mario lemieux

Based on how their careers ended up, it has to be Gretzky > Lemieux.

I personally think that Lemieux was more physically talented (although, he didn't really take care of himself smoking all the time + eating crappy food) and would have been the one setting records, if he had been healthy. However, he wasn't, so end of discussion, for the most part.

Orr is the best defenseman, hands down. Of course, I've never seen him live, but I've watched older games and he was just magical. I wonder how many Art Ross's/Harts he would have won, if he had played 15-20 years, as opposed to less than 10.

For me, I would take Hasek over Roy. Hasek from lockout to lockout was one of the most dominant goalie's I saw, and he didn't need a ridiculous over-sized jersey to do it. Unorthodox, yes. But that acrobatic style was something to behold.

Guess I must be pretty young compared to everyone else, cause Gretzky was way passed his prime when I started to watch hockey.

Always loved Patrick Roy. Great goalie, plenty of swagger, and ready to fight all the time.

Now that I think about it, there really hasn't been anyone from the last ten years to be considered one of the best. Can anyone jog my memory? (Selanne I guess?).

i know its been a while but the reason why i choose lemieux is very similar to the reasons on the op.  lemeiux was the only one to have an 8 point game until the recent garnier (i think thats how it is spelled), but lemeiux did it 3 times in the 1988-89 season.  also gretzky had much better teammates than lemieux did.  gretzky had mark messier, paul coffey, and glen anderson.  lemieux's best help was bob errey and then jagr in his later years, not to mention lemieux had his 199 before jagr came aboard.  lemieux was also the only hockey player to get 5 goals 5 different ways which was in one of those 8 point games.  and like the op, lemieux did more in less amount of time and with less help, so for those reasons i believe lemieux was the greatest to ever play the game, not to say gretzky wasnt great cuz he was.  lemieux was just a little better in my opinion. 

Lemieux was the most physically gifted player ever, he had a great size advantage over Gretzky and was slicker with the puck. Also, he might (probably would have) scored more goals than Gretzky had he played as many games. Still, Gretzky's greatness goes beyond just his goal scoring records. The true brilliance of Gretzky was in how he could read the game. There has been no one like him ion hockey before or since, and it shows up more in his points total than in his goal total. In fact, if you take away all 894 goals he scored, he would still be the all time scorer in the NHL by almost 100 points. It's ridiculous.

That said, it's a great shame that Lemieux didn't take better care of himself and be able to show what he could do over a full 20 year career or so.

I have to go with Gretzky since he is one of the few mega stars from hockey that everyone knew (probably helped promote the sport more than anyone in my opinion). Sure people that don't pay attention to hockey might know a few people playing now but everyone knew Gretzky.

Mark Messier

I'd agree if the question was 'greatest gay hockey player of all time', but since it's not restricted by sexual orientation I can not take your answer seriously.