I’m convinced that if Orr never had the knee injury, it would have been his scoring record instead of Howe’s that Gretzky would have eventually passed.
Howe, Gretzky and Orr are all great beyond measure for different reasons.
Howe is great because of his scoring, grit, and old-school snarl in playing the game and for being the League’s best for many decades.
Gretzky is the greatest single Offense-skilled player the League has ever seen.
And Orr could it all – every facet of the Game. Great offense skills, superb defender, inspirational player.
When people talk about who was the greatest NHL player of all time... there can be no single answer. Each of these guys had a different skill set and were the best at what their skill set was.
And of course, there have been other really great players in the Game. But it’s tough for anybody to beat any of these three guys.
Not quite at the same level... but B’hawk fans were treated with guys like The Golden Jet and Stan Mikita. Mikita was a stickhandling master. And we know about Bobby’s slap and wrist shots.
The NHL Game today is also on a different level. The guys are bigger and faster. And they come in to the League with a greater polish and poise than guys did before.
