playoffs???? PLAYOFFS!?!

Even if you discount Gretzky, the Rangers had Messier, ostensibly greater than Marty, and the Bruins had Bobby Orr.

To call someone the greatest ever, even if only regionally, is to invite difficult comparisons between positions and eras that simply cannot be compared.  Let's just agree that Marty is a great goaltender, probably the most consistent game in and game out guy I have ever seen.

Shit, I think my house is on fire... ahhh, it's just my oven letting me know that my pizza is burning.

T

Even if you discount Gretzky, the Rangers had Messier, ostensibly greater than Marty, and the Bruins had Bobby Orr.

To call someone the greatest ever, even if only regionally, is to invite difficult comparisons between positions and eras that simply cannot be compared.  Let's just agree that Marty is a great goaltender, probably the most consistent game in and game out guy I have ever seen.

[Censored], I think my house is on fire... ahhh, it's just my oven letting me know that my pizza is burning.

T

That's why I added the caveat that I was talking NY/NJ/Philly. I don't consider Boston or Pittsburgh part of the area. Messier had one great year here and came with 5 cups from Edmonton already. No doubt '94 was a hell of a year, but it also took the GM mortgaging the next 15 years for play-off run trades that year.

For all time greats anywhere, Orr is number 2 for me.

For year in year out dominant play and being a leader all the time in both the playoffs and regular season, Marty is the best around here.

PS That burning smell is a man's way of knowing when it's done.

In a debate of greatest ever, it is Gretzky. Hands down its him becuase not only did he demolish every record, he opened up the entire US south to hockey in places like Florida, Phoenix, Tampa, and Dallas.

My point was to players whose careers were spent playing in this area. Gretzky as a Ranger doesn't count simply because he only was here a short while and clearly way past his prime. For the guys who played their whole or at least the majority of their careers in this region, Brodeur has them all beat.

i have to agree that gretzky is facxe of hockey and the best player to ever lace skates up, but i would have loved to see what a healthy mario lemieux could have done.