Greatest Hockey Player of all time?

I've never watched (or cared about) a sport in my life, but I voted Mario because he played for my home team and gave my family an excuse to get together and yell at the t.v screen.

 

Mario, hands down.

 

I'm a Boston homer, but even I had to vote for Gretsky

 

Gretzky. Though he was protected and had *other great players* around him. Those factors gave him career longevity in a time when most other players his size didn' have that.

*Other Great Players - Kurri, Messier, Fuhr, etc...

 

Gretzky, no question. Second place goes to Orr.

 

If you count overall contribution to the sport (including offspring) it would go to Howe, hands down. The man played on the ice professionally for five decades as an elite athlete for most of that -- in the end he even shared the ice with two of his sons.

I remember a story where Gordie and his two older sons Marty and Mark were at a game watching the youngest son, Murray play. Murray took a nasty shot and was carted off the ice and missed the rest of the game. The Howes didn't say anything to the opposing player that took the cheap shot and let the whole incident lie ... for a few years until that player happened to be playing against Marty and Mark. He was carted off the ice and missed the rest of the season.

Not sure how accurate the story is but I found it amusing and remembered it.

 

Didn't even think there was any discussion. Gretzky is the greatest no doubt about it. As I understand things it is largely thanks to him that hockey gained mass market appeal and he played for many many years with or without support.

Being able to injure and hurt people is not something I think makes someone great.

 

I saw (tv) Gretzsky score a goal in a Kings playoff match. It was a simple goal, but how he plucked the puck out of the air near the post was great.

Like he knew what was going to happen a few steps before anybody else.

 

I'm an Edmontonian, and Gretzky helped raise the profile of this backwater dump that I will always call home. He was a class act on and off the ice. He not only was loaded with unbelievable talent, he made everyone around him better too. His record speaks for itself. I'm not much of a hockey fan but I will always be a stalwart Gretzky fan.

 

Gotta go with Bobby Orr on this one. Granted, by the time I started watching hockey all of these players had retired, but to hear the way my father talks about Orr, he definitely sounds like the greatest. As my old man always says, Gretzky was easily the greatest scorer of all time, but as an all-around player, gotta stick with Bobby.

 

Gordie Howe was on The Simpsons! Didn't know he was an ice hockey player too.

 

And a good one. Not the greatest but surely in the top 5

 

Well, it turns out that I DID know that Gordie Howe was an ice hockey player, as proven by this post from 11 March 2004.

http://www.sorcerers.net/community/threads/worlds-best-hockeyplayers.17009/

Looks like this topic comes up once every 8 years or so, so I can be forgiven for having forgotten this fact after such a long time.

 

I have to go with Gretzky on this one...

 

We're talking about a time when rules and equipment were very different though. Gretzky wouldn't get as many points in todays game I feel.

 

Nor would of he scored as much in the early years of the game. The Broad Street Bullies would of ended his career in their first encounter.

 

I agree with joacquin - it's Gretzsky, and I don't think it's particularly close. While I'm a huge Pens fan, it saddens me that of the people on the list I would have to rank Super Mario 4th.

 

I gotta say Lemieux. When you think about the fact that he missed like 600 possible games in his career, and still did what he did, it's crazy. During the 93 season, he had to stop playing due to cancer and at the time was leading the league in points. He came back a few months later and took the lead in the scoring race back to win the title. That's amazing stuff and really, I always think about "What if?" when it comes to Lemieux, but the injuries are what makes his career even better, in my opinion. That he overcame so many obstacles and dominated. The season after he had 199 points, he had to change himself as a player due to his back injury. The guy never played a full season, ever. Not only that, but he saved hockey for my city! Also, upon his first retirement, he was the only player in NHL history to average more than 2 ppg. That changed after he came back a few times, with him dropping slightly below Gretzky. As far as physical tools go, Lemieux was by far the greatest, but Gretzky had a 6th sense, like he had eyes in the back of his head when he did things. You really can go with either one, but in my opinion, it doesn't go beyond those two.