Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are often described as the two best hockey players in history. Their fellow Hall of Famer Ray Bourque is frequently asked who he thinks was the better player, and he always gives the same answer. Wayne Gretzky.
No one holds as many NHL records as Wayne Gretzky, although his seemingly impossible goal record of 894 was broken in 2025 by Alexander Ovechkin.
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Wayne Gretzky NHL records
Wayne Gretzky holds the record for most NHL points, with over 900 more points than the number two player on the list, Jaromir Jagr. Had Gretzky only recorded assists and no goals, he would still be the all-time leading scorer in NHL history. However, when people discuss the greatest hockey player ever, Mario Lemieux must also be considered. Although he did not score as many total points, his points-per-game average of 1.88 was very close to Gretzky’s 1.92. Lemieux’s career was shortened by several seasons due to cancer and other injuries. Had he stayed healthy, no one knows what numbers he might have produced.
Ray Bourque picks his favorite
Another contemporary superstar and Hall of Famer, Ray Bourque, is also considered a true legend of the game. When he was a guest on the Dropping the Gloves podcast in 2021, he revealed who he believes was the better player.
“I’m always asked, ‘Who’s the best player you’ve played against?’ And I say, when Mario’s switch was on, he was probably the best player. But Mario was kind of off and on. Gretzky, his switch was always on. This guy wanted to put up numbers every single night. Every time he was on the ice, he was making something happen. And it’s not that he’s going to beat you one-on-one. But he can,” Ray Bourque said on the podcast, and continued:
“The awareness he has around his head. How he creates time and space for people to get into the open areas, and how he finds people. We joke—you know, we work on a power play or the penalty kill in practice. And somebody makes a bad pass. The coach or somebody will say, ‘Hey, you’re not Gretzky—you can’t make that pass.’ Well, he did,” Bourque said on the podcast.
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