Why Mario Lemieux is Better Than Wayne Gretzky Who do you think is better: Gretzky or Lemieux? Arguably, you could say Wayne Gretzky was the number one player ever. Statistically, Gretzky is the greatest player in the NHL by scoring 2857 points. However, Lemieux has faced more challenges and still manages to be 8th in all time points. People may say that Gretzky is clearly a better player purely due to stats. As stats do tell some info about a hockey player, they do not tell you everything about them. You need to be able to take stats and find patterns and trends about them. Also, you need to consider what team they played for and when they played which is an important factor. Furthermore, injuries are something players need to
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Through analyzing them, you can find patterns that define how a player performs. We can look at how and when they score goals. We can look at how age affects their production. We can also analyze a player's point-per-game average and how it changes. From Gretzky’s stats, the trade that moves him from being an Edmonton Oiler to the LA Kings. His point per game average was 2.3985 points per game. However, after the trade, his point per game average drops to 1.3595. Simply put, Gretzky is not as dominant without a good team playing with him. What if the Edmonton Oiler team did not have players like Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and etc.? What do you think Gretzky’s point-per-game average would have been? Lemieux did not have reliable teammates when he first started, yet had 100+ point seasons (Hockeydb). The years he got injured, he was still on pace for 100+ points (Hockeydb). Lemieux stayed consistent with a good and bad team, unlike Gretzky. Lemieux's greatest achievement would be the game when he scored 5 goals in 5 different ways. On December 31, 1988, “Lemieux netted an even strength goal, scored on the power play, scored shorthanded, converted on a penalty shot, and added an empty-netter and ended up with 8 points that night.” (Bleacherreport). Therefore, this proves that Lemieux is a magnificent goal scorer. Lemieux also has higher goals per game average at 0.754 which is higher than Gretzky’s 0.601 average (Quanthockey). Lemieux also had more power play goals with 236 than Gretzky’s 204 while Lemieux played fewer games. (QuantHockey). This proves Lemieux was a better goal scorer than Gretzky. Finally, hockey players that can continue to the score, are the most memorable ones. They were both good players reaching retirement. Lemieux was just better than Gretzky when he got older. Lemieux's last 5 seasons playing in the NHL, he had 229 points in 170 games while Gretzky had 351
Through analyzing them, you can find patterns that define how a player performs. We can look at how and when they score goals. We can look at how age affects their production. We can also analyze a player's point-per-game average and how it changes. From Gretzky’s stats, the trade that moves him from being an Edmonton Oiler to the LA Kings. His point per game average was 2.3985 points per game. However, after the trade, his point per game average drops to 1.3595. Simply put, Gretzky is not as dominant without a good team playing with him. What if the Edmonton Oiler team did not have players like Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and etc.? What do you think Gretzky’s point-per-game average would have been? Lemieux did not have reliable teammates when he first started, yet had 100+ point seasons (Hockeydb). The years he got injured, he was still on pace for 100+ points (Hockeydb). Lemieux stayed consistent with a good and bad team, unlike Gretzky. Lemieux's greatest achievement would be the game when he scored 5 goals in 5 different ways. On December 31, 1988, “Lemieux netted an even strength goal, scored on the power play, scored shorthanded, converted on a penalty shot, and added an empty-netter and ended up with 8 points that night.” (Bleacherreport). Therefore, this proves that Lemieux is a magnificent goal scorer. Lemieux also has higher goals per game average at 0.754 which is higher than Gretzky’s 0.601 average (Quanthockey). Lemieux also had more power play goals with 236 than Gretzky’s 204 while Lemieux played fewer games. (QuantHockey). This proves Lemieux was a better goal scorer than Gretzky. Finally, hockey players that can continue to the score, are the most memorable ones. They were both good players reaching retirement. Lemieux was just better than Gretzky when he got older. Lemieux's last 5 seasons playing in the NHL, he had 229 points in 170 games while Gretzky had 351