Nothing personal against Mario. Returning from Hodgkins (sp?) disease is no small feat, and worthy of the highest respect. I give Lemieux all the credit in the world. That guy is one of the all-time greats.
However, the complete dominance of Gretzky is so completely vast and untouchable, it is almost as if he were a professional player in a world of pop warner. So much better for so much longer than anyone ever has been or ever could hope to be. Wayne Gretzky is, quite simply, The Great One, and his mark on the game will not only never be touched, but no player will ever even approach the same league, much less get a whiff of the rarified air he lived in every game.
If all of Gretzky’s numbers were just in the top 3 of all time, you could still make an argument that he was the greatest ever for a variety of reasons. One poster mentioned the great impact he had on his teammates. A friend of mine appreciates his unselfish love of the sport in his efforts to bring the NHL to Los Angeles. But returning from cancer rates up there, to name just one of the possible contenders in that case. In this hypothetical, it would be a great barroom debate.
However, the numbers alone are so overwhelming as to crush any doubt. One poster discussed Jerry Rice’s % dominance over 2nd place in alltime records being in the 40s, over double the margin of other guys, who only owned their records by % in the 20s.
Let’s look at Gretzky and #2:
Goals
The Great One: 894
Second Place: 801 (Gordie Howe)
Margin: 11%
Assists
The Great One: 1963
Second Place: 1247 (Ron Francis; Gordie Howe had “only” 1049)
Margin: 57%
Points
The Great One: 2830
Second Place: 1869 (Mark Messier)
Margin: 51%
Third Place: 1850 (Gordie Howe)
You might notice, at this point, that Gretzky has more assists, by a decent margin, than any other player has points. Adding in the fact that he also holds the record, by a decent margin, for goals, it becomes surreal.
Some people might point out that Lemieux had higher per game averages. These are the same people who will tend to start sentences with “if he had played as long…” and “if he never got cancer”. That’s the whole point. Nobody needs a single if to make the case for Gretzky.
One of the many great aspects of Gretzky’s career was the sheer length of his greatness. (The general “you”) greatly devalue that by assuming Mario (or anybody else) could have maintained his averages for as many years. You may as well argue that Ricky Williams was clearly the greatest ever, because if you multiply his average season total by the number of seasons Emmitt Smith played, he crushes Emmitt. That may be true, but that’s an insult. There is a reason we hold endurance streaks (ala Brett Favre and Cal Ripken Jr.) in such high regard.