Drafted by the Oilers in 1979, he would go on to play for the Rangers and the Canucks, before retiring in 2004. Mark Messier had a long and successful career in the NHL. Many believe he should have more Stanley Cups to his name, but he’s a surefire Hall-of-Famer regardless, and might finish as the all-time NHL leading goal-scorer. He is an eight-time First-Team All-Star, has been in the NHL All-Star game 11 times, won the Stanley Cup back in 2018, and has been the cover athlete for three NHL video games. The current captain of the Washington Capitals, Ovechkin, has spent almost two decades in the league. If you don’t think Gretzky is the greatest ever, it is probably because you believe Ovechkin is. He is 34 now and doesn’t have many seasons left, but he has undoubtedly left a mark that won’t be forgotten.
He is an eight-time All-Star, a three-time Stanley Cup winner, a nine-time Penguins MVP. His number of achievements is almost too long to list. He started his career back in 2005 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been there ever since. One of the few players already considered a legend that still plays today is Sid “The Kid” Crosby. During his time as captain for the Oilers, Gretzky led them to four out of their five Stanley Cups.
He played almost 1,500 games in his professional career, scoring 894 goals, assisting 1,963 times, and scoring 2,857 points in the regular season. He spent 21 years in the league, playing for the Edmonton Oilers, the LA Kings, the St. Wayne Gretzky is regarded as the best ice hockey player who ever lived, and his nickname, “The Great One,” only backs that assertion up. Here are 12 of the best to ever play in the NHL. These NHL legends are worth a chance on the ice now, years after some of them have retired because they were just that good. Only UConn has fared as well as the Triangle powers in recent NCAA men’s competition.The NHL has had dozens and dozens of truly great players in its long history. Already among the college game’s elite, the neighbors combined for six NCAA men’s championships since 2001, more precisely six in 17 seasons from ’01 to 2017.
Recently, though, no major league team has been as successful.Īlso note how spoiled fans of archrivals Duke and North Carolina have been in the 21 st century.
Long denied a World Series title, sometimes in excruciating circumstances, teasingly pronounced as victims of the “Curse of the Bambino”, the Red Sox won four championships in the past 18 years after enduring a drought that lasted from 1917 through 2003. We’re not sure if 19 is surprisingly few or shockingly numerous, although we note how difficult it is for any modern team to even repeat as champs in consecutive years.įor those who feel their darlings are doomed to also-ran status like Clemson chasing an ACC Tournament championship, consider the Boston Red Sox. What follows is a list of the 19 teams in seven major spheres of American sports that won titles at least three times since 2001. (Think 34-0 UNLV losing to Duke in the Final Four in 1991, undefeated New England dropped by the New York Giants in the 2007 Super Bowl.) New England in the NFL, UConn in women’s basketball are stubbornly striking exceptions, both pronounced pace-setters in their respective realms.Ĭonversely, some of the seemingly most untouchable teams in recent history fell short at the threshold of winning a championship that would have indelibly validated their excellence. Looking at championships secured this century, there have been surprisingly few that involved dominating statements of supremacy. However a team got there, whatever it took, whether the results along the way were commanding or tenuous, once secured a title in any sport – unless you cheated – is rightly a matter of pride and honor. Few athletic achievements are more enduring than winning championships.