As this month's issue of Impact! Magazine clearly shows, the 1980s provided the NHL with some of the greatest players of the current generation.

So, as you can imagine, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I received the latest Top 10 list assignment, mainly to identify the best draft picks of the decade.

What an unenviable task! NHL teams drafted more than 2,400 players from 1980 to 1989 and a good portion of those went on to have decent NHL careers. Fortunately, only a select handful went on to achieve true superstardom. Unfortunately, that select handful still numbers far greater than the 10 names my editor sought.

Time to get to work, I guess. After an exhaustive look through the draft archives from that period, I was able to glean a list that is truly representative of the decade's greatness. Granted, a good number of deserving players did not make the cut. Of that, there is no debate.

In the end, my criteria for judging draft picks for this list revolved around his on-ice contributions (specifically with the team that drafted him), postseason excellence and draft position in relation to his accomplishments. In other words, a lower-drafted player received more consideration on this list than a player of similar accomplishments taken at an earlier stage of the draft process.

Patrick Roy retired as the game's all-time winningest goalie, recording 551 wins in a record 1,029 appearances. He is also hailed as the game's best big-game goalie, winning four Stanley Cups in his career.

1. Mario Lemieux (No. 1, 1984) -- The list only gets harder from here. Like he was in 1984, Lemieux was the clear-cut No. 1 pick for this list. Already in the Hall of Fame, Lemieux has become hockey in Pittsburgh. That process started in 1984 when the last-place Penguins made Lemieux the first-overall selection. Presently, sidelined with an injury, Lemieux has 1,701 points in 889 NHL games. He helped Pittsburgh win its only two Stanley Cups, earning the Conn Smythe each time, and has led the League in scoring six times. For his accomplishments, Lemieux was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. He bought the team in 1999 and serves as the franchise's chairman and CEO.

2. Patrick Roy (No.51, 1984) -- Roy retired last season after an award-heavy career that have many believing he is the greatest goalie to ever play the game. What is of no argument is that he is the game's all-time winningest goalie, recording 551 wins in a record 1,029 appearances. He is also hailed as the game's best big-game goalie, winning four Stanley Cups in his career. He won the first two Stanley Cups for Montreal, the team that drafted him 51st overall, behind goalies Craig Billington and Daryl Reaugh. Then, he was traded to Colorado during the 1995-96, winning his third Cup that spring. Cup No. 4 came in 2001 and netted Roy his third Conn Smythe accolade.

Paul Coffey is the second highest-scoring defenseman in League history behind only Ray Bourque. He also has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup four times.

3. Jari Kurri (No. 69, 1980) -- Kurri was selected with the sixth pick of the fourth round in 1980, after more than 30 other forwards had been selected. Yet, none of those forwards can claim the success Kurri fashioned in Edmonton. He was much more than just Wayne Gretzky's sidekick, as some critics have suggested. Kurri, and his two-way game, advanced thanks to his European training, helped the Oilers claim five Cups during their dynastic run in the 1980s. He became just the sixth player in NHL history to score 600 goals, finishing with 601 goals and 1,398 points in 1,251 regular-season games. He was named to the NHL's All-Star First Team on two occasions. His trade in 1991 netted the Oilers Craig Fisher, Scott Mellanby and Craig Berube from the Flyers. Kurri was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.

4. Paul Coffey (No. 6, 1980) -- Another member of the Oilers' dynasty, Coffey is the second highest-scoring defenseman in League history behind Ray Bourque. His 1,531 points rank near the top of the NHL's all-time points list and his 1,135 assists rank fifth in League history. Not too shabby a return for the fourth defenseman taken in 1980, selected after Dave Babych, Larry Murphy and Darren Veitch had already been claimed. During his illustrious career, he won three James Norris Trophies and played in 14 NHL All-Star Games. He can also claim four Stanley Cup championships, winning three with Edmonton and a fourth with Pittsburgh. He was traded, along with Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp, to the Penguins for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph on Nov. 24, 1987. He also played for seven other teams during his illustrious career.