored Phil Esposito by retiring his No. 7 jersey in 1987. The move was surprising at the time because the number was being worn by their current star Ray Bourque, who willingly accepted No. 77 as a replacement.
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Larry Robinson
Eric Lindros
Bobby Clarke
The Philadelphia Flyers won back to back championships in 1974 and 1975 with Bobby Clarke as their captain, a position he initially held from 1973 until 1979. He again served as captain from 1982 until 1984, the year he retired.
Brian Leetch
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Terry Sawchuk
When Terry Sawchuk's career came to a close in 1970, he had recorded 103 regular-season shutouts, a record that stood until 2009. However, Sawchuk wouldn't be able to see his contributions honored at the Hall of Fame, as he died before he was elected.
Joe Sakic
Jonathan Toews
Pavel Bure
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Doug Harvey
Brett Hull
Teemu Selanne
Ted Lindsay
One of Ted Lindsay's greatest contributions to the game of hockey came off the ice, where he helped establish the National Hockey League Players' Association. Partly because of his role in establishing the union, Lindsay was traded from the Detroit Red Wings to the Chicago Black Hawks.
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Brett Hull
Stan Mikita
Dominik Hasek
Dominik Hasek was known for his "flopping" style of goaltending, which was compared to everything from a Slinky to a fish. However, his extreme flexibility made him one of the best goaltenders of all time, as he sits at or near the top of the record books in most goaltending categories.
Eric Lindros
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Chris Chelios
Doug Harvey
Doug Harvey was a revolutionary player at the defenseman position because of his willingness to move the puck up the ice himself rather than pass it off to other players. He wasn't an elite goal scorer himself but did help his teams establish some of the best power plays in NHL history.
Marcel Dionne
Brian Leetch
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Teemu Selanne
Stan Mikita
Jonathan Toews
Joe Sakic
A strong team leader, Joe Sakic helped the Colorado Avalanche win a Stanley Cup championship during their first season in Colorado in 1995-96. That season, Sakic scored a career-high 120 points, which included 51 goals.
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Denis Potvin
Larry Robinson
Brett Hull
Brett Hull was the son of former NHL legend Bobby Hull. Known for his high-level scoring prowess, Brett Hull once scored 86 goals in a season while playing for the St. Louis Blues, which is the third-highest total in NHL history.
Eric Lindros
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Teemu Selanne
Known as "The Finnish Flash," Teemu Selanne immediately made an impact when he played his first NHL season in 1992-93. That year, he scored a rookie record 76 goals and 132 points, which earned him the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year.
Marcel Dionne
Eric Lindros
Brian Leetch
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Jonathan Toews
Pavel Bure
Pavel Bure, nicknamed "The Russian Rocket," had as great an international career as he had a career in the NHL. He won a gold medal with the Soviet Union in the 1990 Men's Ice Hockey World Championship and was elected into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2012.
Denis Potvin
Bryan Trottier
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Chris Pronger
Peter Forsberg
Marcel Dionne
Marcel Dionne had a fierce individual competition against Wayne Gretzky during the 1979-80 season for the Art Ross Trophy. Both players finished the season with 137 points, but Dionne had two more goals than Gretzky and took home the award.
Adam Oates
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Stan Mikita
In terms of individual accolades, Stan Mikita is one of the most recognized players in the history of the NHL. In fact, he's the only player to ever win the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in a single season.
Larry Robinson
Chris Chelios
Brian Leetch
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Jacques Plante
Denis Potvin
Denis Potvin set many firsts for defensemen across the NHL, including being the first to score 300 goals and 1,000 points in the regular season. He carried those skills into the playoffs, where he retired as the all-time leader for a defenseman in goals, assists and points.
Chris Pronger
Evgeni Malkin
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Brian Leetch
Peter Forsberg
Ron Francis
Larry Robinson
Larry Robinson went into coaching after he retired as a player in 1992. After taking over as the interim head coach of the New Jersey Devils in 2000, he led the team to a Stanley Cup championship, becoming the first interim head coach to win a championship.
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Bryan Trottier
Chris Pronger
Pavel Datsyuk
Eric Lindros
When Eric Lindros was drafted with the first pick in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques, he famously refused to play for the team, as he didn't like the ownership. He stuck to his word and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1992, launching his Hall of Fame career.
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Chris Chelios
Chris Chelios' lengthy career spanned 26 seasons with a total of 1,651 games, which is seventh-most all time. When he retired in 2010, Chelios was 48 years old, making him the oldest active player in the league at the time.
Peter Forsberg
Bernie Parent
Adam Oates
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Ron Francis
Brian Leetch
Brian Leetch had an incredible playoff run with the New York Rangers on their way to a championship in 1994, scoring 11 goals and 34 points. For his play on both ends of the court, he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Eddie Shore
Ken Dryden
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Evgeni Malkin
Pavel Datsyuk
Bryan Trottier
On any given night throughout his career, which lasted from 1975 until 1994, Bryan Trottier could put on an otherworldly performance. In fact, he scored five goals on more than one occasion, a rare feat for any hockey legend.
Peter Forsberg
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Pavel Datsyuk
Chris Pronger
Chris Pronger is one of only a few defensemen to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP, which he accomplished in the 1999-00 season. On his way to winning the award, Pronger had a plus-minus rating of 52 after scoring 62 points.
Adam Oates
Ken Dryden
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Peter Forsberg
The only thing that slowed Peter Forsberg down on the ice was his health, as he rarely played over 70 games in a season. His physicality is what often resulted in these injuries because he was never afraid to lay his body on the line.
Ron Francis
Bernie Parent
Eddie Shore
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Ron Francis
Eddie Shore
Pavel Datsyuk
Pavel Datsyuk found as much success internationally as he did in the NHL. After winning two Stanley Cup championships, Datsyuk went on to win both a World Championship gold medal and an Olympic gold medal, making him a member of the Triple Gold Club.
Jacques Plante
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Bernie Parent
Adam Oates
Ken Dryden
Ron Francis
Considering Ron Francis sits near the top of several records, it's no surprise that he was a first ballot Hall of Famer, elected in 2007. He was further honored by the Carolina Hurricanes, who retired his number, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who added him to their Ring of Honor.
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