Hockey's best players by the numbers they wore

23 -- Bob Gainey



Gainey scored 239 goals in his 16 NHL seasons, but he's in the Hall of Fame for all the goals he helped prevent while helping the Montreal Canadiens win five Stanley Cups, including four in a row in the late 1970s. He was the prototypical checking forward, a four-time winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best checking forward, and the 1979 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP.

Runner-up: Brian Bellows
Also in the mix: Milan Hejduk, Bob Nystrom, Eddie Shack

25 -- Dave Andreychuk



Andreychuk began his career as a big scorer and ended it as a checker, leader and power-play specialist -- and as captain of the 2004 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning after ending the longest active Cup drought in NHL history. Andreychuk put up 640 goals and 1,338 points in 1,639 games during his 23 NHL seasons, and is No. 1 on the all-time list with 274 power-play goals.

Runner-up: Joe Nieuwendyk
Also in the mix: Jacques Lemaire, Kevin Stevens, John Ogrodnick

26 -- Peter Stastny



Stastny and brother Anton defected from Czechoslovakia in 1980, and Peter, age 24, became an instant star, winning the Calder Trophy in 1980-81 by breaking the 100-point mark for the first of six years in a row. Stastny, the greatest player in the history of the Quebec Nordiques, finished his career with 450 goals and 1,239 points in only 977 games.

Runner-up: Patrik Elias
Also in the mix: Mats Naslund, Brian Propp, Jere Lehtinen

27 -- Scott Niedermayer



Niedermayer never put up huge offensive numbers, largely because he played most of his career in New Jersey's defense-first system. The trade-off was success: Niedermayer was part of three Cup-winning teams in New Jersey. He added a fourth ring as captain of the 2007 Anaheim Ducks. One of the best skaters in NHL history from the day he arrived until his retirement after the 2009-10 season.

Runner-up: Frank Mahovlich
Also in the mix: Darryl Sittler, Gilles Meloche, John Tonelli

28 -- Steve Larmer



All Larmer did was show up for work every night and make life miserable for the opposition. He played every game for 11 seasons in a row and had his consecutive-games streak snapped only by a contract dispute that saw Chicago trade him to the Rangers -- where he was a key member of New York's 1994 Cup-winner. He retired at age 33 with 441 goals and 1,012 points in 1,006 games.

Runner-up: Brian Rafalski
Also in the mix: Steve Duchesne, Reed Larson

29 -- Ken Dryden



No goaltender in NHL history can match Dryden's record of success -- he played just a little over seven NHL seasons and led the Montreal Canadiens to six Stanley Cups, including four in a row from 1976-79. Dryden won 258 of his 397 NHL appearances and finished with a 2.24 goals-against average and 46 shutouts, as well as 80 victories in 112 playoff games. He led the NHL in wins four times and was the First-Team All-Star goaltender five times, including each of his last four seasons, before retiring at age 31.

Runner-up: Joel Otto
Also in the mix: Felix Potvin, Mike Palmateer, Tomas Vokoun

30 -- Martin Brodeur



It's hard to believe now that not only wasn't Brodeur the first player selected in the 1990 Entry Draft, he wasn't even the first goaltender (Calgary took Trevor Kidd at No. 11, before New Jersey tabbed Brodeur with the 20th pick). Brodeur owns the marks for regular-season wins and shutouts and could put those records beyond reach depending on how long he plays. He's led the Devils to three Stanley Cups and is arguably the greatest goaltender of all time.

Runner-up: Chris Osgood
Also in the mix: Rogie Vachon, Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Miller

31 -- Billy Smith



Little did the Los Angeles Kings know when they allowed a young goaltender named Billy Smith to go to the expansion New York Islanders in 1972 that they were letting a future Hall of Famer walk out the door. Smith took his lumps with the expansion Isles, but became one of the NHL's great money goaltenders while leading the club to four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.

Runner-up: Grant Fuhr
Also in the mix: Curtis Joseph, Pelle Lindbergh

32 -- Dale Hunter




Hunter has a unique daily double -- he's the only player in NHL history to score 1,000 points (1,020) in his career while piling up more than 3,500 penalty minutes (3,565). Despite spending the equivalent of nearly 60 full games in the box, Hunter scored 323 goals and added 697 assists with Quebec and Washington, for which he served as captain for five seasons.

Runner-up: Steve Thomas
Also in the mix: Claude Lemieux, Rob Ray

33 -- Patrick Roy




Roy had two careers and was brilliant in both of them. He spent 10-plus seasons with Montreal, winning two Stanley Cups, three Vezina trophies and a pair of Conn Smyth trophies as playoff MVP. After being dealt to Colorado during the 1995-96 season, Roy won two more Stanley Cups and his third Conn Smythe Trophy during his time with the Avs. His 551 wins were a record until Martin Brodeur broke it; his mark of 151 playoff victories may never be broken.

Runner-up: Henrik Sedin
Also in the mix: Benoit Hogue, Fredrik Modin, Al Iafrate

34 -- John Vanbiesbrouck



"Beezer" had several fine seasons with the Rangers, winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender in 1985-86, but really came into his own after being taken by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 expansion draft. He went on to win more than 300 games, but his best work came when he led the third-year Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final.

Runner-up: Miikka Kiprusoff
Also in the mix: Jamie Macoun

35 -- Tony Esposito




"Tony O" had one of the great debut seasons in NHL history, winning the Calder and Vezina Trophies in 1969-70 while leading Chicago to first place with 15 shutouts -- a total no one has come close to matching since then. Esposito had 30 or more wins in each of his first seven full NHL seasons and finished with 423 victories, a 2.92 goals-against average and 76 shutouts.

Runner-up: Mike Richter
Also in the mix: Tom Barrasso, Marty Turco, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Andy Moog

36 -- Matthew Barnaby




While scorers such as Glenn Anderson, Brian Propp and Bobby Clarke wore No. 36 for a season, Barnaby spent his whole career wearing it -- often while scrumming with an opponent. Barnaby had 113 goals, 300 points and 2,562 penalty minutes while driving opponents crazy during his 843 NHL games.

Runner-up: Jussi Jokinen
Also in the mix: Dmitry Yushkevich

37 -- Olaf Kolzig



"Olie the Goalie" led the Washington Capitals to their only appearance in the Stanley Cup Final (in 1998), and won 301 games with the Caps, by far the most in franchise history. He was the NHL's best goalie in 1999-2000, earning the Vezina Trophy and First-Team All-Star honors, and finished his career with 35 shutouts and a 2.71 goals-against average.

Runner-up: Eric Desjardins
Also in the mix: Mark Parrish

38 -- Pavol Demitra



Demitra, a 1993 ninth-round pick by Ottawa, didn't establish himself as an NHL player for five years. But once he did, he was one of the League's most consistently productive players. He had as many as 37 goals and 93 points during eight seasons with St. Louis and has put up 304 goals and 768 points in 847 games -- as well as leading all players in scoring at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Runner-up: Dave Scatchard
Also in the mix: Jan Hrdina

39 -- Dominik Hasek



With Ed Belfour ensconced as their No. 1 goaltender, the Chicago Blackhawks had no qualms about trading Hasek, then a 27-year-old backup, to Buffalo. The rest is history: Hasek became one of the great goaltenders in NHL history, winning six Vezina trophies, back-to-back Hart trophies, and piling up 389 victories despite not becoming an NHL regular until he was 29. His flipping and flopping style of play was unique, but he did the one thing all goalies are paid to do -- keep the puck out of the net by any means necessary.

Runner-up: Doug Weight
Also in the mix: Rick DiPietro, Travis Green

40 -- Henrik Zetterberg




Another of Detroit's late-round draft gems -- he was chosen in the seventh round in 1999 -- Zetterberg has been a key part of the Wings' continued excellence since the early 1990s. He's averaged more than a point a game for the past five seasons, put up as many as 43 goals and 92 points in a season and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP by powering the Wings to the 2008 Stanley Cup.

Runner-up: Patrick Lalime
Also in the mix: Alex Tanguay, Marek Svatos

41 -- Jocelyn Thibault




He may be remembered best for being the goalie who went from Colorado to Montreal in the deal that sent Patrick Roy to the Avs, but Thibault was a solid NHL goaltender who finished his career with 238 victories, 39 shutouts and a 2.75 goals-against average in 586 games -- most of them with teams that were nowhere near winning the Stanley Cup.

Runner-up: Brent Gilchrist
Also in the mix: Jason Allison

42 -- Richard Smehlik




Despite knee problems, Smehlik had a solid 10-year NHL career -- a pretty good showing for a player drafted in the fifth round by Buffalo in 1990. He had 14 goals and 41 points for the Sabres in 1993-94; though he never approached those numbers again after missing 1995-96 while recovering from knee surgery, he returned as a solid player who finished with 195 points and was plus-62 in 644 games.

Runner-up: Sergei Makarov
Also in the mix: Bob Sweeney, Robert Esche

43 -- Martin Biron



After wearing No. 00 as a rookie with Buffalo, Biron switched to his more familiar No. 43 and has gone on to a solid career. He takes his 208 victories and 2.63 goals-against average to the New York Rangers, where he's expected to back up Henrik Lundqvist this season after spending 2009-10 with the archrival Islanders.

Runner-up: Philippe Boucher
Also in the mix: Patrice Brisebois

44 -- Stephane Richer




Few players in NHL history were more talented than Richer, who became an NHL regular at age 19 and was a two-time 50-goal scorer before he turned 24. Richer never hit those heights again, but finished his career with 421 goals and 819 points in 1,054 games. He was a key contributor on a pair of Stanley Cup champions -- Montreal in 1986 and New Jersey nine years later.

Runner-up: Dave Babych
Also in the mix: Todd Bertuzzi, Rob Niedermayer, Kimmo Timonen

45 -- Arron Asham




The first player (alphabetically) to wear No. 45 also is the best. Asham has been a useful player no matter where he's been. Though he's never had more than 15 goals or 34 points, Asham is a player who always has been willing to do the dirty work, works hard and stands up for his teammates. His offensive numbers could go up in 2010-11 after signing with Pittsburgh.

Runner-up: Jody Shelley
Also in the mix: Dmitri Kalinin

46 -- Andrei Kostitsyn




The older of the Kostitsyn brothers has worn No. 46 more than anyone in NHL history (245 games). The Belarus native, taken by Montreal with the 10th pick in the 2003 Entry Draft, already has a pair of 20-goal seasons and likely would have had a third had he not missed 23 games with injuries this past season.

Runner-up: David Krejci
Also in the mix: Roman Polak

47 -- Marc-Andre Bergeron



Bergeron's struggles in his own zone may have kept him from becoming a star, but his big shot on the power play should keep him in the NHL for a long time. Bergeron has had at least 13 goals in four of his six full NHL seasons, and 43 of the 75 goals he's scored (in only 399 career games) have come on the power play.

Runner-up: John Grahame
Also in the mix: Stephan Lebeau, Rich Pilon

48 -- Danny Briere



Briere has three 30-goal seasons and put up 95 points for Buffalo in 2006-07, earning him a big contract from the Flyers. Briere hasn't come close to matching his big season as a Flyer, but did lead all scorers in last spring's playoffs with 30 points. At age 32, he has 230 goals and 526 points in 666 NHL games.

Runner-up: Scott Young
Also in the mix: J.J. Daigneault