If you have to pick one for a healthy career: Orr or Lemieux?

[Ducks in a row]

If you have to pick to pick one to have a healthy career missing no more then 5 game per season so you could see what they would of done who would you of picked?

Click to read more...

 

[izzy]

mario

 

[Ctrain2k]

I just found out Orr’s knee problems started at 19, he won 8 straight Norris’s with a bum knee.

 

[snipes]

Robert Gordon Orr

 

[ijuka]

Lemieux for sure.

Orr played during too weak an era.

 

[thadd]

Cam Neely. Oil fan.

 

[Addison Rae]

Bobby Orr but it’s insanely close.

 

[bigbabybuda]

Lemiux but not a fair question really. I'm 37 and never got to see Orr play live. For my money Lemiux had the most skill of anyone I've ever seen play live.

My father in law played on the Generals with Orr and says he the by far the best player of all time so... I didn't know my father in law even played at that level until I had been married for like 10 year, much less some of the guys he played with. Was a pretty f***ing cool conversation we had all drunk one night when he told me.

P.S I did Google research the next day to make sure he wasn't talking out his arse lol

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I picked Orr.

1) If Orr is healthy as per your premise, I'd really want to see what he'd have done. Might end up being the wrong pick, but I'm more curious to see what he'd have accomplished.
2) I think a smooth skating defenseman is more in demand in the modern game. Don't get me wrong, Mario would still be an absolute beast, but I just wonder if Orr's game would transition better- could be wrong on that too, maybe there are guys who could keep up with him now whereas it's always hard to deal with a Mario skill set, but I'm seeing Orr as Dahlin 3.0 and it'd be beautiful.

 

[Bob Barker]

I picked Mario solely because I would have actually got to watch him. Orr would just still be stories of old. If they hypothetically started their careers at the same time, I'd have chosen Orr because he revolutionized the defense position (... or so I'm told)

 

[Holymakinaw]

Bobby Orr. The guy may have been the greatest hockey player to ever have played the game.

 

[Plural]

Bobby Orr for me.

 

[TonyDeAngelo]

Bobby Orr not a bruins fan.

 

[NyQuil]

Nice poll - I would like to have seen both but I have to go with Orr here.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Mario. He would be considered greater than Gretzky.

 

[bobholly39]

Lemieux.

Orr continuing post-injury is like Gretzky after the "trade". Can he keep it up longer? Can he maybe do "a bit better" than what he's already done even? Certainly some exciting stuff, but for the most part, you already got to see full seasons of Orr at his best, and it was grandiose.

Lemieux is like Gretzky if after his season of 212 points/92 goals in 1982, instead of spending the next 4-6 seasons also averaging ~200+ points a season, he got injured in every year, had cancer, had debilitating back problems so that even when he *did* play - he wasn't exactly at his best. Skip a few years - and you get post 91-92 Gretzky (or Lemieux) playing a few seasons again.

Basically - we never really got to see Lemieux at his best. He clearly hit another "gear" starting around 1988 and 1989. 1989 was a great season. Than injuries, health. He got the 2 smythes (amazing performances) but he wasn't 100%. Even 1992-1993, his historic season, he only played 60 games and everyone knows what was going on.

To be clear - I'm not saying Lemieux would have beaten all/any of Gretzky records in those years (~1989-1995) had he been healthy - I just would have loved to see him attempt to, to see what he could have accomplished.

Orr - we pretty much already saw full healthy seasons of his in his prime/peak. I know he had knee issues, but i don't think those affected his best seasons as much as Lemieux was impacted with his issues.

I do think that - full healthy & long career, Orr has much better chances than Lemieux to top Gretzky all time. Defensemen typically age better. But it's the "peak" that excites me, and we saw peak Orr, we barely saw peak Lemieux.

 

[al secord]

Very good poll question. Robert Nestor Orr, but it's close. They both changed the way the game was played.

 

[bobholly39]

Mario. He would be considered greater than Gretzky.

He has more raw talent, and he certainly had it in him to beat some of Wayne's records in a perfect storm of a season - but Wayne had much greater drive, and his playoffs are legendary, always rising to the top as best player/scorer in every playoffs/tournament while at his best. I think for those reasons - even in the best of scenarios - Gretzky is still the "greater" player. But - it would certainly be closer.

 

[7even]

Mario, barely. Orr is already the best defenseman of all time. A healthy Lemieux might've beat out Gretzky for the forward distinction.

 

[Voight]

Lemieux for sure.

Orr played during too weak an era.

Says who?

Mario. He would be considered greater than Gretzky.

No he wouldn't. At his best, when he was still healthy in the late 80s, he was never able to reach the heights that Gretzky reached. Came close, but it's a fact that he wouldn't reach Wayne's level even if he was healthy.

 

[bobholly39]

Says who?



No he wouldn't. At his best, when he was still healthy in the late 80s, he was never able to reach the heights that Gretzky reached. Came close, but it's a fact that he wouldn't reach Wayne's level even if he was healthy.

That's the thing with Lemieux. He only really got one chance - in 1989, and fell short. 1988/89 is when he hit his "best" level, and had he been healthy, he would have gotten more "shots" at Gretzky in 1990, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95...but 1989 was his only full and healthy season during his true peak.

Doesn't mean for sure he beats Gretzky - it just means he didn't really get many chances. With more chances, he might have.

 

[brachyrynchos]

I voted Mario (non Penguins fan) for the Gretzky vs Lemieux debates. Gretzky played 1487 games-2857 points, a similarly healthier Lemieux playing another 572 games would've been interesting...could he have gotten another 1134 points?

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Lemieux just so his fanboys wouldn't have the fantasy argument anymore. Gretzky beats Lemieux in literally everything. Raw totals, adjusted, playoffs, single season, half season, career, awards, peak, prime, international. Literally everything, but you still have these Lemieux fanboys crying like 5 year olds that he's better than Gretzky lol.

 

[StoneHands]

Orr. The guy won 8 Norris trophies in a row and was essentially done at 27. Had he never been hurt it's not crazy to think he could have won 12+ which would put him as a 1a/1b with Gretzky IMO.

 

[McFlash97]

way too close to call