Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Crosby is good but he's not even on the same planet of Lemieux and Gretzky and I've seen the entire career pro careers of all three players. I didn't see Orr in his prime but I expect a case can be made that he was also more dominating in his time than Crosby. Crosby is a great player but I have yet to see any player dominate the game like Lemieux or Gretzky. They were on another level and Crosby is close but not there and I doubt he will ever get there.
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I completely agree with this. Gretzky and Lemieux were on a different level than Crosby.
And yes, Orr was also more dominant. IMO, Orr is above Lemieux, but it is those 3, regardless of how you want to rank them. Then, IMO, Howe and then Crosby.
Saying that if you dropped Crosby into the 80s he would dominate is just silly. Yes he is faster and in better shape, but that is a product of the times - in the 80s he too would have had no dietitions, no personal trainers, heavier equipment and skates, etc.
Yes, Crosby works incredibly hard, but for those of you who can't remember, or weren't there, so did Gretzky - and so did all the greatest players. The hard work you see from Crosby is exactly the one ingredient that separates the greats from the really talented like Kovalev and countless others.
To say that he would dominate a different era because of his hard work, simply misses the mark, IMO.