My Picks for the 20 Best Goal Scorers in my Era Watching Hockey

Obligatory "you're wrong" comment

Only THG can get annoyed at a list he made 😂

Mario's 2000-01 where he had 35 goals in 43 games was insane. After 3 years off, in a defensive-minded era, ridiculous. If not for all his injuries, cancer, and 3-year retirement, he may have ended up surpassing Gretzky's mark.

Dino Cicarelli never makes enough of these lists. Cicarelli is 19th all time in goals scored. Apart from a stint in Detroit, he played on below average or worst teams for his entire career and without the benefit of skating alongside an elite Center. He scored over 50 goals twice, the first time was in his sophomore season in Minnesota. He was above the 30 goal mark 11 seasons, and would have had many more were it not for injuries. At 36 years of age, he was still able to pot 36 goals playing with a terrible expansion roster for Tampa Bay during the Deadpuck era. Cicarelli was also money in the playoffs with 73 goals in 141 games. That's pretty close to Gretzky's playoff goal pace and all the while playing for lesser teams. In his sophomore season, he led the entire NHL in playoff goal scoring with 14 goals in 19 games during the Northstar's Cinderella run to the Cup Finals. I get it, you can't include every amazing goal scorer over a 40 year period in a top 20 video. I respect the inclusion of Dave Andreychuk who is also often overlooked. But, purely looking at goal scoring ability, just goal scoring ability, he's way better than Pat LaFountaine even if LaFountaine is a much better and more dynamic player.

Probably doesn’t deserve to be on the list because the number of goals is low but Pavel Datsyuk was just a magical dude out there

I'm a die hard Rangers fan with no love for the Pens or Caps, but having the privilege of watching the career of Ovi and Sid has been a treat. It's funny how fictional it sounds, one well rounded player, one big strong pure goal scorer. That dueling hat tricks game in the playoffs was unforgettable. I am 33, too young to remember Gretzky and Messiers glory days, but I'll always be able to talk about Sid, Ovi, and my favorite, Henrik Lundqvist.

Thanks for mentioning Mogilny. As an older person, I still remember Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Richard Martin, Marcel Dionne, etc from the 1970s. Wholly agree with you about Mike Bossy.

Jagr’s SC goal against the Blackhawks was “the greatest goal I have ever seen” according to Lemieux.

Cam Neely’s 50 in 44 was pretty nuts in 93-94. He only played 49 games that year because of injury. He could score, even without Oates, but it definitely helped.

Pens fan, I appreciate how blessed we've been to have had 3 of your top 10 have long or full careers with the team. Plus we had Iggy stop in for a short stint. But Alex Ovechkin is 100% the best goal scorer of all time. Era adjusted, he must blow Gretzky and Lemieux away. A guy like that just doesn't come along often and you're lucky to see him play. Well, I've been lucky, and unlucky as a Pens fan at times, to witness his ridiculous shot over, and over, and over again blow past a lot of Penguins goalies. Not to mention his excellent stick handling, his hard checks and his ability to be in great positions to score. He's always, always had a leg up on every player in scoring goals and at times was far and above the best by a wide margin. Of course age has cut down his numbers some but he still can score goals as well as, what, 95% of the league? That said, it'll always be sad to know Crosby and Lemieux missed big stretches of their prime due to injuries and in Mario's case lymphoma. Though it likely wouldn't have made a massive difference in the end in terms of points per game, I always considered that stat one of the most telling, those guys both suffered so much with injuries. I won't forget the talk of Crosby possibly retiring when he was only in his late 20's from his many concussions and post-concussion symptoms. But that also brings up how some players just go their career rarely experiencing those issues and Ovechkin has being nothing but durable his entire career. You could almost always count on the man to be there for a game. With the love-hate relationship you gain as a fan of the other team, the times I've seen him hurt my favorite time, but with the love and appreciation of the sport, I can say there's no doubt Ovechkin is the all time greatest goal scorer and hopefully he will be able to have that official when he passes Gretzky.

Mario is the only player to score 5 different ways in a single game.

While Hull was a prolific goal scorer, I know of at least one of his goals that should have never counted...

Messier's best season was 50 goals. He was more of an assist-leadership guy. I'm a bit puzzled with his 8th place.

What a nice, non-controversial topic for a video that surely won't cause any upset in the comment section :)

3:03 Who's the dead man that hit me with the salt shaker?!

Stevie Y's, bar down from the blueline, game 7, double overtime goal, was the most perfect goal I've ever seen in 60 years of watching hockey. The replay from the goal is astounding.

Ovechkin could be over 900 right now. Hes been incredibly healthy his entire career. But also so unlucky considering the chase. His entire rookie season was obliterated because of a lockout. 2012 shortened because of another lockout. Then 2 covid shortened seasons.

Mike Gartner: quite possibly the most 'under the radar' great goal scorer of all time.

I knew Ovi was #1!! I met Brendan Witt a week before Ovechkin was drafted. I worked at a Tower Records 15 minutes from The Capitals practice rink. Alex seemed magic like a myth at that time. Ovechkin can score from anywhere at any time. He has more hits than the the preceding 5 active goal scorers combined. The goals are wonderful, but Ovi brought DC a Cup. It's all I ever wanted.

Yeah, Ovi should be number 1, considering he scored so many in the dead puck era. This is coming from a long time Isles fan, and yes Bossy is my favorite all time player. I could make an argument that Bossy should be ahead of Mario if we are talking about just scoring goals, but I can't make the same argument vs Ovi.