NHL: 30 most prolific scorers of all-time: No. 24 Jean Beliveau
Now, we’re going way back to talk about one of the early greats. Jean Beliveau was greatness personified in the regular season, and he led a powerhouse Montreal Canadiens team in the playoffs. He won 10 Stanley Cups (He also won seven more Stanley Cups as a team vice president, so he must be the most decorated human in sports). He also has the most points in the Stanley Cup Final over his career with 62.
While Beliveau played at a time when only six teams were in the NHL, he also only got 70 games in a season. So the years when he was scoring more than 40 goals are even more impressive.
Beliveau is just hard to compare to the other scorers in more recent eras. Hockey was just different in the 50s and 60s. Still, Beliveau could be dropped into today’s game and still score 30 goals.
He helped bring hockey into the mainstream, and the game is different today because of him. Beliveau was one of the greatest athletes in the world when he was at his peak. He made the game look incredibly easy every night. His ability to make plays at a time where people were still asking for “old-school hockey” was incredible. He was a two-time Hart Trophy winner, he won the original Conn Smythe Trophy in 1965 and found himself on the All-Star Team 13 times over his career.
Beliveau was one of the best at putting the puck in the back of the net. No matter how many teams were in the league, he’d dominate. He’s probably more revered as a player than just a scorer, but his ability to light the lamp was second to none during that period.