Originally Posted by Mutt

Bobby Hull was a force and a unique player - rated the best player in hockey during the mid 60's until Orr came along.

the mantle of best player on the planet timeline goes like this - Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and now the debate is on between Ovechkin and Crosby and I agree with Camokat that Ovechkin is better - but they have a good 10-15 years ahead to decide that. Maybe another phenom will emerge during their time.

there were Soviet players who played outside the NHL during the 60's and 70's that were right up there with Hull and Lafleur - Anatoly Firsov and Kharlamov

there are old timers who still say Gordie Howe is the greatest - played until he was 51 and was the toughest strongest son of a bitch while still about the best offensive player in hockey.

I think it's Orr vs Gretzky and I think Orr was the best. Gretzky did it all with smarts and with a great supporting cast and a goon protecting him at all times. Nobody protected Orr. If you took a person to a hockey game who had never seen one before - and you told him Gretzky was the greatest he'd say 'That guy? 99? He skates kinda funny. I didn't see him do that much." Then you'd go to the scoring summary and see Gretzky had 2 goals and 3 assists.