When Eric Lindros chose Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier over Wayne Gretzky as the GOAT

Mario Lemieux is highly rated, but is he considered the greatest of all time? Hockey is different in comparison to a lot of sports regarding one thing: The GOAT debate. Basketball players like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant are frequently included in discussions about the GOAT.

Soccer has stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and football has Jerry Rice and Tom Brady.

However, there isn't much of a discussion in hockey very often. The greatest player in history, Wayne Gretzky, is so regarded that he has earned the moniker "The Great One." It's also difficult to dispute it based just on the scores, statistics, and honorary awards.

One individual, Eric Lindros, however, disagrees.. Although his playing career was cut short by injury, Lindros is still regarded as one of the greatest players in history.

A few months back on the "Rodcast", Lindros mentioned his own two GOATs. He didn't even mention Wayne Gretzky. He named Mark Messier and Mario Lemieux.

In Lindros' eyes, Messier was fantastic in many different areas. The rough and tumble side of that era, and the intensity, fearlessness, and competitiveness, was something Lindros admired.

For Lindros, Lemieux was the undisputed greatest of all time. Lindros played for Philadelphia and had seen him up close as the latter played for Pittsburgh. For the former player, there was nothing like Mario.

”It was absolutely… it was a different scenario with him and it was just crazy. He was the most gifted player I… I mean, sometimes I didn’t even think he was trying. He was smooth, he had the reach, he could skate. Gah. Mario was pretty special.”

Mario Lemieux was only second to Gretzky in his accomplishments

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux had exceptional physical talent. Additionally, he was one of the league's greatest goal-scorers in league history. The only other players to score 69 goals four times each are him and Wayne Gretzky.

Mario Lemieux also has 199 points, which ranks seventh most in a single season. Four of the top 13 single-season point totals are held by players with the most talent. The other nine were all taken by Gretzky.

With 1,723 points, three Hart Trophies, two Stanley Cups, and nine All-Star selections to his name, Lemieux concluded his playing career. Lemieux, though, continues to be one of the biggest "what-ifs" in sports history. He was not fully in form due to cancer.

Despite all of that, Lemieux will always have one of the greatest careers ever seen in the NHL.