I dont know how people can rank players that played in the 50-s or before that time when they've never seen them play. Some of us have been able to watch hockey in the 60-s but likely not before that. Anyhow... from my lifetime here are the best players I ever saw.
1- Orr: Defense, Offense, Playmaking, Scoring, Defending, Blocking Shots, Fighting, overall the best player ever.
2- Beliveau: Make fun of me all you want but Beliveau was a class act through and through, could lay hits, could score, could make plays, could lead his teams to stanley cups (in fact 10 of them).
3- Lemieux: Too bad he had to deal with plenty a issues (injuries, cancer, retirement ) but he was the best stickhandler and goal scorer I ever saw. Not too shabby playmaker either. 6 Art Ross trophies, 6 Hart Trophies and 2 conn smythes.
4- Lafleur: Again, make fun of me all you want but if I had a game 7 and I had to choose a right winger who played in the last 35 years he would definately be on my first line. When relied upon, the guy performed under pressure and scored so many clutch goals that you can ever imagine. Was the best player from 74-75 to 79-80 leading his team to 4 consecutive stanley cups in that span, scoring 50 or more for 6 straight seasons as well as 120 or more points and even raising his game up a notch in the playoffs. Too bad he had that accident in 80 and never took care of himself or this guy would've had the record for the most 50 or more goal seasons no doubt in my mind. If he could score 50 or more for 6 consecutive seasons in an era which was far more defensive then the high flying 80-s who sais he could'nt have continued for a couple more years in those high flying 80-s? He was only 28 at the time. He had a cannon of a shot, could stickhandle, was the best right wing playmaker ever. He also was a plus for the majority of his career partly because he was on great teams but also because the guy used to backcheck often. He wasn't a pavel bure shall we say. Anybody who played for Scotty had to backchecked or else they wouldn't be on the ice very often.
And 5th on my list is, as you guessed, Wayne Gretzky.
Even if you're a leaf fan there's no need to disrespect the guy. You dont hear me disprespecting Sittler or Mahovlich or Sundin. In fact I rank Frank as a top 3 left winger of all time.
Just a random stat that won't change anyone's mind but I'm having fun with this anyways. Gretzky isn't even in the top ten of +/- per game. Afforementioned guys like Bossy and Lafleur are way ahead of him in that regard. Wayne only have 7 minus seasons, so it's unfair to say he was a minus player for a "large part of his career", but he was a minus player for the better part of a decade none the less. Merry Christmas guys, I hope nobody's taking this too personally and getting upset with me
