One birth year produced two scoring titans, a handful of elite goaltenders and a long tail of snipers, grinders and Cup-winning role players. Pick the one who mattered most.
1Mario LemieuxBorn October 5, 1965, he scored 690 goals and 1,723 points in 915 games, all with Pittsburgh, and won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.1000pts
2Pat LaFontaineAmerican center who scored 468 goals and 1,013 points in 865 games for the Islanders, Sabres and Rangers, including 148 points in 1992-93.646pts
3Brian BradleyScored 42 goals for the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in their 1992-93 debut season and finished with 503 career points.517pts
4Steve YzermanDetroit's captain for two decades, he posted 692 goals and 1,755 points in 1,514 games and lifted the Cup in 1997, 1998 and 2002.473pts
5Cliff RonningFive-foot-eight center who piled up 869 points in 1,137 games and reached the 1994 Final with Vancouver.473pts
6Cam NeelyBoston power forward who scored 395 goals in 726 games and netted 50 goals in 44 games during 1993-94.473pts
7Steve DuchesneOffensive defenseman with 752 points in 1,113 games who finished his career as a 2002 Stanley Cup champion in Detroit.423pts
8Dominik HašekCzech goaltender who won six Vezina Trophies and two Hart Trophies with Buffalo, then Stanley Cups with Detroit in 2002 and 2008.423pts
9Esa TikkanenFinnish checking winger who collected five Stanley Cup rings, four with Edmonton and one with the 1994 Rangers.423pts
10Claude LemieuxFour-time Cup winner (1986, 1995, 1996, 2000) with Montreal, New Jersey and Colorado who took the 1995 Conn Smythe Trophy.367pts
11Sylvain TurgeonHartford took him second overall in 1983, and he scored 45 goals for the Whalers in 1985-86 on the way to 269 career goals.302pts
12Russ CourtnallSpeedy winger who recorded 744 points in 1,029 games across stints in Toronto, Montreal, Dallas, Vancouver and elsewhere.302pts
13Patrick RoyGoaltender with 551 regular-season wins, four Stanley Cups split between Montreal and Colorado, and three Conn Smythe Trophies (1986, 1993, 2001).302pts
14Dan QuinnCalgary's 1983 first-round pick who went on to record 685 points in 805 NHL games, his best years coming in Pittsburgh.228pts
15Ed BelfourCalder and Vezina winner with Chicago in 1990-91 who retired with 484 wins and backstopped Dallas to the 1999 Stanley Cup.228pts
16Jeff BeukeboomPhysical defenseman who won three Stanley Cups with Edmonton and a fourth with the 1994 New York Rangers.228pts
17Uwe KruppGerman defenseman whose triple-overtime goal in Game 4 clinched the 1996 Stanley Cup for the Colorado Avalanche.228pts
18Kevin StevensPittsburgh left winger who scored 54 and 55 goals in back-to-back seasons and won Cups in 1991 and 1992.141pts
19Tom BarrassoWon the Calder and Vezina Trophies as an 18-year-old with Buffalo in 1983-84 and later two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh.141pts
Photo credits
- Mario Lemieux — Michael Miller, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Steve Yzerman — Don Bigileone, CC BY 2.0
- Cliff Ronning — Horge, CC BY 3.0
- Cam Neely — Meowwcat, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Dominik Hašek — Krm500, CC BY 2.0
- Esa Tikkanen — Unibet, CC BY 3.0
- Claude Lemieux — Y2kcrazyjoker4, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ed Belfour — Egon Eagle, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Jeff Beukeboom — Håkan Dahlström [1] (Hakandahlstrom at en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 2.5
- Uwe Krupp — Håkan Dahlström, CC BY 3.0
