Who was better- Lemieux or Howe?

[jiggs 10]

Gordie Howe was BY FAR the more dominant player over the course of their careers. Mario was the Rocket Richard of his era, scoring a lot but still not as good as the best player (Gretzky). Mario was an offensive wizard, but floated far too much, drew calls that no other player in the league would get called, and utterly refused to play defense. Howe was the COMPLETE player, even when he was 50 and finishing his career. He was tough, strong, talented, and a team guy. Only one of those words applies to Lemieux, who I would personally rank as about the 8th best player in the NHL's history (behind Orr, Gretzky, Howe, Richard, Harvey, Sawchuk, and Shore).

 

[KariyaIsGod*]

That's just it though. How can anyone place Mario above Shore? None of us ever saw Shore play and by all accounts he deserves to be recognized amongst the Mario class.

To me, Gretzky and Orr were so much better than anybody elese that they form a class of their own. Other than that, it's all debatable..

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

That's just it though. How can anyone place Mario above Shore? None of us ever saw Shore play and by all accounts he deserves to be recognized amongst the Mario class.

To me, Gretzky and Orr were so much better than anybody elese that they form a class of their own. Other than that, it's all debatable..

I have never seen Shore play, but my dad, who is six years older than Shore has informed me of his greatness.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Gordie Howe was BY FAR the more dominant player over the course of their careers. Mario was the Rocket Richard of his era, scoring a lot but still not as good as the best player (Gretzky). Mario was an offensive wizard, but floated far too much, drew calls that no other player in the league would get called, and utterly refused to play defense. Howe was the COMPLETE player, even when he was 50 and finishing his career. He was tough, strong, talented, and a team guy. Only one of those words applies to Lemieux, who I would personally rank as about the 8th best player in the NHL's history (behind Orr, Gretzky, Howe, Richard, Harvey, Sawchuk, and Shore).

it's so obvious you have an anti-lemieux bias. you're telling me mario wasn't tough/strong? how many people could knock him off the puck? also you have to be tough to play through the injuries he did and withstand the constant hacking and slashing and tackling that everyone did against him. in mario's sportscentury, they said he only played about 400 healthy games in his entire career. sorry, but all four of those words apply to him. it must be killing you that mario's the second biggest hockey icon around the world after gretzky.

 

[jiggs 10]

it's so obvious you have an anti-lemieux bias. you're telling me mario wasn't tough/strong? how many people could knock him off the puck? also you have to be tough to play through the injuries he did and withstand the constant hacking and slashing and tackling that everyone did against him. in mario's sportscentury, they said he only played about 400 healthy games in his entire career. sorry, but all four of those words apply to him. it must be killing you that mario's the second biggest hockey icon around the world after gretzky.

Well, after Gordie played 20 years after a BRAIN injury, and still scored more than wuss-boy Mario, I think it's obvious who is the better player of all-time. Gordie MADE room for himself by taking care of the guys who "hacked and slashed" him, along with scoring a LOT more points, goals, assists, etc. than fruit boy Mario in the same amount of games against much stronger opponents. Maybe you should read up on the history of hockey in the last 50 years, not just the last 5!!!!!!!!

 

[tom_servo]

Howe's greatness and longevity cannot be questioned. But if you want to make a comparison with a modern-day legend like Lemieux, then you must also take into the account the old Cy Denneny big fish, small pond factor. The fact is that he spent his career playing in a league with 1/4 of the players, on average. That is worth considering.

I don't have a problem if you place Howe's total game over Lemieux's, but there's really no question in my mind that Lemieux was at least a more dominant offensive force than Howe ever was.

Gordie MADE room for himself by taking care of the guys who "hacked and slashed" him, along with scoring a LOT more points, goals, assists, etc. than fruit boy Mario in the same amount of games against much stronger opponents.

Much stronger opponents? I was under the impression that players, on average, have gotten bigger over time. Have I been misled?

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Well, after Gordie played 20 years after a BRAIN injury, and still scored more than wuss-boy Mario, I think it's obvious who is the better player of all-time. Gordie MADE room for himself by taking care of the guys who "hacked and slashed" him, along with scoring a LOT more points, goals, assists, etc. than fruit boy Mario in the same amount of games against much stronger opponents. Maybe you should read up on the history of hockey in the last 50 years, not just the last 5!!!!!!!!

you're down to chooch levels now.

 

[RorschachWJK]

Mario is the most talented player to ever play the game.

Yes, more than Gretzky or Orr.

Orr is the best player of all-time, followed by Gretzky then Lemieux then Howe.

And that's the extremely short version.

What about Mikhailov and Kharlamov? Oh wait, only Canadians can be talented. Sorry, my mistake.

 

[Maken*]

Oh wait, only Canadians can be talented. Sorry, my mistake.

That's not true, Brett Hull is decent.

 

[KariyaIsGod*]

What about Mikhailov and Kharlamov? Oh wait, only Canadians can be talented. Sorry, my mistake.

When was that ever said...

Kharlamov and Mikhailov were great players but to say they aren't on the level of a Gretz, Orr, Howe or Mario is not at all a stretch...

 

[c-carp]

hard to pick one here, and I am going from onjly seeing Gordie on film but I would pick him.

 

[RorschachWJK]

When was that ever said...

Kharlamov and Mikhailov were great players but to say they aren't on the level of a Gretz, Orr, Howe or Mario is not at all a stretch...

Being the most talented player is not the same as being the best or greatest player. Many who saw Kharlamov play thought that he definitely was one of the most talented players ever. I would certainly put him up there with the others in terms of pure talent. The original post I responded to specifically talked about talent...

However, greatness is a broader and far more difficult issue because Kharlamov obviously never played in the NHL so his attributes other than pure talent are hard to compare with others.