[#592] Favourite Player Final - Teemu Selanne vs. Mario Lemieux

Which player do you like more?


  • Total voters
    236

Video Nasty

Registered User
Mar 12, 2017
4,546
7,780
The league was way too tough for him, all he did was bitch and complain.

Rightfully so. Let’s see how well you handle having goons draped all over your bad back, slashing your hands and wrists with reckless abandon, and getting pushed around as you’re sprawled on the ice after being injured from dirty play.

The NHL was a garage league and remains so in multiple areas to this day. The only league that hasn’t figured out that superstars are the players the average fan wants to see and you have to ensure that they’re not totally mugged by less talented thugs.

They’ve gotten better, but it’s still a poorly run league in so many ways.
 

SotasicA

Registered User
Aug 25, 2014
8,489
6,402
Greatest Jet is Ducky
Jim Kyte is my favourite Jet ever:



And a real likeable guy:



A great role model for kids with impairments. A solid blue collar hockey player, and a legend to me and many others. No cherry picking, no million dollar contracts, no supercars, divas, nope, nothing came easy. Enduring hardship and conquering it all earned Jim my respect at least.

And 100% entertainment guaranteed when he stepped on the ice.
 
Last edited:

HanSolo

DJ Crazy Times
Apr 7, 2008
96,406
30,657
Las Vegas
I always disliked Selanne. From the moment he started. Just an unlikeable player. Cherry picking, smug.

Lemieux I was negative towards as well. He was sort of fun, but also too... French. Not into the rough stuff. Complaining. He was a better interview than Selanne though, so that's why I voted for him.

I don't know. I could think of a thousand more likeable players in the history of the NHL.

Neither showed much passion of got into fights or ever did anything beyond scoring. Mario post-career did piggybag the Pens financially, so that's another cool thing for him. But as a player, he was... just another scorer.

EDIT: he also survived cancer. It's Mario here, easily. Selanne... just "meh". Not in my top 1,000.
You lost me at unlikable and smug.
 

JoVel

HFBoards Sponsor
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Jan 23, 2017
19,181
26,365
Other than being the better hockey player I don't see what there is in Lemieux to like more than Teemu.
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
22,078
14,589
Other than being the better hockey player I don't see what there is in Lemieux to like more than Teemu.

Put it this way:

Hockey is sports.
Sports is entertainment.
Which hockey player in the history of the sport can be said to be more entertaining than Lemieux? It may not be unanimous - but he certainly has a case for #1.

He's also overcome a lot - and people love a good story. Cancer comeback. Retirement comeback. Came back as an owner to buy Pens/save franchise.
If you're Canadian (and - there are a lot of those on HF) - he also had some very strong international showings for the country at various tournaments.

There are probably more reasons to dislike Lemieux than there are to dislike Selanne, i'll give you that. But still - Mario Lemieux is a very popular player, for obvious reasons.
 
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CTZ181

Registered User
Jan 18, 2021
142
112
The one that beat cancer and returned to still be the second best forward in history.
 

Hanski89

Registered User
Jan 14, 2021
2
3

Some might consider Selänne unlikable but smug? I think he is pretty humble guy.
Also he doesn't mind speaking out what he thinks even if it is not considered politically correct today. Nowadays it is pretty rare attribute since everyone is afraid of being canceled.
I'm a fan.
Mario was better player but this poll is about who is your favourite player.
 

Albatros

Registered User
Aug 19, 2017
12,274
7,723
Ostsee

Some might consider Selänne unlikable but smug? I think he is pretty humble guy.
Also he doesn't mind speaking out what he thinks even if it is not considered politically correct today. Nowadays it is pretty rare attribute since everyone is afraid of being canceled.
I'm a fan.
Mario was better player but this poll is about who is your favourite player.


The problem with post-retirement Selänne "speaking out" in his boredom is that while you are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts. His 1950s views on marriage or the Roenick case are okay because they are at least based on his personal experience, but he has also developed a tendency to voice controversial opinions on things that he knows nothing about. A nice but dim guy that would be better off spending time with books instead of social media.
 
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Ryan Michaels

Registered User
Mar 21, 2017
4,275
5,637
I don't think people will read the question on this one as it isn't in the thread title. Most will just automatically vote Lemieux because they see him as better. But there's absolutely nothing likeable about Lemieux as a person even if he was fantastic at hockey...

I mean if it's how likeable they are as a person it's the dumbest question of all time because we largely don't know any of them. I like Lemieux more because I found him more fun the watch not because he was a better house guest. And yes you can infer some likability pros and cons behaviouraly but it's not going to be the only factor, and even then it's going to be predominantly based on on-ice behavior not "as a person" per se.
 

Plural

Registered User
Mar 10, 2011
33,703
4,852
Selanne is a likeable player and all - but if you told me to guess who the most likely player to be voted "most liked player on HF" was - I don't think he'd crack my top 25.

Teemu won a similar vote few years back on this site. He's been a global fan favorite in hockey for about 3 decades now.
 
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MrThomas

Registered User
Oct 31, 2017
1,561
1,205
Moscow
I always disliked Selanne. From the moment he started. Just an unlikeable player. Cherry picking, smug.

Lemieux I was negative towards as well. He was sort of fun... [MOD] Not into the rough stuff. Complaining. He was a better interview than Selanne though, so that's why I voted for him.

I don't know. I could think of a thousand more likeable players in the history of the NHL.

Neither showed much passion of got into fights or ever did anything beyond scoring. Mario post-career did piggybag the Pens financially, so that's another cool thing for him. But as a player, he was... just another scorer.

EDIT: he also survived cancer. It's Mario here, easily. Selanne... just "meh". Not in my top 1,000.

Selanne is much more likeable than you will ever be :)
 

Vohaul

Registered User
Jan 24, 2017
427
65
Teemu Selänne was super fun to watch too.. especially the prime Teemu and his speed and goal cellys.
 

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