Who's the greatest player you've ever seen?

[Quiet Robert]

Anyone out there a little older who saw guys like Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe live? Those types of stories would be great to hear and it would be nice to see what someone thinks of a Howe/Rocket vs. modern players.

 

[MeatTornado]

Mario, Bure, Sakic, Yzerman, Fedorov. Mario is #1, the rest are in no real order.

 

[GreenBud]

In order, the three greatest players I have ever seen live........

Wayne Gretzky (greatest player in the history of N.A team sports)
Bobby Orr
Mario Lemieux

 

[vandoo]

Who's the best player you've ever seen live?

I was lucky enough to see Lemieux and Gretzky play a couple times each ... I'm curious to see if anyone's seen guys like Howe and Orr though.

I have seen them all and Gretzky was the best for me because he made everyone around him better. Nobodies would score 30 goals when they played with him. He was the smartest player who ever played. He was so evasive that he seldom took a big hit. He took LA to the finals all by himself. Orr was the best athelete. He was the fastest player in the league and revolutionized how defencemen played the game. He had a short career because he took too many risks. Howe was the second smartest player and the toughest and meanest. He coined the phrase, "It is better to give." He had great skills and generally no one wanted to go near him. It could cost you a broken leg. But the second best player was Jean Beliveau who led the Canadiens to many Stanley Cups. He had it all. He was big, fast and a great play maker. No one could check him one on one and stop him from bringing the puck up ice. Give it to Jean and it would get to the other end. Mario was a wonderful player but missed too many games.

 

[No Quarter*]

Mario Lemiuex

 

[Greenback]

He was the fastest player in the league and revolutionized how defencemen played the game. He had a short career because he took too many risks.

For the first half of his career, Bobby was one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. The fastest probably would have been Hull who was clocked at 29 mph!!

 

[Greenback]

Oh yeah, forgot to contribute to the thread


I saw The Great One[sup]tm[/sup] in Winnipeg when he was with LA in the early 90's. It was great to see him pass to someone that would have been out of the TV scope but, as a fan in thet nosebleed section, I could watch the play develop from a lot further back.


I saw Coffey when he was with Detroit (also in Winnipeg). The warm up was worth watching as fast players like Yzerman and Federov would be tearing around the rink only to have Coffey whiz past them while seemingly barely taking a stride.

IMO, Coffey is the best skater in the history of the game, both from technical and aesthetic standpoints.

 

[jb**]

Mario, so big strong and extremely gracefull. didn't have the cast around him Gretzky did for all of those years. In goal Patrick Roy.

 

[scosar]

Lucky enough to catch a couple of games at the igloo the year the Pens won their first cup. Saw them play LA. In one game there was Gretzky, Kurri, Coffey, Jagr, Lemieux and Francis.

But I grew up in Montreal and went to tons of games in the 70's. Too many good players then including Perrault who I loved watch when the Sabres came to town. But only two brought you out of your seats. Lafleur and Orr. Being a Habs fan I enjoyed Lafleur more but I knew even as a kid that Orr was the best.

 

[blind willie]

Had the opportunity to see Gretzky and Kurri play several times. I've see Lemieux once. Glad I've had the chance to see Messier, Coffey, Robitaille and a few others over the years. Kariya was among them early on, don't think he'll rank in the long run, too many injuries have taken the toll on his game. Got a chance to see Crosby a couple of times in the Kings prospect camp this summer. He looks to be pretty much as advertised.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Mario Lemieux without even having to think.

I never saw him play live before he retired but thanks to his comeback I've been able to see him quite a few times. I forget the exact number but he's averaged almost 3 points per game in the 10 or so games I've seen him live since his comeback.

Every time he's on the ice he makes something happen, One of the biggest thrills of my life was seeing him score on the face-off against Buffalo.

 

[sunb]

Mario Lemieux and Chris Pronger.

I haven't seen Lemieux play before his retirement but after his retirement, he was simply still the best. Despite being often injured, he came back and scored at a 1.7 PPG pace his first year back, helped Jagr retain the Art Ross and led the Penguins to the conference finals. That year in the playoffs, he scored a critical goal in game 6 or 7 against Buffalo which was simply crazy. The puck fly straight up in the air in Buffalo's zone and out of the 10 players and 1 goalie there, it just seemed magnetically attracted to Lemieux and he picked up an easy goal. I don't know whether he is lucky or good but he makes things happen like no one else.

Chris Pronger is the best out of the other current NHL'ers. Guys like Forsberg and Naslund are great and all but Pronger can play 30+ minutes a game and play flawlessly every moment he is on the ice.

And for some strange reason, every time I watch Brian Boucher play, he is an absolute phenom. I followed closely in the 2000 playoffs and he was the hands-down NHL MVP through the first three rounds of the playoffs. He was also pretty good throughout random stretches in the last couple of years.

 

[arnie]

I have seen them all and Gretzky was the best for me because he made everyone around him better. Nobodies would score 30 goals when they played with him.

This is the big lie that you hear over and over again from Gretzky supporters. Who are these nobodies that scored 30 goals playing with Gretzky? Lemieux turned minor leaguers like Warren Young into a 40 goal scorer and Robbie Brown into a 50 goal scorer.

It is no contest - Lemieux was far better at turning nobodies into stars. When the Blues got Gretzky to jump startt Hull, he failed miserably to set up one of the great snipers in hockey.

 

[arnie]

Mario Lemieux without even having to think.

I never saw him play live before he retired but thanks to his comeback I've been able to see him quite a few times..

Then you've never seen the real Lemieux. Since his back flared up badly, he's never been the same player. In the old days, he not only could outskate and out stick-handle defensemen, he could literally carry them on his back. This is the real difference between Gretzky and Lemieux. They had similar skills, but Lemieux was 6-4 225 lbs and could do things physically that Gretzky never could. He could over power other players; he could use his long reach to swoop around the net for amazing wrap-arounds; he could make one lateral shift to zip around defensemen like they were pylons and make goalies fall on their faces. This what made him possibly the top player in break-away goals, the one area of skill that in which Gretzky never really excelled.

 

[VanIslander]

Dominik Hasek in Buffalo in 1997.

I forget everything else about my visit to that area. Yes, even seeing Niagra Falls paled in comparison to the show he put on, ironically enough, against Lemieux's Penguins.



I thought I was witnessing a rare moment of brilliance.
Turned out to be a couple of years of unparalleled dominance.

 

[Chilly Willy*]

I've seen Wayne Gretzky, Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy, Dominic Hasek and a ton of other stars play during my lifetime.

There are only 3 players leave me in awe of their talents and they are:

Pavel Bure - speed and the slick puck handling
Jagr - can deke you out of ur ginch
Lemieux - he'll score, pass, and if u piss him off, beat u like a red headed step child.

But Lemieux is the best player i have ever seen, i mean Gretzky had nice passes but Mario would do things with the puck that i have never seen other players do. It was like he had a 360 degree camera attatched to his head and knew where everyone was, he'd just pass it to them, pin point mind you, and they'd score.

 

[Chilly Willy*]

Then you've never seen the real Lemieux. Since his back flared up badly, he's never been the same player. In the old days, he not only could outskate and out stick-handle defensemen, he could literally carry them on his back. This is the real difference between Gretzky and Lemieux. They had similar skills, but Lemieux was 6-4 225 lbs and could do things physically that Gretzky never could. He could over power other players; he could use his long reach to swoop around the net for amazing wrap-arounds; he could make one lateral shift to zip around defensemen like they were pylons and make goalies fall on their faces. This what made him possibly the top player in break-away goals, the one area of skill that in which Gretzky never really excelled.

Yeah i was lucky enough to see Mario play in Pittsburgh a couple dozen times, when we moved from Vancouver to Toronto when i was 5 (never liked the leafs ever, hard to be a canucks fan in Toronto as a kid) till 19. Pittsburgh was just a short flight from Toronto and i would go to a few games with my relatives and friends.

Mario was just amazing, i will never forget the back 2 back cups. I just remember sitting there praying that the pens would catch up and win the game, some games Mario would just come flying out deke through the whole team and score then set up his linemates for goals and the game would be over in a matter of 7mins.

Of course there were some nights when teams did catch up and win, but whatever it was still a great joy to see Mario play before and after his retirement.

 

[Chileiceman]

I've gone to 3 games in 3 different arenas.
Best players I've seen live are:Forsberg, Sakic,Roy,Bourque,Roenick,Tchuck (dont know how to spell it),Gretzky(except he wasn't playing, he was giving an award to Sean Burke),Messier,Fleury, Koivu, Satan and Roy

 

[mazmin]

I was lucky enough to see a lot of Teemu Selanne in his 76 goal rookie season. He was remarkable. I fondly remember a 4 goal game against Dallas that was pretty fun. Even caught a puck Teemu defelcted into the stands.

 

[Murphy*]

Mario and Hasek

 

[silver_made*]

in person, tough cal between Forsberg and P.Bure:

I attended the infamous 5-0 Florida Panthers collapse. Bure had a hat trick. Forsberg had a hat trick.

The two were unreal.

 

[Rather Gingerly 1*]

Who's the best player you've ever seen live?

I was lucky enough to see Lemieux and Gretzky play a couple times each ... I'm curious to see if anyone's seen guys like Howe and Orr though.

Lafleur in the late '70s was the most dominating player I have ever seen. Of course, he had a big benefit of playing with great players around him...made him even better

 

[KOVALEV10*]

Lafleur in the late '70s was the most dominating player I have ever seen. Of course, he had a big benefit of playing with great players around him...made him even better

Yeah but who didnt? Gretz had Kurri, Lemieux had Jagr, Orr had Espo, Hull had Mikita, Forsberg had Sakic and the list goes on and on and on. And of the games I've seen live I couldnt agree more that Lafleur was one of the most dominating players ever and certainly the most exciting. Guy Guy Guy

 

[MattNJD]

Best all aroudn player I have ever seen live is Peter Forsberg

 

[DFF]

Gretzky