Valeri Kharlamov never played in the National Hockey League, but every NHL fan in the 1970’s knew who he was.   Vladislav Tretiak may have received most of the attention in the Soviet Red Army, but it was the scoring prowess of Kharlamov that ran the engine. In addition to the passing and stickhandling fundamentals that were ingrained in the Russian players, Kharlamov was a flash on the ice and could maneuver around defenders effortlessly.

Murray Costello played 162 NHL games in the 1950’s and was a top executive in the Western Hockey League, but these are not the reasons that he was selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005 as a builder. Primarily, it was his near twenty year stint as the President of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association that got him in. In that period, he saw the merging of the CAHA and Hockey Canada to put together a more cohesive program. Costello also was a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors (OK, that might have helped got him in too), and was once a member of the selection committee.

One of the most popular players ever to put on a Boston Bruins uniform (and doesn’t that say something!) Cam Neely’s career was taken away far too soon. Neely fought countless injuries, which although is typical for hockey players was exasperated by his attacking style of play. He was a natural goal scorer who three times hit the 50 goal mark, most impressively in the 1993-94 season when he only played 49 games in another of his injury plagued campaigns. Neely would never play more than fifty games in a season after the age of 25, and by 31 his injuries forced him to retire. Although his career numbers from his era may not seem Hall of Fame worthy, he is a four time Second Team All Star selection which indicates his merit in Toronto.

Arguably the top Defenceman in his era, Ray Bourque would finish his career as the highest scoring blueliner in NHL history. Bourque would be named to a staggering nineteen Post Season All Star Teams and would win the James Norris Trophy five times.