Learn about the five most famous athletes in hockey
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| Braden: Top 5 Most Famous Athletes in Hockey. |
| Ann: Well, Braden, in this lesson, we’re gonna learn about the top 5 most famous hockey players of all time. Now, I’ve never really been that into hockey, so I learned a lot during my research and interviews for this lesson. |
| Braden: It was really fun and helpful to learn so much about such interesting people. |
| Ann: Just so you know upfront, we’re going to look at the players Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux, and Wayne Gretzky. |
| Braden: These are some pretty amazing people. |
| Ann: Well, let’s get to it. |
| Braden: Our number 5 most famous hockey player is Gordie Howe. |
| Ann: He's famous for a lot of reasons and has the nickname of Mr. Hockey. |
| Braden: This is because, beyond being a great player, he has also played more games than NHL player. |
| Ann: He's the only hockey player to play through 5 decades (the 1940s through the 1980s). This is amazing, because usually, professional sports players only play about 10 seasons. |
| Braden: That’s right. Mr. Hockey is third in the league for total career points, won the MVP award 6 times, and won the Stanley Cup 4 times. And not surprisingly, he is Canadian. |
| Ann: Our number 4 most famous hockey player is Maurice Richard. He's nicknamed "The Rocket" because he could move and shoot so fast. |
| Braden: He was an amazing scorer and the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games. In just 18 years, he scored 544 goals and won the Stanley Cup 8 times. |
| Ann: He was also great in "assists" or helping others make goals. During his career, he delivered over 400 assists. |
| Braden: Totaling assists and goals scored, Maurice Richard scored in almost every game he played. |
| Ann: He is also Canadian. |
| Braden: Our number 3 most famous hockey player is Bobby Orr. |
| Ann: His real name is Robert Gordon Orr, but everyone calls him "Bobby." He is respectfully referred to as the NHL's first offensive defender. |
| Braden: Generally, the defenders stay near the goal to block shots on the goal. |
| Ann: Bobby Orr did this too, but he was so fast on the ice, after blocking a shot, he'd often race to the other side of the rink and score. |
| Braden: That’s right. He is the only defender to win the award for most points scored in a season, and he did that twice. |
| Ann: And it might become a surprise, but he’s also Canadian. |
| Braden: Our number 2 most famous hockey player is Mario Lemieux. |
| Ann: A natural born leader and skilled skater, Mario Lemieux was one of the most entertaining players to watch on the field. |
| Braden: Instead of hitting the other players, he'd confuse the opposing team to then pass and score. |
| Ann: He played his entire career for the Pittsburgh Penguins and, in 1999, became a co-owner of the Penguins. |
| Braden: He won two Stanley Cups and was the MVP at the same time. One of those wins was while he was owner of the Penguins. |
| Ann: And yet again, another Canadian. |
| Braden: Our number 1 most famous hockey player is Wayne Gretzky. Pretty much everyone who knows even a little bit about hockey knows about Wayne Gretzky. |
| Ann: He is widely and almost unanimously recognized as the greatest hockey player ever. For example, he's the only hockey player to ever score over 200 points in a single season. |
| Braden: And he did that twice, not once, twice. |
| Ann: He has so many records, it's almost confusing, especially because Wayne Gretzky isn't large, fast, or particularly strong, yet he has over 61 NHL records. He also has 4 Stanley Cups, and was the Canada Cup MVP twice. |
| Braden: Maybe the best part, he didn't just keep the glory all to himself, Wayne often won the sportsmanship awards and frequently spoke out against fighting in hockey. |
| Ann: I think that’s the most important because hockey is often seen as not just a violent sport, but an angry sport. His attitude gave hockey a more refined touch that made it more interesting to other people. He’s often considered the most polite hockey player ever. |
| Braden: An interesting way to illustrate how he wasn’t concerned with being the best all the time is that he has more assists than any other player has goals. |
| Ann: And an assist, an assist is when you help somebody else score a goal. |
| Braden: And by the way, he’s also Canadian. Yeah, all of the top 5 players that we have here are Canadians. That just about does it for this lesson. Thanks for listening! |
| Ann: See you next time. |
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