Bobby Orr
Mark Messier
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Dead even across the measured categories. Our all-time ranking places Bobby Orr at #2 and Mark Messier at #12.
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The case for Bobby Orr
Bobby Orr redefined what a defenceman could be, and many who saw both call him the most purely dominant player ever. Before Orr, blueliners defended; he attacked, rushing the puck end to end and quarterbacking the offence with unprecedented speed and vision. He remains the only defenceman to win the Art Ross as scoring champion, doing it twice, and his plus-124 in 1970-71 is a record that will never fall. Orr won eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the league's best defenceman, three straight Hart Trophies as MVP, and two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins, the first sealed by his airborne, flying goal in overtime of the 1970 Final, hockey's most famous photograph. Chronic knee injuries wrecked his body and forced retirement at 30 after just 12 seasons, leaving fans to wonder what fuller health might have yielded. Even truncated, his peak, a stretch of the early 1970s when he led the entire league in scoring from the back end, stands as arguably the highest any player has reached.
The case for Mark Messier
The Messiah is remembered as hockey's ultimate leader, the only man to captain two different franchises to the Stanley Cup. Mark Messier won five Cups alongside Gretzky with the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s, then delivered the signature moment of his career in 1994, guaranteeing a win and scoring a hat trick in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final to drag the New York Rangers toward their first championship in 54 years. He retired with 1,887 points, second only to Gretzky on the all-time list at the time, and 694 goals, won two Hart Trophies, and played 25 punishing seasons. Messier combined a power forward's ferocity with a scorer's hands and an intimidating will that teammates and opponents alike describe in almost mythic terms. Where Gretzky was serene artistry, Messier was force and fire, the emotional engine of every team he played for. His blend of production, longevity and championship leadership secures his place among the immortals.