Top 50 small men in NHL history (No. 21-30)
Welcome to the third instalment of a comprehensive list of the best diminutive players all-time, taking into account the eras in which they played
One time I was speaking with Theo Fleury and he made the bold proclamation: “I’m one of the greatest small men to ever play the game.” That got me thinking, just how good was Fleury compared to other small men? So I thought I would come up with a comprehensive list of the top 50 small men to ever play in the NHL. I enlisted a panel consisting of hockey historians Eric Zweig and Bob Duff, former USA Today hockey writer Kevin Allen, TSN senior managing editor Steve Dryden, former hockey card executive Ken Whitmell and myself, who ranked our top 50 small players in order. I also got some valuable input from Scotty Bowman.
But this list is unlike any other one you’re going to see ranking small players. That’s because it was assembled taking into account the height and weight of the average NHL player during the era in which the player played. In order to be eligible for this list, at some point in his career the player’s height and weight according to nhl.com (and I realize those can vary by source, but the NHL is the most reliable) had to be at least two inches shorter and 10 pounds lighter than that of the average NHL player.
That’s why you’ll find 5-foot-10, 177-pound Patrick Kane on this list, but not 5-foot-9, 165-pound Howie Morenz. In reality, Morenz wasn’t much more diminutive than the average NHL player in the 1930s, although he’s considered a small player. In fact, you’re not going to find Marcel Dionne on this list because, even though he was just 5-foot-9, he weighed in at 190 pounds, which was actually almost six pounds heavier than the average player when he broke into the NHL in 1971-72. For the same reasons you won’t find Frank Brimsek, Pat Verbeek or Bob Baun, who highlight most small-men lists, on this one.
Today I highlight Nos. 21 to 30. I’ll release the list 10 names at a time over the coming weeks. Enjoy. Here’s the link to Nos. 41-50 and Nos. 31 to 40.
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