Gretzky or Lemieux

[TheRussianRocket.]

1) Lemieux

2) Gretzky

[Plum]

Also, battling cancer makes him a bigger fan favourite.

[TheRussianRocket.]

I would rather have Lemieux on my team.

[Phil_314]

Yeah, in terms of an overall package I think a healthy Lemieux would absolutely have been above Gretzky. His skill level and vision were almost at Wayne's level (though Wayne should be undisputed as the better setup man), plus Mario had a heck of a lot more size and strength which would have allowed him to beat defenders and goalies in other ways. His main issue was that he just couldn't stay healthy. However, like others mentioned Mario did it with players who weren't always the caliber of wingers that Wayne had (understatement-- the Pens of the 2000's should ring a bell).

I wish I had the honor of watching Bobby Orr but I wasn't around then, so I won't include him in my discussion. Maybe by virtue of what he did as a defenseman, his dominance may even rank him above Wayne, but it's just speculation from me. However, my only conclusion is that I would bet that a healthy Mario would arguably have had better stats than even the Great One.

[Horvat-is-Schneider]

Better player, Lemieux

But Lemuix's was super injury prone, so from a standpoint of having on your team? Gretzky.

[How the west was won]

Gretzky

- 1.92 points per game

- Name meaning - those who bear the Prawdzic coat of arms (also a russian sirname so why not draft russians?)

- has the record for most points in a season 215

Lemieux

- 1.88 points per game

- Name meaning - direct translation = the best http://wiki.answers....mieux'_mean

- has the higher points per game than Gretzky in a season at 2.66 translating to 218 points in a full season

Take what you will from this.

I prefer Lemieux.

[goalie13]

Orr

[Alex Burrows 14]

If thats what your going for, but Orr is #1 IMO, dominated in a way neither Lemieux or Wayne did.

[THERETOOL]

Wayne .. .. gave it everything he had , every game .. magic .. Lemieux ... bigger , faster , as talented , was know to float once in a while .

I would take wayne .. his attitude and work ethic give him the lead in my books, though Mario may have been a better all around player ..

[Primus099]

if Lemieux hadn't gotten sick he could have very well passed Gretzky, we'll never know.

[SergioMomesso]

Jocelyn Lemeiux or Brent Gretzky?

Jocelyn for sure. .24 ppg

[Ferlands_Head]

Super Mario was definitely more skilled and much more exciting to watch than Gretzky

I will say that Gretzky did have better vision, but my vote goes to Mario

[Pears]

Lemieux was great but had size which made him even better. My vote goes to Mario.

[Ferlands_Head]

Lemieux was great but had size which made him even better. My vote goes to Mario.

[Bill Sikes]

i know alot of people think of Wayne Gretzky is the most skilled player but i want to know COULD Mario lemieux been the most skilled player. I will admit wayne Gretzky is the greatest player in nhl history and that will not change but could "super mario" have been better if the circumstances were right.

1) Gretzky came into the nhl with a year in the WHA

while lemieux came in straight out of Juniors

2) Gretzky played with the oilers a team that was a dynasty

lemieux played with the no Stanley cup almost bankrupt penguins

3) Gretzky had a mostly healthy career

lemieux had spinal disc herniation, chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle, chronic back pain and Hodgkin's lymphoma causing him to play only 915 of a possible 1,428 games (many of these games being in his prime)

4) Gretzky had 2 season where he did not have more then 1 point per game (mininum of 25 games)

while lemieux only had 1 and that was the year he only played 26 games

so if Lemieux had an extra season before coming to the nhl and played for a team like today's penguins and had a healthy career could he have been "the great one"

(now let the hate begin)

[Bill Sikes]

Orr winning two scoring titles as a D-man will never cease to amaze me. Drop him into the Oilers 80's team(even at centre!), he would still dominate. You can't say that Gretzky could handle the blueline, in almost any era.

[Ghostsof1915]

Better Question. What if Gretzky was drafted by Pittsburgh and Lemieux got to play for a stacked Oiler's team?

Pittsburgh was the joke of the league when Mario was drafted by them. He made that team respected.

Gretzky had vision, and almost a sixth sense of where the puck was going to be, and was a scoring machine.

Lemieux for me wins because he was the total package. Also Mario didn't need any protection. You were nuts to fight him.

Lemieux and Howe were probably the two most complete forwards who ever played the game.

Orr doesn't count because he was in a category all by himself. Orr wasn't just a complete player. He changed the landscape of the NHL and the job description of a defenseman. As one writer put it. "Orr changed the way the game could be played."

He was the first in on the attack, and the first guy back on defense. Think of it is this way, imagine the best pitcher in baseball was in the National League, and he also had the most home runs, RBI's, and won the batting title. That's pretty much what Orr did.

[BurrsArrows]

What happened to best overall?

[Bill Sikes]

Better Question. What if Gretzky was drafted by Pittsburgh and Lemieux got to play for a stacked Oiler's team?

Pittsburgh was the joke of the league when Mario was drafted by them. He made that team respected.

Gretzky had vision, and almost a sixth sense of where the puck was going to be, and was a scoring machine.

Lemieux for me wins because he was the total package. Also Mario didn't need any protection. You were nuts to fight him.

Lemieux and Howe were probably the two most complete forwards who ever played the game.

Orr doesn't count because he was in a category all by himself. Orr wasn't just a complete player. He changed the landscape of the NHL and the job description of a defenseman. As one writer put it. "Orr changed the way the game could be played."

He was the first in on the attack, and the first guy back on defense. Think of it is this way, imagine the best pitcher in baseball was in the National League, and he also had the most home runs, RBI's, and won the batting title. That's pretty much what Orr did.

[Amish Rake Fighter]

Or imagine Scott Stevens with the skating and offensive touch of Paul Coffey