GOAT Index

Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.

0Voters
0Matchups judged

Steve Yzerman: the case for the GOAT

Who's greater?

Standings

Filter voters

    About you

    Optional

    This lets the standings split by age and region, so you can see where generations and continents disagree. Votes are anonymous: no name or email is ever collected.

    Steve Yzerman: the case for the GOAT

    C · Red Wings · Born 9 May 1965, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada · Career 1983–2006

    Detroit's captain for two decades, Yzerman evolved from a 155-point scoring star into a selfless two-way centre who led the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups.

    Career highlights

    Why Steve Yzerman could be the GOAT

    Yzerman is proof that greatness can adapt: a prolific scorer in the 1980s, he remade his game into elite defence to win three Cups. He captained one franchise for about 20 years, a rare feat, and played through serious injuries to win Olympic gold and the 2002 Cup.

    What fans say

    Steve Yzerman is #19 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 0–1 head-to-head record from 23 NHL votes. See the full NHL GOAT ranking

    Steve Yzerman head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

    Anonymous by design. No account needed. A quick bot check from Cloudflare runs once when you arrive, and your votes are tied to a random ID kept in your browser, not to your name or email. Privacy policy.

    Photo credits

      Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.