How good of a goal scorer is Gordie Howe?

[Professor What]

Just for my own understanding, Is your claim that you aren't a pro-Ovechkin advocate on these boards?

I just want to make 100% certain what you're arguing here.

Not to mention one that calls out the same sorts of things when they're done to prop up Crosby.

 

[daver]

No, that in part why Howe is clearly ahead, but how similar the field was ?

You can see my first message here, the comments started by looking at each their gap with their fields:

How good of a goal scorer is Gordie Howe?

How good of a goal scorer is Gordie Howe? I am asking because everybody says he's one of the best ever. Yes he has 801 goals and is 3rd all time but it took him playing 1,767 games to get there. Just a question no disrespect to him, he's in my top 10 goal scorers all time.

forums.hfboards.com

Howe biggest domination:
52-58
Howe....: .57
Beliveau: .52
Richard.: .52

Beliveau biggest one:
54-60
Beliveau.: .55
Geoffrion: .51
Richard..: .50
Howe.....: .50

What do you mean by "biggest one"? Seems you are trying too hard to combine their primes to the detriment of Howe.

Over Howe's four year peak, his GPG was 0.61 (Richard's was 0.53)
The avg. of the other players with the Top Ten GPG's (min. 200 games) was 0.37

Beliveau's best four year stretch '55 to '59, his GPG was 0.59 (Howe's was 0.54)
The avg. of the other players with the Top Ten GPG's (min. 200 games) was 0.43

Howe was 65% better than the avg. Top 10

Beliveau was 37% better than the avg. Top 10


Howe dominated the field in at least two seasons, '51/52 and 52/53, in a way that was clearly superior to Beliveau's best season in '55/56.

This is the starting point of the argument, not their raw GPGs. If you want to try to argue that a peak Howe would not be as dominant if he was the same age as Beliveau, I would be interested to hear why.

 

[MadLuke]

Seems you are trying too hard to combine their primes to the detriment of Howe.

Hard to chose all windows, went for a common 7 years to save time.

Was not using their raw gpg, (that why I put their elite competition with them just below)

 

[daver]

Hard to chose all windows, went for a common 7 years to save time.

Was not using their raw gpg, (that why I put their elite competition with them just below)

Usually one looks at a player's very best season (s) in a comparison.

 

[Midnight Judges]

When posters are saying things like "There's no reasonable opinion except (mine)" on a given topic — which is exactly what at least one poster in this thread has done — a part of me dies inside, because this forum at its best has often been just wonderful.

If someone said "Wayne Gretzky is the greatest point accumulator in hockey history, and there really isn't much of a case for anyone else" would you have that same reaction?

 

[Professor What]

If someone said "Wayne Gretzky is the greatest point accumulator in hockey history, and there really isn't much of a case for anyone else" would you have that same reaction?

Your example is an objective statement. No one has as many points in their career as Wayne Gretzky. That's simply a fact. What was being reference was something subjective. It is tiresome to have some suggest that on something that's a matter of opinion, their view and theirs alone is correct.