Mario Lemieux Retires

[cooljayhu]

Today is the end of an era. The last true hockey great has called it a career. With his retirement and the fact that players such as Pat Roy, Mark Messier, and the Great One have all retired in the past few years and also that players like Steve Yzerman and others will soon follow suit, means that more or less all of the hockey legends, so to speak, are gone. Any thoughts?

Also where do you rank Mario in the all-time players list. Here is mine:

1. Gretzky
2. Orr, Orr, Bobby Orr (if you havent seen Mighty Ducks 2 this may sound stupid but Woo, Woo, Kenny Woo)
3. Mario
4. Howe
5. Messier I guess not sure who to put here
Others: Guy Lafluer, Patty Roy, Jean Beliveau, and Yzerman

[derrickjohnson]

always sad to see a great player retire, though i dont pay attention to Hockey Sportscenter showed some highlights and damn he was good

[bdes]

That stinks.... I wonder if hes gonna still be Sydney Crosbys "mentor"?

[JackTheRipper]

cooljayhu said:

Today is the end of an era. The last true hockey great has called it a career. With his retirement and the fact that players such as Pat Roy, Mark Messier, and the Great One have all retired in the past few years and also that players like Steve Yzerman and others will soon follow suit, means that more or less all of the hockey legends, so to speak, are gone. Any thoughts?

Also where do you rank Mario in the all-time players list. Here is mine:

1. Gretzky
2. Orr, Orr, Bobby Orr (if you havent seen Mighty Ducks 2 this may sound stupid but Woo, Woo, Kenny Woo)
3. Mario
4. Howe
5. Messier I guess not sure who to put here
Others: Guy Lafluer, Patty Roy, Jean Beliveau, and Yzerman

I think that's a false statement to say he's the last legend. Stevie-Y, sure, but I also think Martin Brodeur is a legend in his own right because he's been dominant for 99% of his career and is on pace to break every single one of Patrick Roy's records, not to mention Terry Sawchuk's shutout record.

I also think Joe Sakic and possibly even Jagr are teetering on the legend line. A few years from now we may be able to toss Forsberg's name into the hat as well as a few others. But right now I'd say there's one TRUE legend (Yzerman) and three legends in the making (Sakic, Jagr, Brodeur).

Overall, I'd say Super Mario is 4th behind Gretzky, Orr and Howe. I almost considered putting either Plante or Roy ahead of him but the man made a huge impact from the moment he stepped on the ice. He's a legend and while I never liked him, I always respected his desire and contributions to the game.

[cooljayhu]

I dont think Jagr or Forsberg can ever be considered legends at least to me. Sure they put up good stats, but seriously they arent even close to being legends. You arent a legend for putting up stats your a legend for winning, leading, and your overall contribution to the game. Are they superstars? Absolutely. Are they in that upper echelion of players like Gretzky and Lemieux. Definitely not.

[JackTheRipper]

cooljayhu said:

I dont think Jagr or Forsberg can ever be considered legends at least to me. Sure they put up good stats, but seriously they arent even close to being legends. You arent a legend for putting up stats your a legend for winning, leading, and your overall contribution to the game. Are they superstars? Absolutely. Are they in that upper echelion of players like Gretzky and Lemieux. Definitely not.

Both have won a pair of Stanley Cups in their career. Both are point-a-gamers in the playoffs (the most important stat, if you ask me). Forsberg has been dominant both in the regular season and the playoffs. He plays hurt (his friggin spleen exploded during game 7 in 2001 against the Kings and he still helped them to victory) and he's succeeding even without the star-power that the Avs have. Meanwhile, Jagr is leading a very untalented (when you really look at their roster, who do they have?) Rangers team to some success this season. I didn't say they are legends quite yet, but judged on what they've done and what they're capable of doing, i'd say both have the ability to walk away from the game as legends.

Also, when Gretzky hung up his skates, Forsberg and Jagr were among a handful of players to carry the torch into the new millenium and be embassadors for the game.

[McGahee]

My list is Gretzky or Howe, Orr, Mario, and then Phil Esposito.

I don't think Jagr is there yet. He's still got a few years, but if he can have a couple more of these seasons he's having now, he most definitely will be. His points per game are the highest active among the top active players in the league.

Stevie Y= Legend. No denying it. Just phenomenal

Forsberg- I don't think so yet.

[JackTheRipper]

mcgahee26 said:

My list is Gretzky or Howe, Orr, Mario, and then Phil Esposito.

I don't think Jagr is there yet. He's still got a few years, but if he can have a couple more of these seasons he's having now, he most definitely will be. His points per game are the highest active among the top active players in the league.

Stevie Y= Legend. No denying it. Just phenomenal

Forsberg- I don't think so yet.

You have Espo awfully high on that list. One guy who I think should be any top 25 who I don't know if anyone here thought of is Ken Dryden. In my opinion, he's one of the top 5 goaltenders ever. Great goalie, dominant career.

[McGahee]

Yeah I know Espo is high, but I don't have a true #5. I was thinking maybe Ron Francis. And yeah Dryden was great...