Who Was The Greatest Hockey Player Of All-Time?

[THUNDER HANDS]

There's three that I can think of who would be up for that title...

[Drifter]

1. Hanson Brothers ...

Slap Shot

Cheers
Drifter

[hippiechick]

6. Rock on !

:yourock:

:hippie:

[Toronto Ron]

2. Mario Lemieux

deserves to be on the list (though I'd still vote 99).

[MissMillie]

8. I'd vote Lemieux

There are 5 different ways to score a goal (even strength, power play, short-handed, penalty shot and empty netter) and Lemieux is the only player in hockey to score all 5 of these ways in one game (in this particular game he scored 7 goals).

Absolutely amazing.

Orr needs special consideration. His stats reflect a 12 year career, but he was unhealthy and/or injured for about half of those years. That's what makes his stats so amazing. Ray Bourque did what Orr did, but it took him more than twice as long to do it.

[Whitacre D_WI]

15. I voted for Orr, thought about Lemieux...

Gretzky was the single greatest offensive force to ever strap on a pair of skates, but scoring goals is only 1/2 the game. Lemieux was a better defensive player; and, absent injury and illness, he would be spoken of in the same breath as Gretzky more often -- the Great Two, if you will.

But Orr... The difference between Orr and the second best defenseman ever (Borque) is much greater than the difference between Gretzky and Lemieux.

And besides -- does anyone have a framed photo of Wayno, parallel to the ice, after scoring "the goal?"

I thought not.

[Awsi Dooger]

39. Size kills, Mario Lemieux

Much bigger and therefore more intimidating than Wayne. At their best, I will always believe Mario was more skilled and dangerous.

Remember, Gretzky's heyday in the '80s was an open ice period. The average over/under on NHL games was 7 1/2 goals, and 8 1/2 for the talented Oilers. Gretzky had better stats and more opportunities for points simply because of the nature of the game during his prime.

Today, and for much of Lemieux's career, the typical over/under is 5 goals. Many games are 4 1/2. Even during the Lemieux/Jagr peak period for the Penguins in the early '80s scoring had already declined considerably from Gretzky's Edmonton era. Goalie padding was already becoming generous, although not to the absurd levels of today. It is silly to compare stats and act like the game was equivalent.

I'm a bit too young to remember Bobby Orr, especially since I grew up in south Florida with only a trickle of games (remember Peter Puck?) on TV during the regular season.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

3. Maurice 'Rocket' Richard, perhaps?

I'm no expert, though.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. you're canadian

that's close enough. :D

[hippiechick]

5. Phil Esposito ?

:hippie:

[Braden]

13. Espo wins Best Use of Brill Cream

pretty good goal scorer. damn good hair man.

[kodi]

7. how come no one ever mentions ken dryden?

goaltenders count too.

to me when i consider who the best is i think who would be the hardest to play against, and i have to go with gretsky, although hull and ore would have been the the guys whose playing against i would have felt the next day.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Stevie Yzerman...

eom

[Braden]

10. Rocket , Lemieux,

Jaques Plante, Ken Dryden, Dont forget the netminders.

[Robb]

11. It's almost not worth a poll...

...Although many good cases could be made for the second greatest hockey player of all time, Gretzky is just so far ahead it's absurd.

There was that "Gretzky Multiplier" bit a few years ago, trying to make non-hockey fans understand how amazing he was. "...A baseball player would have to hit .350 with 60 home runs and 150 RBIs for many years, a football player would have to rush for 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns each season and a basketball player would have to average 40 points and 20 rebounds."

[coyote]

12. Bobby Orr put the offense into hockey

taking it to a higher level as did Doug Harvey. He could
outskate anyone on the ice, great shot and stickhandling ability,
was just by far the best player of his time. Orr was the Gretzky
of offensive defenseman and I haven't seen a better one yet.
Defensively he could carry the puck up the ice, take out
the man in the corner,in front of the net, coming down the ice
on him. Blocked shots, hit like a truck, fought when he had too
and never backed off from anyone and could whip a pass up the
middle right on someone's stick most of the time. The Bobby Orr I
saw was the best defensive and offensive defenseman (as seperate catagories)
EVER to play this game. Nobody's come even close yet!

Gretsky was a scoring machine, but Orr was definitely the better
all around player.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. eh

Dennis Potvin was better. :evilgrin:

"Lets Go Islanders...da da dadada"

:D

[zx22778a]

16. Frank Mahovlich

Go Leafs Go

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. did you see the fight in the Ranger game yesterday?

Domi kicked the crap out of some poor Ranger. It was brutal.

[youngred]

18. Gretzky is the only answer

There are wonderful greats, and it was hard for me not to vote for Mr. Hockey there, but in terms of sheer ability to play the game no one is better than Waynederful

[rjbcar27]

22. Agreed Zack, Gretzky is a god.

:-)

[PVnRT]

19. There's a reason they call him "The Great One"

I dare you to find one person who dominated his/her sport for five years the way Gretzky did in the early 1980's in Edmonton (note: golf is not a sport).

[Red_Storm]

24. well, soccer is a sport..........

and Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff dominated the sport during their eras and it was longer than 5 years............

[rjbcar27]

26. No, those you mentioned didn't dominate like Gretzky did.

Maradona was a cheating, coke head twat too.

Pele is a god though.

[Red_Storm]

27. They sure did.................

you obviously don't know much about the sport.........

[rjbcar27]

29. No not much

:eyes:

[camero]

20. Dominik Hacek

Stat wise, It's Gretzgy, but this guy is the best goalie I have ever seen.

[youngred]

21. And a choke artist to boot

on that ginormous adam's apple. Hasek is streaky because his unorthodox style lends itself to that. He benefitted greatly from a superior defensive team in Buffalo in the late 90s which really helped him in getting out of some jams. He has the potential to be great, but he can also be horrible (not to mention a petulant whiny diva off the ice).

Gretzky is the only choice

[PVnRT]

28. Why didn't the Wings keep Osgood?

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

:argh:

:argh:

:argh:

:argh:

:argh:

:argh:

[youngred]

30. Because they couldn't keep both

and CuJo while a goalie I like much more as a person is possibly the biggest choker in the league outside of the Flyers organization

[bif]

23. Gordie over Wayne anyday

Gordie was a rough hockey skater and he took his share of hits. Wayne was pretty well protected the whole time he =was on the ice. So I have to give the nod to Gordie.

[youngred]

32. there is a story

from his days in Juniors where an opposing coach put a bounty of $100 a hit on Gretzky and no one was able to collect. He had tremendous vision and understanding of where everyone else was on the ice. He was not well protected, he just knew how to avoid hits.

[VOX]

40. Love Gretz, but there's only one Mr. Hockey -- Gordie Howe...

He dominated the game for five decades -- he even had some awesome seasons in his 40s.

He was one tough s.o.b. and always a gentleman.

[devilgrrl]

25. Gilbert Perreault!!!!

He'll always be Number 1 to me!

[Padraig18]

31. Bobby Orr!

Sentimental favorite for all Chicagoans! :)

[kanrok]

33. Mark Messier in his prime

was a complete hockey machine.

[Forkboy]

34. Orr revolutionized the way the game is played

Even though Gretzky may be the better player Orr had an even larger impact on the way the game is played.Defensemen have never been the same.Orr won the scoring title twice...as a DEFENSEMEN! Gretzky,as amazing as he was,didn't impact the overall style of NHL play the way Orr did.

Bobby ended his career with a +/- ratio of 597. His best season was 1970-71 when he finished with an NHL record of +124.Wayne Gretzky's best +/- season was 98. In his career Orr never had a negative +/- season.

Lastly,he provided one of sports all time great photos when he dove through the air after scoring "The Goal" against St Louis.

[Kat45]

35. I voted Gretzky because he was such an amazing player,

I had no choice. But Orr has to get his props too: he brought offense to the defense. I also think he was largely responsible for a lot of American kids starting to play hockey; at least he was in the Boston area. I was in junior high and high school when he was playing for the Bruins, when they won two Stanley Cups, and the excitement over the team was incredible. That's when hockey became a big deal in the Boston/New England area, and I get the impression it spread beyond there as well. Now, there are lots of Americans in the NHL; back then, there were few, if any.

[Karenina]

36. Wayne

was a beautiful skater, a "warrior" for his team and a gentleman. We trained on the same patch of ice and it will forever be for me "my touch with greatness." WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BUTT!!! :swoon:

[ornotna]

37. Guy Lafleur

He was amazing to watch.
and of course Bobby Orr,Maurice Richard,Yvan Cournoyer,Jean Béliveau,Ray Bourque,and on and on......too many to list

[maveric]

38. Bobby Orr was defenseman who could score 50 goals a season,

win scoring titles, block shots, and could skate circles around ANY other player living or dead!
Gretzky and mario were great scorers but Orr could do what no other player could ever do. All of it!