In the wake of The Athletic’s popular Football 100, Basketball 100, and Soccer 100, the world’s leading authority on sports reporting presents The Hockey 100—the comprehensive ranking and in-depth stories behind the 100 most accomplished hockey players to ever slap the puck.

Ice hockey is a sport like no other. It requires its players to master the majestic finesse of figure skating, the brutal hits of football, the goaltending and defensive demands of soccer, and—somehow, occasionally—the thrilling bloodied noses of an MMA fight. Not to mention, in lieu of an inflated ball, the game is played with a rock-hard puck flying at averages above 90 miles per hour that is frozen solid before the match.

A sport this unique attracts an equally fascinating cadre of characters—and now, the world-class sports journalists at The Athletic offer their definitive ranking of the 100 greatest of these singular athletes.

• Hall of Famer Rob Blake nearly missed out on his hockey career because he was too busy priming tobacco on a local farm in Ontario.

• Alexander Mogilny, the first Soviet player to be recruited to a US team during an era where the USSR blocked its players from being exported, needed to sneak off to Sweden to discuss his prospects—causing two hockey club executives to go into hiding after they became convinced they were being followed and their calls traced.

• Amidst an Olympic gold medal win and multiple record-breaking seasons, legendary goaltender Carey Price’s descent into alcoholism nearly cost him everything.

• Despite breaking the same leg on two separate occasions, Serge Savard went on to win the Stanley Cup seven times.

With 100 original profiles of modern hockey’s brightest stars, you’ll learn everything about the historic greats all the way to Ovechkin, Lemieux, and Gretsky.

Written with the deep love for the game that wins awards for The Athletic’s journalists, The Hockey 100 is the ultimate book for ice hockey’s tens of millions of fans worldwide.