Who is the best player you saw live?

[vlady]

I saw Jagr and Ovechkin at the 2011 World Championships. Ovie had 0 points in 5 games. Jagr scored a hattrick in the quarterfinal against the US.

 

[NVious]

I've seen Gretzky, Lemieux, Lafleur, Denney, Lalonde and it's pretty easily Hutson.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Brian mcgratten. How he didn't end up breaking some of gretzkys records is shocking.

 

[Djp]

I saw gretzky live on TV.....

Can't recall all the games I've gone to. I've been yo sabres games and I've seen all the different generations going back to the late 70s with perrault, surgeon, lafontajne/ mogilny , post lockout teans, Vanessa, eichel/ Reinhart. I've done road gsmrs too

 

[Jozay]

datsyuk

 

[TnaBuffalo]

Mogilny was amazing to watch in person. The speed he had....my god

 

[Gee Wally]

Bobby Orr.

 

[DieSendungmitderMaus]

Probably this guy

(Actually it's some guy from one of the few DEL games I've watched, but no one stood out as much and where's the fun in that?)

 

[Bone Breaker]

ha, I doubt someone here will top mine. in the lamest category, it is.

since Ive never been in North America or Europe, I only watched some Asian Hockey League games, where probably the most gifted player I could witness was this finnish dude called Joonas Alanne.

 

[MessierII]

Gretzky

 

[CN8]

First time of spent my own money on tickets was a few weeks ago to watch McDavid. It was like that one kid in u11 that’s just clearly better than everyone else

 

[WarriorofTime]

Lemieux

 

[SomeDude]

Seeing Mario in person, even in 2002, was unreal. I remember him in the defensive zone flick the puck 20 feet in the air over everyone and landed it right on the tape of a streaking Jan Hrdina who promptly fumbled it and gave it away for an odd-man rush.

Prime Crosby and Malkin are the only thing that came close, but even then, the natural skill was not on the same level. Mario was different. It's like he was seeing everything on a level that nobody in the game could match.

 

[blankall]

I saw the 2010 Olympics game of Russia vs. Canada. Crosby, Iginla, Federov, Malkin, Datsyuk, Ovechkin, Neidermeyer, Pronger, etc... were all on the ice. Never got to see Gretzky or Lemieux live, but these were probably some of the best players, in the next tier down, from my lifetime.

 

[NyQuil]

I’d probably have to say Mario Lemieux. I think he ended up with 5 points.

Gretzky was past his prime when I saw him.

Selanne getting a hat trick and Forsberg at his power forward best would have to be included as well.

As a Sens fan, Alfredsson in the 2007 playoffs and Karlsson in the 2017 playoffs were awesome.

 

[izzy]

Not counting the NHL games I’ve been to since there are obviously better players, but competition is tight.

Drouin in Jrs is the most dominant player I think I’ve ever seen and Mackinnon was on that team. He was truly unbelievable at that level when he was activated

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Saw Crosby play in junior and he was the best player i saw live until I saw McDavid live.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Selanne on the Ducks in the late 90s. Dude was unreal.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

For the Devils- Brodeur, Jack Hughes, Bratt, Taylor Hall.

For the opposition- I’ve seen most of the greats from the last 20-25 years but the guy who “popped” the most was Johnny Gaudreau. Just absurdly talented

 

[RevengeOfTheDrai]

McDavid. He’s just so much faster at everything than everyone else.

Of the superstars I got to see here’s the order of dominance:
1. McDavid
2 Ovi 2009
3 Mackinnon
4 Malkin
5 Crosby

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Probably Ovechkin, but I got to see the pizza line live.

Erik Karlsson the best dman.

Carey Price the best goalie.

San Jose in the mid 2010s was the best team.

On a slight side note.

Imagine how hard it was to be a habs fan in Eastern Ontario in the late 90s early 00s.

 

[LokiDog]

I saw Gretzky as a Ranger. Messier, Leetch as well. Saw Broduer multiple times, Hasek once, Roy twice. Forsberg/Sakic twice. Stevie Y, Lidstrom, Fedorov. Crosby/Malkin many times. Ovechkin about a dozen times. Jagr as a Ranger and a Penguin. Bure during 60 goal Panthers aeason. Was at McDavid’s first hat trick. I don’t know. I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of greats. As someone whose never been to a game in Washington, I’m pretty satisfied saying I’ve seen about 15 of Ovie’s goals in person.

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Probably Jagr, but he wasn't in his prime.

 

[JackSlater]

Gretzky I suppose.

 

[Jabba11]

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin
Carey Price
End of career Jagr
Dominik Hasek

Most dominant I wished that I have seen in person:
Maurice Rocket Richard
Larry Robinson