gold star for USAHOF
Site Admin

Site Admin

31. Curt Giles

There was nothing flashy about the game of Curt Giles but NHL teams need players who are defensive stalwarts, which was a role that he played very well. 

27. Brett Hull

Is this rank too high or too low?

If you think it is too high, perhaps it is because you are pointing at the fact that Brett Hull was only with the Dallas Stars for three seasons, not a long period of time compared to many on this list.  While he was an All Star once in Dallas and was still certainly productive, he was not putting up the same explosive numbers he did in St. Louis where he led the NHL in Goals, three of which were 70 plus.  His highest goal scoring season in Dallas was 32.

23. Gilles Meloche

Prior to arriving to the Minnesota North Stars, Gilles Meloche lost a lot of games as the number one Goalie for the California Golden Seals (later relocated to Cleveland as the Barons).  This was not a testament to Meloche’s ineffectiveness, rather he just played for some bad teams and he was not regarded as the problem.  Cleveland’s merger with the North Stars allowed Meloche to play with a better team and he would finish in the top five in Wins twice.  He would also go to the All Star Game twice and would finally go to the playoffs with Minnesota, where he had a winning record of 21 and 19.

26. Cesare Maniago

Cesare Manigo may not have been an elite Goalie in the National Hockey League but he was a workhorse backstop who became successful in the expansion era.  Maniago may not have brought the Minnesota North Stars to the Finals, but his defensive skill brought them closer to the Holy Grail of Hockey than they probably deserved at the time.