Which career has been the biggest "what if" in NHL History?

[JackSlater]

I went with Lindros because I'm more curious about what he could have been, though I took the question to mean general health instead of just concussions. I don't think we're looking at a rival for Gretzky/Orr/Lemieux/Howe but I do think he's a top 20 player ever if healthy. Orr is the other good option, for the reasons that people have already given. Orr barely ever played with healthy knees, and the situation just deteriorated throughout his career. Keep in mind that Orr won the Art Ross by 8 points in 1975 (14 points ahead of the closest non-teammate) and that was when his skating was noticeably worse than it was at his absolute peak. I think that Orr with healthy knees goes down as the best player ever and probably swings a Stanley Cup or too as well. I think that Orr being healthy is the most significant option here in terms of changing history (and Stanley Cups) but I am more curious about Lindros.

 

[COHawk]

Little comparison if all of the poll options played the same number of games as Gretzky. Middle column GH stands for "Gretzky health." Left out Jagr since he's played more games than Wayne anyway.

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	GH G	GH A	GH PTS	G	A	PTS
Wayne Gretzky*	1,487	894	1,963	2,857	894	1,963	2,857	0.6	1.32	1.92
Mario Lemieux*	915	690	1,033	1,723	1,115	1,680	2,796	0.75	1.13	1.88
Mike Bossy*	752	573	553	1,126	1,130	1,100	2,231	0.76	0.74	1.5
Bobby Orr*	657	270	645	915	610	1,457	2,067	0.41	0.98	1.39
Sidney Crosby	940	444	766	1,210	699	1,219	1,918	0.47	0.81	1.29
Peter Forsberg*	708	249	636	885	520	1,338	1,859	0.35	0.9	1.25
Eric Lindros*	760	372	493	865	729	967	1,695	0.49	0.65	1.14
Bobby Hull*	1,063	610	560	1,170	848	788	1,636	0.57	0.53	1.1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The Bossy and Mario goal totals really stand out.

 

[thadd]

What the hell is wrong with you people?!
Cam Neely scored 50 in 50, didn't he?
With Borque, Neely and Oates on the same team they would have eventually won a cup.

 

[Perratrooper]

What if Alexi Kovalev actuualy tried

 

[daver]

Lindros got concussions because of his style of play. He was destined to get injured and was not as effective offensively without that physical edge.

 

[Intact]

Voted Lindros, I think its a given that Orr and Lemieux would have obliterated the NHL

 

[thadd]

What if Alexi Kovalev actuualy tried

My Lil bro's coach named him the winner of the Alexi Kovalev award when he was 14 or 15.
He thought it was funny.
Coach didn't.

 

[Dabruins]

What the hell is wrong with you people?!
Cam Neely scored 50 in 50, didn't he?
With Borque, Neely and Oates on the same team they would have eventually won a cup.

I was kind of surprised no one had mentioned Neely to this point. I don't think he trumps Orr, Lemieux, or Lindross as overall I think they were better players but Neely was literally just hitting his prime with back to back 50 goal seasons and then was completely derailed by injuries for basically the rest of his career. Him and Lindross are the best power forwards to ever play imo. Shame both careers didn't last longer.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

I really don't think any of these are that big -- every player on the list is an HOFer and each one has a season where they were one of, if not the, best player in the world. A better what if is the aforementioned Bryan Fogarty or other players that never reached their potential.

What if Tony Hand played for the dynasty Oilers?
What if Alexei Cherepanov's arena had a defibrillator?
What if the Soviets allowed any or all of the KLM line to play in the NHL?
What if the Lokomotiv plane hadn't crashed?
What if Anna never came between Fedorov and Bure?

 

[b in vancouver]

There's a lot of good/terrible options here. Even Bobby Hull is a massive 'what if?' but understandably doesn't have votes. Cam Neely could be another option - but would be like Hull.

For me this is Orr pretty easily though.
For my money he is the best player of all-time and he was essentially done just as he was entering his prime.
And even before that he was hobbled - like he couldn't play in The Summit Series. He put up 18 points in 10 games at the end and won MVP at Canada Cup - and could barely walk by then.

Think of some of the things we missed because of his knees - as he only played 657 games with 915 points and 953 PIMs. and wonder how many times he was out their already injured.
The Bruins with Orr versus the Habs dynasty teams, and The Isle dynasty teams, and still could've been playing in the twilight of his career when The Oilers dynasty was going on. The NHL landscape would've been completely different. We could've seen Bobby Orr with Brad Park and Raymond Bourque - on the same team. (of course it would've played out differently but... it is a 'what if' scenario)

A healthy Orr could have conceivably won 15 straight Norris trophies and surpassed 2000 points.

 

[93LEAFS]

It's Lindros. We saw the greatness of Sid, Mario and Orr for a significant period of time. Lindros we got maybe 3 years.

 

[thadd]

I was kind of surprised no one had mentioned Neely to this point. I don't think he trumps Orr, Lemieux, or Lindross as overall I think they were better players but Neely was literally just hitting his prime with back to back 50 goal seasons and then was completely derailed by injuries for basically the rest of his career. Him and Lindross are the best power forwards to ever play imo. Shame both careers didn't last longer.

I used to talk with friend about what Lindros, Shannahan and Neely would look like on a line together injury free in the 90's. That would have been biggest, toughest and meanest skill line in the history of the league.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Definitely doesn't even deserve top 3-5 consideration but I always wondered "what if" with Pavel Bure. Injuries, and specifically knee injuries, cost us one of the most exciting goal scorers of all time. Easily one of my favourite players growing up if not the favourite. Too many peak years cut short.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

It's Lindros. We saw the greatness of Sid, Mario and Orr for a significant period of time. Lindros we got maybe 3 years.

And I don't even think we saw Lindros at his best without injuries. Even his "peak" years saw him miss time with injuries, so we never really saw a healthy Lindros over 82 games.

 

[daver]

It's Lindros. We saw the greatness of Sid, Mario and Orr for a significant period of time. Lindros we got maybe 3 years.

Crosby got argubly zero full years at his peak.

 

[thadd]

Definitely doesn't even deserve top 3-5 consideration but I always wondered "what if" with Pavel Bure. Injuries, and specifically knee injuries, cost us one of the most exciting goal scorers of all time. Easily one of my favourite players growing up if not the favourite. Too many peak years cut short.

Without injuries I seriously have my doubts about Ovechkin passing him on the all times goal scored list, but Bure was a unique case. He had a ton of injures that were not caused by physical contact with others but in fact forcing himself to accelerate faster than his legs were built to sustain.

 

[Daximus]

Orr - We never really got to see what he could have accomplished past 26 with full health. He likely would have set records for defencemen that would be as unbeatable as Gretzky's. Getting to see a prime Orr in the 80's would have been pretty sweet to.

Lemieux - Mario missed out on a significant number of games because of various health issues, not just cancer. But if he would have managed to stay healthy in 90, 91, 94 and 98 through to 2000 as well as healthy seasons in 01 and 02 we likely would have seen the type of career that could have challenged Gretzky's individual trophy case. He would have had a legitimate shot at breaking some of Gretzky's records had he remained healthy.

Lindros - We only got a couple of years of seeing what Lindros was capable of. He didn't seem like the type that would break down the records that Wayne put up but he definitely had a good shot at cementing a massive legacy that would have put him just behind the Mt. Rushmore of Hockey.

Jagr - Jagr probably wasn't going to break any records other than games played. Though he likely would have padded his stats a little more during a time when his body wasn't as broken down.

Bossy - Mike probably further cements himself as one of the greatest pure goalscorers in the world. Unlikely he would have led the league many more times, though you never know. There was still some stiff competition. Probably would have come close to Wayne though had he played until 40 if not past him.

Forsberg - Had the potential to snag a few more Art Ross and Harts. Might have won some more Cups too.

Hull - Likely nails down his status as #5 or 6 just behind the Mt. Rushmore of Hockey.

Crosby - Wins a few more Rockets and Ross, Harts and Pearson. Potentially even a few more Cups. Would ahve put his status in a crazy good position. Probably leaves Ovi in the dust outside of goalscoring.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

I'dd say Lindros followed by Saku Koivu.

For Orr and Lemieux it's not hard to imagine what would have happened if...

 

[Brucelenok]

Definitely doesn't even deserve top 3-5 consideration but I always wondered "what if" with Pavel Bure. Injuries, and specifically knee injuries, cost us one of the most exciting goal scorers of all time. Easily one of my favourite players growing up if not the favourite. Too many peak years cut short.

Glad somebody else with me on this one.

 

[North Cole]

What if 99 didnt lose his back halfway through his career. Wonder how much further ahead he would be.

 

[Sniperr]

Lemieux or Lindros

 

[Stive Morgan]

What if Bryan Berard didn't get an eye injury?

What if Bryan Fogarty stayed sober?

 

[Bouboumaster]

It was Lemieux for sure, but I have to say, the Crosby one is pretty interestin too.

 

[JustinCase]

Lindros

The most impressive combination of size, speed, and skill the NHL has ever seen, cut down in his prime.

 

[Regal]

Full careers for Mario or Orr would be the best for the game obviously, as they're the top 2 players here and would dramatically change the league, particularly with Orr overlapping Gretzky. But it's fairly easy to project what Orr would have been as he had 6 relatively healthy seasons at his best, and even with Lemieux, we saw what he could do in '89. From a personal curiosity standpoint, I'm more interested in what Lindros or Crosby could have done at their best