NHL’s Greatest of All Time: Gretzky, Mario, Orr, Gordie and ???

There was Twitter chatter overnight about the five greatest hockey players of all time.

There seemed to be a consensus about the top four — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. Of the four, Howe (Mr. Hockey) seemed to be one name some would take off the list.

There was not a consensus about the fifth.

The universally accepted top-4 greatest players of all time:

— Wayne Gretzky
— Mario Lemieux
— Bobby Orr
— Gordie Howe

Who's the last guy who rounds out the top-5? pic.twitter.com/GGGHqukCIj

— Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) August 12, 2023

Suggestions ranged from Patrick Roy (“goalies are overlooked,” someone said), Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Lidstrom. A good case was made for Mark Messier, too, along with Phil Esposito and Jean Beliveau.

No Flyers were mentioned, although Jaromir Jagr was discussed. Jagr did play 73 games in 2011-12 for Philadelphia. That’s 73 out of 1,733 NHL games. He scored 19 of his 766 NHL goals for the Flyers.

A non-scientific read of the responses had Crosby the favorite for the fifth spot. Crosby fans cited him winning three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals, a World Juniors title and a World Championships title.

Lidstrom won a World Juniors title, a World Championships title, an Olympic gold medal and four Stanley Cups. He also won the Norris Trophy seven times, one less than Orr.

Give me Lidstrom for that fifth spot. The responses and arguments for each player are fun to read.

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