Annoyance Might Make Me..

[bills09]

I couldn't agree more,

IMO Mario is the best player to ever play hockey. No one could dominate a game like he could. Big, strong, soft hands, and amazing vision.

Absolutely. The thing people forget about Mario was that he was one of the best defensive centres as well. The guy could literally do it all. I'd be willing to bet, if Mario was in his prime in this league he'd be the best BBKLer lol... he hit, PKed, obviously PP & incredible ES, elite FOWs, and huge +/-. Mario, imho was the greatest ever too. He could do anything.

Ill take a healthy in his prime Eric Lindros for bbkl.

[Scott]

I couldn't agree more,

IMO Mario is the best player to ever play hockey. No one could dominate a game like he could. Big, strong, soft hands, and amazing vision.

Absolutely. The thing people forget about Mario was that he was one of the best defensive centres as well. The guy could literally do it all. I'd be willing to bet, if Mario was in his prime in this league he'd be the best BBKLer lol... he hit, PKed, obviously PP & incredible ES, elite FOWs, and huge +/-. Mario, imho was the greatest ever too. He could do anything.

Ill take a healthy in his prime Eric Lindros for bbkl.

Ya, Lindros was a beast, no doubt. I'd take Mario's 30-60 more points though per season. Mario hit a lot too. I don't think Lindros PKed much either, Mario was a top PKer

[Robin Hood]

Mats Sundin would've been a pretty sick BBKLer even post lockout. 70+ points, 900+ FOW, 100 Hits, 150 SHTOI. 250 SOG.

[shooker]

to forget about gretz pking is nuts. They also made "the Wayne Gretzky" rule to limit the amount of 4 on 4 play to limit try to even out the playing field. Imo gretz is bar none the best player ever followed closely by bobby Orr. Imo to be the best player ever you truely have to change the game, both gretz and Orr did just that and although Mario has size and strength on gretz combined with far above elite level skill, he did not change the game. Just my opinion of course.


Note there are exceptions to the rule as i believe Roy changed the game and i believe Marty is better. Also i think Eric lindros changed the game but i dont put him close to top ten and i believe he changed the game in a negative way. I think he was the major reason for the huge desire for size in the 90s where the NHL lost focus on skating and skill creating the most boring era in hockey lol. that's a huge compliment to the big E and his dominance, just sucked as a hockey fan. Again just my opinion and likely one that will come with some backlash.

[Scott]

Mario is a huge part of the clutch and grab era.. Lindros too. You couldn't stop those guys otherwise so I guess they did change the game? The other team's defensive strategy anyhow lol

[Shep]

to forget about gretz pking is nuts. They also made "the Wayne Gretzky" rule to limit the amount of 4 on 4 play to limit try to even out the playing field. Imo gretz is bar none the best player ever followed closely by bobby Orr. Imo to be the best player ever you truely have to change the game, both gretz and Orr did just that and although Mario has size and strength on gretz combined with far above elite level skill, he did not change the game. Just my opinion of course.


Note there are exceptions to the rule as i believe Roy changed the game and i believe Marty is better. Also i think Eric lindros changed the game but i dont put him close to top ten and i believe he changed the game in a negative way. I think he was the major reason for the huge desire for size in the 90s where the NHL lost focus on skating and skill creating the most boring era in hockey lol. that's a huge compliment to the big E and his dominance, just sucked as a hockey fan. Again just my opinion and likely one that will come with some backlash.

This guy is good.

[Nick]

Hmmm, I do not believe the 90's was the worse era of hockey, the pre-wayne decade was kinda a sad time in the NHL as well, whereas I believe popularity peaked during the early 90's.


But I would agree with Shook (& Shep), in terms of cross-generational greats the only fair measure IMO is who changed the game, and sheer cap from the rest of the generation:
-------------
Wayne Gretzky
Bobby Orr
Patrick Roy
--------------

Mario was unreal no doubt. I personally believe him and Big E were the exception to the rule in terms of the clutch and grab game, their size allowed them to play without concerns for their own bodies, alas.

[Scott]

PPG between Mario & Wayne are ridiculously close.. and Wayne played more hockey in the wide open era then Mario. The dead puck era was designed to stop guys like Mario and Lindros from just domnating teams all game long because, well, that's what those guys did.

There's no doubt Wayne was fucking incredible but I just think overall, Mario was the better player. He was great in all zones, tough, huge, and more dominant. Wayne was probably better then Mario offensively but even that's arguable.

Bobby Orr, tough call. He could take over a game like nobody's busy. He definitely changed the offensive defenseman position forever. But Lemieux/Gretzky good? IMHO, no, not that good.

[kimmer]

be interesting to actually see who some of the most fierce H2H'er would be in the 90's and early 2000's before fantasy sports really took off

[Scott]

be interesting to actually see who some of the most fierce H2H'er would be in the 90's and early 2000's before fantasy sports really took off

Agreed.. but they didn't really track a lot of the stats that they do today so I doubt we'd never really know. We could speculate of course though.

[shooker]

Wendle Clark would have been crazily valued in BBKL cause he would have been an H2H superstar and on the leafs lol. To name a few others Dino, Wam Bam Cam and as the most valued 4th liner, Dave Semenko. Also a heart pick one of my god parents and one of my Dad's best friends Rick Lapointe, H2H beast lol. My fave rick comment, "I knew how to stop gretzky, you had to hit him. Unfortunately no one was ever able to hit him."

BTW you comment on the wayne era but you dont factor in all the years wayne played when his career was nearing the end. Marios Career PPG reflects his prime more so that waynes. Oh the age old arguements that will never be resolved eh, I love em. I just say thank god all the players we talk about are Canadian, after all this is supose to be our game lol.

[Robin Hood]

PPG between Mario & Wayne are ridiculously close.. and Wayne played more hockey in the wide open era then Mario. The dead puck era was designed to stop guys like Mario and Lindros from just domnating teams all game long because, well, that's what those guys did.

There's no doubt Wayne was fucking incredible but I just think overall, Mario was the better player. He was great in all zones, tough, huge, and more dominant. Wayne was probably better then Mario offensively but even that's arguable.

This. Especially the underlined part. It's just my opinion though.

I think the way to evaluate players though should not be cross-generational. I.E. Comparing Orr to Lemieux/Gretzky makes no sense. Different era, different positions, different type of hockey, different equipment, different number of teams etc etc. Gretzky vs Lemieux is a debate that will never really be solved either/doesn't have a right answer.

[cliff11]

only if Lindros could skate with his head up