Lemieux vs. The Great One

[knucklesamwitch]

Originally Posted by clydefrog

yes he did and was a great player...

my top 5 are

1..gretzky/lucic (jk)
2. orr
2. howe
4. mario
5 bourque

does that really deserve the insults dude....cant you just make a point without being a dick...

and just so you know my very first bruins game i went to was when i was 13 and it was Marios first game ever...he scored on a breakway on his first shift

and yes the penguins did OWN the bruins in the early 90's but Mario had a great team around him...

stevens, jagr, coffey, barasso, francis, samuelson, mullen, errey, bourque,tocchett,trottier, loney,the other samuelsson..

Fair enough dude. Sorry about the insults.

[clydefrog]

Originally Posted by knucklesamwitch

Fair enough dude. Sorry about the insults.

no problem dude...

[Word]

Originally Posted by Rugged

No one embarrassed them better than Lemieux. He made goalies look like they were little kids most of the time.

If Mario was so good at embarrassing players and goalies alike, then why all the whining about the clutch and grab?

Can't have it both ways here. With his size, whining like he did...

Definitely a great player, just as Gretzky is. Again, Gretzky didn't whine about his personal stats, or people holding him. Few could get close enough TO hold him. And it wasn't because of his imposing size, not his strength, and definitely not his speed.

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by pens33

Gretzky came into this league and dominated, but he was never touched. Ever.

Mario had to deal with a lot of sh1t because he was so big.

To say he has an ounce of "quit" in him shows that you're ignorant, and an as*hole.

"Back problems first emerged in the late 1980s. Lemieux had a herniated disk removed in 1990, underwent further back surgery in 1993 and suffered from a rare bone infection. Also in 1993 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Returning to the Penguins on the day he completed radiation treatment, Lemieux won the NHL scoring title despite missing two months of the season. Chronic injuries persisted for the rest of his career. An irregular heartbeat, diagnosed in 2005, led to his final retirement."

Their is no arguing that Mario was a talent , any player that never worked out in the summer to stay in shape and never attended training camp just showed up to play the EX games and still did the things he did was just amazing .
Just think what a talent like that would have done if he ever took the time to report to training camp and started the season in top shape , yes he could have broke some of Gretzky's records , but he was just to "LAZY" to even try ....

[Wadubbin]

Originally Posted by fansince65

Their is no arguing that Mario was a talent , any player that never worked out in the summer to stay in shape and never attended training camp just showed up to play the EX games and still did the things he did was just amazing .
Just think what a talent like that would have done if he ever took the time to report to training camp and started the season in top shape , yes he could have broke some of Gretzky's records , but he was just to "LAZY" to even try ....

To say that Mario was lazy and never worked out is dumb.The dude couldn't even bend over to lace his skates up.That's how bad his back was hurt.Yet he went out and performed day in and day out at a world class level.Not to mention his battle with Hodgkins.He missed a lot of games due to all his injuries.I still don't think he would have caught Gretzky,but he would have come damn close.And I say that as a Pens homer.I would have loved to have seen him play at least 75% of the games he missed,but unfortunately he didn't...

[Machinehead2k5]

Originally Posted by Word

If Mario was so good at embarrassing players and goalies alike, then why all the whining about the clutch and grab?

He embarrassed them puck b/w skates go around them get the puck and get tackled/hooked/held onto once he got the puck back, that's what he complained about.

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by Wadubbin

To say that Mario was lazy and never worked out is dumb.The dude couldn't even bend over to lace his skates up.That's how bad his back was hurt.Yet he went out and performed day in and day out at a world class level.Not to mention his battle with Hodgkins.He missed a lot of games due to all his injuries.I still don't think he would have caught Gretzky,but he would have come damn close.And I say that as a Pens homer.I would have loved to have seen him play at least 75% of the games he missed,but unfortunately he didn't...

Why do you think his back got that way ??

Early in his career he was well known as a player that never worked out at anytime , even when he was in junior , he would just show up and play , the grind of not coming to camp in shape just caught up to him ..

His battle with Hodgkin's is well documented , nothing short of remarkable , if he had used that kind of determination to get in the best shape he could before the season started instead of just trying to play himself in shape he would not have had all the back problems he had .
How do I know about back problems ? I have had my back broke twice , once while playing the game !!!!!!

[StealinUrCar06]

It should be Mike Bossy vs "The Great One"

[clydefrog]

Originally Posted by StealinUrCar06

It should be Mike Bossy vs "The Great One"

realy? Mike Bossy no doubt was one one the greatest GOALSCORERS of all time, but Im not sure if was a a complete player as Mario or Gretzky..

You should start a thread "best pure scorers of all time"..he would probably get my vote for number 2 at least..

[clydefrog]

In all honesty the only reason Gretzky wins over Mario here is Mario had size...most often than not he was as big or bigger thatm most defenceman of his era..

I looking it up and the average d-man in the 1980 was...6' 205lbs...

it grew slightly in the 90's to 6'1 215lbs...

Mario was 6'4'' 230lbs...and he used his size to protect the puck and with his skill set that made him very dangerous...

Gretzky was 168lbs soaking wet so he to rely on speed and skill...

but then again its hard to knock Mario for using his size...

another surprising this is Idont think these guys ever played each other in the playoffs...

Me thinks that this one is tooo close to call..

[flex_buff_chest]

Statistically speaking, Gretzky has better numbers. That is a fact. All the rest is conjecture.

Gretzky also has more cups, trophies and records.

If Lemieux would have been able to play longer and more consistently maybe he is the best player ever, but he didn't. Thats life.

[Killah_punk]

Originally Posted by flex_buff_chest

Statistically speaking, Gretzky has better numbers. That is a fact. All the rest is conjecture.

Gretzky also has more cups, trophies and records.

If Lemieux would have been able to play longer and more consistently maybe he is the best player ever, but he didn't. Thats life.

So since Gretzky has the greatest stats does that mean hes better then Bobby Orr?

[flex_buff_chest]

Originally Posted by Killah_punk

So since Gretzky has the greatest stats does that mean hes better then Bobby Orr?

Statistically speaking, in most ways, yes.

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by StealinUrCar06

It should be Mike Bossy vs "The Great One"

No contest here , Mike Bossy scored 50 goals or more in 9 consective seasons , even the Great One could not match that , dont beleive me , look it up !!!!!

[flex_buff_chest]

Originally Posted by fansince65

No contest here , Mike Bossy scored 50 goals or more in 9 consective seasons , even the Great One could not match that , dont beleive me , look it up !!!!!

8 seasons, in a row with 50 goals or more is pretty damn good......I guess Smashing Howe's record in just over 10 years will have to suffice.