Dangler99*
Guest
But again, you seem to think that having cancer made Lemieux a better player than Gretzky. It didn't. It may have made a better story, more inspiring, etc. Maybe he had to overcome more to be as good as he was, but it doesn't somehow make him better than Gretzky. Gretzky had a serious back injury of his own; he developed arthritis in one shoulder that robbed him of his slapshot (one of his best offensive weapons), and he was "too small" to play in the NHL his whole career. I'm not saying he overcame more than Lemieux - he didn't. But he had plenty of obstacles of his own and overcame them to be great.
Maybe if Lemieux HADN'T had so much to overcome, he would have been better, but that's not how it happened. Missing more games and scoring less points doesn't make you better than someone who played more and scored more, especially when they outscored you in PPG as well.
Gretzky Back Problems were later in his career. Lemieux had way worse problems and all these problems in his PRIME. When he was at the height of his powers he could not even tie his skates he would be in tears on the bench. Cancer Back Operations from the condition he was born with. And Still scoring at 190-200 point paces. Lemieux kept up with Gretzky despite all this.