As a part of NHL All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, the NHL will be revealing the remaining 67 members of its 100 greatest players list.
The first 33, who all played predominately pre-1967, were announced on Jan. 1 before the Centennial Classic in Toronto, and were highlighted by legends like Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe.
The remaining 67 will be all players who played from ’67 through to the present and, as Nick Kypreos outlined during Saturday’s Headlines segment, six current NHL players are expected to be included.
“There (are) six current players who are expected to be part of that top 100,” Kypreos said. “We can (only) speculate here, but you know that (Sidney) Crosby is going to be there, the Stanley Cups in Chicago with (Jonathan) Toews and (Patrick) Kane (are going to be there), and there’s even some talk about maybe (Drew) Doughty, Duncan Keith or (Zdeno) Chara being on the list.”
Most of these players have reached superstar status, and if they are going to be in L.A. for the ceremony, they are also going to be expected to play in the all-star game, which many star players have boycotted in the past.
“The sense is that if the players are going to be out there (in L.A.), they are going to play in the all-star game,” said Kypreos. “With one exception, as we know that (Jaromir) Jagr is going to be on that list as well, (and) he may have the leniency to sit there and (get the NHL to) say ‘OK come out to California, but you don’t have to play if you don’t want to.’”
Jagr, 44, now sits second on the NHL’s all-time points list with 1,893, and has earned more than enough respect to call his own shots.
