Who was the best ice hockey player?

Improved Answer

To be perfectly honest, Wayne Gretzky was not the "best" hockey player. That title belongs to Bobby Orr. Bobby Orr played for the Boston Bruins from '66-'75 and his final few games with the Chicago BlackHawks.

Bobby Orr has been awarded EVERY individual trophy (except for those specifically for goaltenders). He's led the league in goals, assists and total points for a season. Now let me tell you that he did this as a defenseman.

The way Bobby Orr played the game actually changed how the game was played. Prior to Bobby Orr, defensemen never went beyond the center ice line...let alone into the offensive territory. Bobby would gather the puck within his defensive zone and rush the puck up the ice, deking around players, and into the offensive zone. Since no one had ever done this before, the opposing teams did not know how to combat it.

Since he change how the game was played, and he played at such a high level, Bobby must be considered the best hockey player of all time. Unfortunately, his career was limited to just ten short years due to knee injury after knee injury. Bobby has said that he has no regrets for retiring a bit early. He said he understands that his style of play by carring the puck for as long as he did "put the bulls-eye" on him to be hit with body checks which caused his injuries.

I would have to agree that Bobby Orr was better than Gretzky. However, I think Mario Lemieux would have eclipsed both Orr and Gretzky in all areas of records and stats had it not been for some cruel injuries and Mario's cancer problems. Mario was far ahead of Gretzky in all stat areas per game prior to his illnesses and injuries. I think the greatest thing about "the great one" was how durable he was. Wayne was able to play so long and be so healthy for so long. If nothing else, that made him more special than most. Remember, there were so many out there looking to get a piece of him in games but he was so fast he could avoid most hits and a most over looked fact is that Wayne was tough for a small guy. The big thing about Mario was that he was so big and so agile, fast and had such great touch for a big guy. I think that it is tough to compare those players who were not playing at their best at the same time but Mario and Wayne did play at their best at the same time. At least for one or two seasons. I think it was clear that Mario had very few stars around him while Wayne had a complete team. Mario was hands down the clear winner. If Mario could have faced off against Bobby Orr, you would have seen a great mismatch. Mario was a much more sizable and skillful player than Bobby Orr.

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