Mario vs Wayne, round????
With the recent second retirement of Mario “Le Magnifique”, there has been another flow of Mario vs Wayne, “who is the best?” arguments. A lot of different aspects can be brought up when arguing such a long lasting debate but a lot are not even mentionned.
In my own opinion, Wayne Gretzky was THE best player to play hockey. Mario was THE best player, one on one. As I have mentionned before, a lot of arguments arise within this debate, but for the Mario supporters it is always the same ones that come back, like:
-IF Mario stayed healthy he WOULD HAVE scored more points than Gretzky.
and
-IF Mario had the players to play with he WOULD HAVE beaten Gretzky’s records.
Anyone see a pattern here? In these same old two arguments for those who claim Mario is the best of all time? The fact of the matter is, you cannot elect a player as the best of all time based on IFs and WOULD HAVES and MAYBES. The fact of the matter is that Wayne Gretzky did play with great players and Mario did get injured. Here are some more facts:
-Mario Lemieux was often injured and had Hodkins disease. Yes. BUT, does anyone know that Lemieux smoked and never used to work out? Also his diet was considered the poorest on the team.
-Mario Lemieux didn’t play with the quality of players Gretzky had. True. BUT, can anyone really blame Gretzky for this? Is it fair to not name him greatest of all time just because everyone was asleep on draft day when the Oilers selected all thos hall of famers? Furthermore, when Lemieux won his two cups, we cannot really say that he was playing with garbage players. Guys like Larry Murphy, Joey Mullen, Mark Recchi, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson, Bryan Trottier and Tom Barasso in nets.
HOWEVER, if you gambled everything you own on a breakaway shot, you’d be stupid to take Wayne over Mario who was simply the best for undressing goalies. Mario had the best hands in history but Wayne’s uncanny hockey sense gives him my vote as best of all time. His 61 NHL records will be hard to reach, for a long time.
My top 10 in order:
1. Wayne Gretzky (defied logic)
2. Mario Lemieux (made elite defensemen look silly)
3. Bobby Orr (set the standard for today’s hockey)
4. Patrick Roy (fierce competitor, the best netminder in history)
5. Gordie Howe (for his love of the game)
6. Mike Bossy (best “pure” goal scorer)
7. Mark Messier (best leader in sports)
8. Jean Beliveau (classiest of all legends)
9. Maurice Richard (rekindled hockey interest)
10. Guy Lafleur (Local hero, 2nd best goal scorer after Bossy)