You Choose ... The Mount Rushmore of Hockey

        There's no such thing, but what do you think?

If there was a Mount Rushmore of Hockey built into, let's say, Canada's magnificent Rocky Mountains ... or a site facing the eye-popping Lake Louise, who would you choose as your best players to receive the honour?

I presented this theme to readers once before but didn't think to add some rules for consideration ... read on, and  ...

Lake Louise

Fair warning: to get things rolling, I've made my selections, but it turned into a lengthy essay. You may want to bail out now before investing any more time. 

If you are still with me and want to move forward, let's go. 

And, if you don't agree with my choices, please let me know what you think in the COMMENTS section at the end.

It's understood that every player up for consideration has already delivered huge numbers of goals and assists and earned lots of trophies and attention. So, here are some ground rules for selection to this Mount:

*The player should have made a "significant contribution" to the game besides trophies and scoring titles.

*He should have influenced the way the game is played.

*The hockey media should have recognized his ability and achievements.

 *We should still be talking about him in 2025 for the reasons mentioned.

My selections are below. Each of these players has already received a huge honour by having their bronze statues erected outside their respective hockey rinks. My selections below are not in any order:

Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard 
Born Aug. 4, 1921, Died May 27, 2000

Maurice "Rocket" Richard

During the early 1940s, NHL hockey in Montreal was struggling. The team needed people in seats, and they needed to give them something to cheer about. Then, the Babe Ruth of Hockey showed up. In 1944, he saved hockey in Montreal the same way The Babe saved baseball in New York City when he banged 60 home runs in 1927. 

Fun Fact: "Babe" Ruth hit his first pro home run in Toronto on Sept. 5, 1914 -- he was also the winning pitcher defeating the Maple Leafs of the International League, 9 - 0.

Maurice Richard was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 50 games. They called him "Rocket" for a reason -- he was the opposite of slow, and when he focused on the net, his eyes caught fire (photo above). The Forum fans were mesmerized by his skills as Montreal games became standing-room-only, and his fans couldn't wait to see what he'd do next.

During the 1954 regular season, "Rocket" had earned the title of the game's most spectacular superstar. To emphasize that statement, the League's commissioner suspended him from the regular season and playoffs for striking an on-ice official during a game. The Canadien fans responded by igniting a full-blown riot in downtown Montreal.

In the 1955/56 season, Maurice was selected as team captain by the players, not management, and led his Habs to five consecutive Stanley Cup Championships. A record that still stands in 2025. 

Twenty years ago, a movie was made about his life emphasizing his outstanding playing career. The film also revealed his enormous popularity with French-speaking Quebecers in an era when English had become the working language of the province. Richard became a French hero and political symbol even though he never sought any political office.

A book was created by Quebec writer, Roc Carrier, titled The Sweater centered around Richard's iconic #9 jersey. It's become a Canadian classic with more than 300,000 copies sold.

Fun Fact: I had The Sweater story repeated to me in its entirety (with a mangled French accent) during a chance meeting with off-the-wall Montreal Expo pitcher "spaceman" Bill Lee, an American, while we sat at the bar sipping afternoon cocktails at Harrah's Casino Hotel in Reno, Nevada, in the 1990s.

In retirement, Maurice became the Canadien's full-time ambassador and was showered with standing ovations whenever he made a pre-game appearance at The Forum. He invented "passing the torch," which established the team's enviable program for honouring former great Habs players. 

The Rocket Richard Trophy was created by the NHL to reward the annual goal-scoring champion.

Due to public demand, there was a state funeral for Maurice when he died in 2000. 

Born: March 31, 1928  Died: June 10, 2016
He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine 7 times

Gordie Howe

The best way to characterize Gordie Howe is to say that even people who knew nothing about the game of hockey knew the name Gordie Howe.

Honoured Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame; Bobby Hull, Wayne Gretzky, Ted Lindsay and Bobby Orr claimed "he was the best." His super marketing-savvy wife, Colleen, negotiated his World Hockey Association contract for an amount more deserving of the sport's best player when he put retirement in the rearview mirror and jumped leagues. She also created and licensed the moniker Mr. Hockey as an exclamation mark for his remarkable skills and longevity.  He played professionally in 6 decades.

Fun Fact: Collen Howe had an interesting friend that she talked to almost every week. They met once he'd launched a book about his life and career in basketball -- he was "Wilt the Stilt" Chamberlain. 

If you ever played on one of his teams or against him ... you would proudly announce that fact to anyone who'd listen ... most especially your grandchildren. In 2013, the CBC created a made-for-TV movie, "Mr. Hockey ... The Gordie Howe Story". 

The new bridge that's being built to link the cities of Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, will be called The Gordie Howe Bridge (how many of the world's athletes have a bridge named after them?)

Wayne Douglas Gretzky
Born January 26, 1961

WAYNE GRETZKY

The NHL was formed in 1917. It took a player sixty-seven years to discover a place on the 200' x 85' ice surface where he could do his best work. Gretzky found that spot directly behind the net, and it was dubbed his "office." Finding places and seams and lanes that seemingly didn't exist before his arrival were all part of his magic.

Every hockey fan could write a 500-word essay about The Great One  -- we all know a little or a lot about him. From the time he broke into the league, we were told "he wasn't a very good skater", "he didn't have much of a shot" and "don't expect him to hit anyone with his 175 lbs. frame. He must have had some sort of "superpowers." because, when he retired in 1999, he held 61 NHL records.

But what about his impact on the sport? I could guess that many American-based NHL fans had never heard of the city of Edmonton before 99 landed there in 1978. Gretzky changed all that with four consecutive Stanley Cup wins in the 1980s -- can you imagine the excitement of living in that city during the Gretzky era? When he was traded from the Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, the move was a lead story everywhere ... it was even the front page story in the Tampa Tribune newspaper (Florida) in the middle of summer, 1988.

Incidentally, he scored on his first shift and his first shot as a King, and interest in the game by Californians went through-the-roof. It's no coincidence that after he arrived, two more Cali franchises were added to the NHL: The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the San Jose Sharks. Additionally, there are now 5 American Hockey League teams playing in the state, and there have been 54 California born players who've made it to the NHL. 

Gretzky's impact on the LA/California market was profound. While he was there, the Kings became the hottest ticket in town, and every movie star wanted to get "backstage" in the King's dressing room to rub shoulders with the players. The NHL couldn't afford to spend the kind of money on promotion that Gretzky simply gave them for just being Gretzky.

Robert Gordon Orr

Born March 20, 1948

Fun Fact: Before his NHL debut game on Oct. 19,1966, Orr was offered "Dit" Clapper's #5 Hall of Fame Bruin jersey ... Orr chose the #4 jersey instead. 

"The Goal," above, is one of hockey's most iconic photos. It features Orr breaking the game's 3-3 tie by scoring the game's 4th goal-winner in the 4th game of the 1970 Stanley Cup playoffs at the 40 second mark of the 4th period in the 4th month and happened during Orr's 4th year as a Bruin. He was launched into our living rooms by Blues defenceman Noel Picard, #4.

Orr went on to earn 4 NHL trophies that year. 

BOBBY ORR

I was not a Bobby Orr fan. 

He regularly terrorized my Leafs on his way to creating a Hall of Fame career. He made the Leafs and every other NHL team's defence squad look like a group of teenagers. 

When he attended his first NHL training camp in 1966, he wore #27, and the report to management was that Orr "wouldn't have a long career." 

During an inter-squad game, a veteran Boston tough guy/defenceman lined up the rookie as he rushed along the boards. The D-man gave him a 10" opening, and Orr took it. The coaches guessed, "If that's the way he plays, he won't last long." Unfortunately, that claim was accurate. Orr's knees were smashed so often that his career was cut short to only 12 years. 

Before Orr, every team put their slowest skater in the defence position because defensemen weren't expected to rush the puck. Orr changed that ... boy, did he change that.

On the subject of who is the best player ever, I would vote for Orr because he could play every position. You wouldn't want even the other members of my Mount selections (Howe or Gretzky or "Rocket") attempting the defence position, blocking shots, delivering center-ice hip checks and trying to cover other teams' sharpshooters in the slot. But, Orr earned the "Best Defenceman" NHL award for 8 consecutive seasons and was the gold standard for the NHL position. He could have easily played up-front.

Imagine, during superstar Phil Esposito's best year, when Espo scored 76 goals and 76 assists, what would he have had with Orr as a winger? Incidentally, Orr scored 102 points that season.

Bobby Orr's impact on the game's popularity is unmistakable. When he arrived in Boston and The Original Six in 1966, there was one hockey rink in the Census Metro Area.  When he retired twelve years later, there were 17 rinks, and the NHL had tripled in size to eighteen teams.

And, in 1970-71, Bobby Orr did something that no player had ever done before and nobody will ever duplicate. He had a +/- of +124 ... only two players have come close to that number: Coffee with the 1980s supercharged Oilers and Robinson with the  1970s Canadiens both had +99. 

Fun Fact:

My Mount Rushmore of Hockey nominees have solid nicknames ... "Rocket," "The Great One," and "Gordie" (he didn't really have a nickname -- no need because everyone knew who you were talking about when you said, "Gordie" but he was also called "Elbows" and "Blinkey" by his teammates). I don't know if #4 Bobby Orr had one.

But, NHL hockey has delivered some beauties:

"Flash" Hollett, "Gump" Worsley, "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, "Cujo", "Newsy" Lalonde, "Ace" Bailey, "The Roadrunner" Cournoyer, "Pocket Rocket," "Dit" Clapper, "Teeder" Kennedy, "King" Clancy,"Busher" Jackson, "Cyclone" Taylor, "Tiger" Willians and, of course, "The Golden Jet." There are a thousand more, but my all-time favourite hockey name is his real name, Bart Crashley. 

If you haven't had enough and would like to access my blog:

             allworldhockey.blogspot.com

What do you think?

Do you agree with my foursome or do you have a better group? Please add your selection to the COMMENTS below.