Wayne Gretzky
Mark Messier
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Wayne Gretzky leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Wayne Gretzky at #1 and Mark Messier at #12.
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The case for Wayne Gretzky
No athlete has dominated a major sport the way The Great One dominated hockey. Gretzky holds more than 60 NHL records, many likely permanent: 2,857 career points, 894 goals and an untouchable 1,963 assists, a total that alone would still lead the all-time scoring list without a single goal. He scored 92 goals in 1981-82 and a staggering 215 points in 1985-86, and posted a 51-game point streak that no one has approached. He won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, nine Hart Trophies as MVP (eight of them consecutive), and ten Art Ross Trophies as scoring champion. His 1988 trade to Los Angeles is often credited with transforming hockey into a genuinely national sport in the United States. Not the fastest skater or the hardest shooter, Gretzky saw the ice a beat ahead of everyone, operating from behind the net, his office, to orchestrate the most prolific offence the sport has known. He is the definitive GOAT, and the gap to second place is the widest in hockey.
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.