Wednesday, February 2, 2011 /
By Andrew Chong, editor /
The Crosby-point-streak and the HBO special on the Pens seems to have fostered even more buzz in the ‘who’s better’ debate: Crosby or Wayne Gretzky.
So, I humbly offer my argument in favour of the Great One, with a few disclaimers, of course.
I’m not saying Gretzky is way better. But with the information available at this point in Sid’s career, it is most logical to suggest Gretzky is at least slightly superior.
And I’m not saying a time-warped Gretzky could necessarily outplay the powerful, tree-trunk-legged Crosby in today’s bigger, stronger game.
But in terms of relative greatness and the ability to rise above your peers (arguably the most fair way to compare athletes from different eras), the Great One has the edge—and there are strong numbers and facts to support the case.
First, some defence for Crosby:
• Gretzky’s insane point production through the ‘80s came during an era where the average total goals per game was about 7.75, compared to the 5.75 goals per game average of the post-lockout era (about a 26 per cent differential).
• Though Crosby has had a few high-end teammates through the years, he has never had the scoring support Gretzky had nor has he had a consistent star linemate like Gretzky had in Hall of Famer, Jari Kurri.
• Most would probably agree goaltenders and defensive strategy are much more refined in Crosby’s era.
• Gretzky was about half-a-year older when he played his first NHL season, and had a year of WHA pro under his belt, before that.
Now, some points to support why No. 99 is the greatest of all-time:
• With about the same number of games played through five full seasons, Gretzky had 300-plus more points (about 38 per cent more production than Crosby).
• In an amazing display of relative greatness, through those first five seasons, Gretzky won the Art Ross every year (plus two more consecutively, after that). He smashed the second place finishers by 29, 65, 72, 79, and 73 points. In contrast, Crosby won the Art Ross once, and by just six points.
• Gretzky has a plethora of unbelievable records including winning the Art Ross on assists alone (163 in ‘85/86), 50 goals in 39 games, and 92 goals in a season. If I had a farm, I would bet it on the fact that these records will never be broken, regardless of any kind of future upswing in goal-scoring trends. For example, last year, the top goal-scorers (Sid and Stamkos) had 51 goals and the assist leader had 83.
• The strength training and conditioning of an ‘80s Gretzky would probably not compare to most of today’s NHLers. But it is important to remember that Gretzky’s off-season conditioning and off-ice work paved the way for hockey players to take training to a new level. If Gretzky did it, so should they. He was ahead of his time on so many levels.
• Gretzky played in an era where goalies were smaller and defensive strategy was worse; but there was also drastically more clutching & grabbing (not to mention, wooden sticks).
• Though Gretzky had an incredible supporting cast during his Oiler years, he still led the team in scoring by an average of 75 points per season and was never challenged for the team lead. Makes you wonder how much credit Gretzky gets for helping his star teammates as opposed to the star teammates often getting credit for helping Gretzky? In contrast, Crosby has a teammate with an equal number of Art Ross Trophy’s (Evgeni Malkin has one).
Even with all that said in favour of Gretzky, it would be most entertaining to be proven wrong by Crosby, over the coming years. But in order to do it, his superstardom will have to rise to yet another level. |
Crosby Is Darn Good; But Gretzky Is The Greatest
