Power forward (ice hockey)

Alexander Ovechkin, considered by many as the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, is often described as a "power forward".

In ice hockey, power forward (PWF) is a loosely applied characterization of a forward who is big and strong, equally capable of playing physically or scoring goals and would most likely have high totals in both points and penalties.^[1] It is usually used in reference to a forward who is physically large, with the toughness to dig the puck out of the corners, possesses offensive instincts, has mobility, puck-handling skills,^[2][3] may be difficult to knock off the puck or to push away from the front of the goal^[4] and willingly engage in fights when he feels it is required.^[5] Possessing both physical size and offensive ability, power forwards are also often referred to as the 'complete' hockey player.^[6][7]

Historically, power forward was not originally a hockey term, finding comparatively recent origins from basketball.^[8][9] Harry Sinden, former president of the Boston Bruins, claims power forward first became part of hockey terminology because of the style of play of Cam Neely, an NHL player from 1983 to 1996, who could play ruggedly and also score goals.^[7][10]

Punch Broadbent was one of the first players who pioneered the style before the NHL was founded in 1917,^[11] while Charlie Conacher, Phil Esposito, Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard and Bert Olmstead are likewise considered quintessential examples of power forwards in the decades before the term entered hockey vernacular.^{[12][13][14][15]}

NHL players described as power forwards[]

   Hockey Hall of Fame inductee

Player	Career	Ref
Josh Anderson	2014–present	[citation needed]
Nik Antropov	1996–2015	[16]
Jason Arnott	1993–2013	[17]
David Backes	2006–present	[citation needed]
Jamie Benn	2009–present	[18]
Todd Bertuzzi	1995–2014	[19]
David Booth	2006–present	[citation needed]
Punch Broadbent	1912–1929	[11]
Dustin Brown	2003–present	[20]
Wendel Clark	1985–2000	[13][21][22]
Ryan Clowe	2003–2015	[23]
Erik Cole	2000–2015	[24]
Blake Coleman	2015–present	[citation needed]
Charlie Conacher	1929–1941	[citation needed]
Shayne Corson	1985–2004	[25]
Kevin Dineen	1984–2002	[26]
Shane Doan	1995–2017	[27]
Max Domi	2015–present	[citation needed]
Gary Dornhoefer	1963–1978	[28]
Brandon Dubinsky	2006–present	[citation needed]
Phil Esposito	1963–1981	[14]
Mike Fisher	1999–2018
Theoren Fleury	1988–2006	[citation needed]
Mike Foligno	1979–1994	[29]
Nick Foligno	2007–present	[citation needed]
Peter Forsberg	1989–2011	[30]
Johan Franzen	1999–2016	[31]
Gerard Gallant	1984–1995	[32]
Ryan Getzlaf	2005–present	[33]
Clark Gillies	1974–1988	[13][21][34]
Jordan Greenway	2017–present	[citation needed]
Bill Guerin	1991–2010	[35]
Scott Hartnell	2000–2018	[36]
Tomas Holmstrom	1990–2012	[37]
Nathan Horton	2003–2014	[38]
Gordie Howe	1945–1971, 1973–1980	[12][13]
Dale Hunter	1980–1999	[citation needed]
Jarome Iginla	1996–2017	[5][10][21]
Jaromír Jágr	1990-2008, 2011–2018
Nazem Kadri	2010–present	[citation needed]
Evander Kane	2009–present	[citation needed]
Tim Kerr	1980–1993	[10]
Ryan Kesler	2003–2019	[citation needed]
Mike Knuble	1995–2013	[39]
Ilya Kovalchuk	1999–present	[40]
Chris Kreider	2012–present	[citation needed]
Chris Kunitz	2003–2019	[citation needed]
Andrew Ladd	2005–present	[citation needed]
Gabriel Landeskog	2011–present	[41]
John LeClair	1991–2006	[10]
Anders Lee	2013–present	[citation needed]
Trevor Linden	1988–2008
Eric Lindros	1992–2007	[10][21][42]
Milan Lucic	2007–present	[21][43]
Evgeni Malkin	2003–present
Ryan Malone	2003–2015, 2017	[44]
Patrick Maroon	2008–present	[citation needed]
Randy McKay	1988–2003	[45]
Scott Mellanby	1986–2007	[46]
Mark Messier	1978–2004	[10][47]
Brenden Morrow	1999–2015	[48]
Rick Nash	2002–2018	[49]
James Neal	2008–present	[50]
Cam Neely	1983–1996	[7][13][21][51]
Owen Nolan	1990–2011	[52]
Bert Olmstead	1948–1962	[15]
Alex Ovechkin	2005–present	[53][54]
Cedric Paquette	2013–present	[citation needed]
Dustin Penner	2005–2014	[55]
Corey Perry	2004–present	[56]
Willi Plett	1975–1988	[57]
Alexei Ponikarovsky	1998–2018	[58]
Keith Primeau	1990–2005	[59]
Ryan Reaves	2010–present	[citation needed]
Maurice Richard	1942–1960	[60]
Mike Richards	2005–2016	[citation needed]
Nick Ritchie	2015–present	[citation needed]
Gary Roberts	1986–2009	[61]
Bobby Ryan	2007–present	[62]
Tomas Sandstrom	1982–2002	[63]
Al Secord	1978–1990, 1994–1996	[21]
Brendan Shanahan	1987–2009	[10][13][21][64]
Wayne Simmonds	2008–present	[65]
Ryan Smyth	1994–2014	[66]
Eric Staal	2003–present	[67]
Kevin Stevens	1987–2002	[10][68]
Mark Stone	2012–present	[citation needed]
Mats Sundin	1989–2009	[69]
Andrei Svechnikov	2018–present	[citation needed]
Evgeny Svechnikov	2015–present	[citation needed]
Joe Thornton	1997–present	[70]
Brady Tkachuk	2018–present	[citation needed]
Keith Tkachuk	1991–2010	[10][21]
Matthew Tkachuk	2016–present	[citation needed]
Rick Tocchet	1984–2002	[10][21]
Rick Vaive	1979–1992	[51]
James van Riemsdyk	2009–present	[71]
Pat Verbeek	1982–2002	[citation needed]
Blake Wheeler	2008–present	[72]
Tom Wilson	2013–present	[73]

References[]

Positions on the hockey rink
Forwards:		Left wing | Centre | Right wing
Defencemen:		Left defenceman | Right defenceman
Goaltender:		Goaltender
Power forward | Enforcer | Grinder | Pest | Two-way forward | Stay-at-home defenceman | Rover | Captain | Head coach | Referees and linesmen