Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
Mario Lemieux is the greatest ever. Discuss.
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There is no discussion to be had. It is irrefutable!
As a side note, it is always difficult to compare players in the same era, much less different eras. There are always so many arguments both ways - equipment, goalies, pads, training, science, better talent today, etc., etc..
I like to think of it this way - how did player X stack up alongside his peers? Gretzky was so much better than everyone else, at least until Lemieux came along. So you have that argument that stands up fairly well.
But then you go and see Lindros. Didn't have that long of a career, and wasn't always the best in the league when he was there. However, if you watch him play, you just 'know' he was generational, as much as I disliked him.
What about the most underrated (at least when talking about the greatest of all time) - Jagr? He is unquestionably generational to me. How does he compare? He was (and continues to be in Czechia) incredibly resilient. Where does he go? Top 5? Top 10? Or top 2, if you make the argument that it is all about the points (and he played through different eras that made it even more impressive, and took a few years off in his career to play in a different league too).
It usually comes down to who you liked the most, or who you watched the most, or whatever. It happens in most sports leagues too. Would Pele and Maradona look as good playing against Messi and Ronaldo? Absolutely not, because training and nutrition is leap years better. But... then again, you would assume that both Pele and Maradona would have benefited from the better training too, so it evens up!
Lemieux was the best player in the history of the game (to me), Jagr was top 5 of all time (to me), and Gretzky was the 2nd best player to ever play the game. McDavid has a shot at being the best player of all time because he is currently still playing and should have a long career ahead of him, and who knows how many cups and how much more success he has after he leaves Edmonton?
What I know is that if Markstrom played in any era, he would give his teams the best chance to win the cup, and this is why New Jersey should pay a very high price for him ASAP!