G Lauris Prikulis (S20-S29)

Onced upon the time there were the great SHL goalies of the first generations, Kane, McBride and Honcho or, a bit later, Jesster and McBride. When those legendary goalies stepped aside, many thought that an era had ended and that it would take a good while before we would see another goalie who would be able to match the legends of the early years - and then Lauris Prikulis came along. One of the first Latvians in the league, he would take over for the legendary John McBride in Winnipeg and would end up to actually surpass him and all the other superstar goalies that had come before him. Prikulis went on to win two cups for the Jets, the team he spent his entire career with, and set a new league record for career wins over his fourteen season career.

D Brandon Cant (S20-S29)

One of the biggest HOF-snubs to date, Brandon Cant was an incredibly consistent defenseman with a 21-season career and some of the best numbers for his era. Over his fourteen season long prime, he racked up 30+ points eleven times while playing a strong defensive game. Never someone to seek the spotlight, Cant bounced around a few teams which ultimately might have hindered his chances at a spot in the HOF as he was never be able to create a strong team base that would serve as his lobby.

D Willie Weber (S10-S19)

Willie Weber's career overlapped with Brandon Cant's and they both share the questionable honor of always being in the shadow of Chris Partlow and Darian Scherbluk. Still, Willie Weber did get a bit more recognition than Cant and a lot of that can be contributed to the fact that he was one of the deadlies shooters from the bluelines of his time, and maybe ever. Weber racked up 638 points over a twenty season career, putting up double-digits in goals in ten of these seasons and hitting an incredibly 21 goals in maybe his best year, Season 14. On top of that, Weber was a very strong physical player who ended up with over 3000 career hits - a category where he still ranks second all-time.

C Joe McKeil (S10-S19)

For me personally, Joe McKeil is still the best player in SHL history, combining peak performance and longetivity in an era where that wasn't as easy as it is today. He set a record for league scoring that stood for more than a decade and was a superstar player in the league for almost twenty seasons, showcasing incredibly leadership abilities for the Hamilton Steelhawks over that time. It still pains me to think back to the moment that killed his motivation for the league, a nonsensical "cheating" penalty levied against his team by a personal rival that led to him losing all trust into the leagues leadership made him retreat from all jobs and, ultimately, the league altogether. A black mark on this leagues history that very few people will even remember.

RW Nicholas Pedersen (S30-S39)

The most underrated player in the SHL to date, Nicholas Pedersen broke into the leagues all-time scoring top-10 without ever getting the recognition that he deserves. And like so many other players on this list, he was a very loyal team-first kind of guy as well who spent the majority of his career with the same team.

LW Christoph Klose (S1-S9)

And last but not least, the guy who brought me here and who coincidentally had a really good career as well. Looking back it now more than three decades later his numbers might not look that impressive anymore, but the league was very different in its early days with careers being much shorter and regression hitting earlier, and his almost 500 points over 10 seasons were a really strong mark when he retired in S15. Also, he created and shaped the Seattle Riot that we know today, turning a franchise that was the joke of the league back then and had been moved and rebranded every few seasons into a respectable organisation that got to celebrate its 25th anniversary not too long ago.