Mario Lemieux
Sidney Crosby
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Mario Lemieux leads 4 of 5 categories. Our all-time ranking places Mario Lemieux at #3 and Sidney Crosby at #5.
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The case for Mario Lemieux
At six-foot-four with impossible hands, Mario Lemieux may be the most talented player who ever lived, a scorer who could deke through an entire team or overpower it. Le Magnifique won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and captured the Art Ross six times, all while battling adversity that would have ended most careers: chronic back injuries, and a 1993 diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma. He returned from his final radiation treatment to play that same night, then won the scoring title. His 1.88 points per game is the highest of any player with a substantial career, trailing only Gretzky. In 1988-89 he scored 199 points; in one 1988 game he tallied goals five different ways, at even strength, on the power play, shorthanded, on a penalty shot and into an empty net. He retired in 1997, returned in 2000 as a player-owner having literally saved the franchise from bankruptcy, and played until 2006. Had health permitted a full career, the debate for number one might look very different.
The case for Sidney Crosby
The most complete player of his generation, Sidney Crosby has carried the Pittsburgh Penguins and Canadian hockey for two decades. Drafted first overall in 2005 amid impossible hype as The Next One, he delivered: three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016, 2017), two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, two Hart Trophies, and the 2010 Olympic gold medal, which he clinched with the Golden Goal in overtime against the United States, the most famous goal in Canadian hockey since 1972. Through the 2024-25 season he has amassed more than 1,650 points and over 600 goals, and remains a point-per-game player deep into his thirties. Crosby's genius is his two-way command and his puck protection down low, where his low centre of gravity and strength make him nearly impossible to dislodge. A relentless competitor and a model captain, he elevated the Penguins into a modern dynasty and stands as the defining North American star of the post-lockout era, bridging the game's past and present.