5. Guy Lafleur
Imagine this… it is the 1970’s and you are playing in the National Hockey League. You are sitting on the bench and your team has the puck in the Montreal Canadiens zone applying some pressure in a tie game in the third period.
Your teammate, a defenseman blasts a puck from the point but it is blocked and the puck bounces out to the neutral zone. Suddenly, Guy Lafleur flies by your bench in a race for the loose puck.
It has to be a terrifying scene. You know he is getting to that loose puck because he can flat out fly down the ice. You also know he is getting in all alone on a breakaway and you are about 98% sure that puck is going into the back of your net. The only thing more terrifying would be imagining yourself as the goaltender. Good luck.
There is nothing really physically intimidating about facing Lafleur. He was about six feet tall and 185 pounds or so which means he was not the biggest or toughest guy on the ice. He didn’t quite reach 400 minutes in penalties for his entire career, which spanned from 1971 to 1991 so he was not running anyone over out there.
But he did score 518 goals for the Canadiens and won three consecutive Art Ross Trophies, three Lester Pearson Awards and a couple of Hart Trophies as well as a Conn Smythe. He scored at least 50 goals and 119 points each season from 1974-1980, making him the best player in the league for close to a decade.
You didn’t have to worry about him taking you out, running you over with a big hit or fighting anyone, but it must have been terrifying to face him and try to shut him down knowing you did not stand a chance.