Ranking Calder Trophy Winners & Greatest Hockey Players Ever
Welcome to the THW Hockey History Substack newsletter, with all the best from our extensive archives.
In today’s edition, we have a few “Today in Hockey History” posts, ranking past Calder Trophy winners, the history of the rats in Florida, the greatest hockey players ever, retiring Henrik Zetterberg’s number and more.
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Now on to the good stuff…
Today in Hockey History: Oct. 7
Oct. 7 has been an extremely busy date in NHL history, starting in 1954 all the way until 2017. Three teams made their NHL debuts, a whole variety of personal milestones were hit, captains were named, and there was even a number retired. So, let’s begin our daily trip back in time to relive all the best memories from this date.
Ranking Every Calder Trophy Winner Since 2005
by Eugene Helfrick
Everyone loves when a young, exciting star comes into the NHL and dominates right out of the gate. The Calder Memorial Trophy is given out each year to the league’s best rookie, with many winners later taking home other hardware, such as the Hart Memorial Trophy for the league’s most valuable player.
So, let’s look back and rank each Calder Trophy winner in the salary cap era since the NHL retook the ice back in 2005.
Today in Hockey History: Oct. 8
Oct. 8 is another extremely busy day in NHL history. One of its greatest players ever signed his first professional contract. This date has seen a little bit of everything, including some big moments in California and Montreal, a new fixation with rats, and the league’s first-ever third-generation player. So. let’s climb inside the THW time machine and take our daily trip back through the decades.
Florida Panthers and the History of the Rats
by Joey Ganzi
For older Panthers fans, the return of the rats to South Florida is a sight for sore eyes and leads them to fondly remember the Panthers’ magical run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. Yet, for the younger generation, a brief history lesson may be in order about the story behind the flying vermin.
Today in Hockey History: Oct. 9
The greatest player in the history of the NHL had his fair share of memories on this date throughout his career. Also, on Oct. 9, we’ve seen new franchises hit the ice for the first time, new players leave their mark on the game, and plenty of personal milestones by some of the all-time greats. So, let’s begin our daily trip back in time to revisit all the great memories from this date.
The 5 Greatest Hockey Players Ever
This post about the greatest hockey players ever was first published in July 2015 by former THW writer Felix Sicard. We can’t imagine the list changing anytime soon. Sidney Crosby may have a chance of cracking it one day and some are already talking about Connor McDavid becoming one of the all-time greatest, but for now, these guys are the hockey gods, the Mount Rushmore of the NHL, the greatest of all-time.
The Red Wings Should Retire Henrik Zetterberg’s Number
by Devin Little
The Detroit Red Wings are incredibly stingy when it comes to retiring numbers. To date, they have only retired eight jerseys with the recent inclusion of Red Kelly’s number 4. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing — retiring a jersey is an honor reserved for the greatest of the greats in team history.
For an Original Six team like the Red Wings, there are many players worthy of seeing their number raised to the ceiling of Little Caesar’s Arena. The player with the most traction right now is Sergei Fedorov, with former general manager Ken Holland stating as far back as 2015 that the organization was looking into honoring the forward’s legendary number 91. But for an organization that clearly prioritizes loyalty as a prerequisite for earning that honor, one forward stands out to me: Henrik Zetterberg.