Who is the greater player: Crosby or Beliveau

[Sasha Orlov]

There is literally no argument for Beliveau here

 

[Golden_Jet]

You can't pick and choose which provinces to include. I agree BC produces more talent now compared to Beliveau's era, but Quebec produces far less. The difference from Quebec is enormous. (There are two HOF skaters from Quebec who played 200+ games during Crosby's era - Bergeron and St. Louis. In Beliveau's era, you have both Richard bothers, Geoffrion, Keon, Lemaire, Moore, Ratalle, Gilbert, Cournoyer, Harvey, Pilote, Pronovost, Laperriere, Savard). Fine, adjust for Crosby facing a few more players from BC. But then adjust for Beliveau facing far more talent from Quebec. If want to adjust, then adjust for both players, otherwise you're just trying to prop up Crosby.

The conclusion that Crosby would have led the league in scoring ten years in a row is (to put it mildly) optimistic. Nobody in NHL history did that - not even Gretzky. Is Crosby better than Gretzky now?

"Nowhere close to being the same caliber of player". Beliveau is in the top ten on any credible list that I've seen (and usually closer to #5 than #10). If you want to rank Crosby ahead, that's fine. But saying that they're not the same calibre of playing is implying that Crosby is at the Gretzky/Orr level, and he obviously isn't.

Ya poster makes no sense with that take lol. Terrible analogy really.
It is from a Penguins fan, so not shocking I guess.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Béliveau is top 10 all time
Crosby is my #5

Béliveau had top compete with some of the greatest player ever, and was never far behind (he was a comtemporary of Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Howe and Orr
Crosby was THE guy for almost 15 years, with only Ovechkin in his rear mirror

Béliveau, obviously, had much, much, much more success, team wise, being part of some of the greatest teams ever, the guy had 10 Stanley Cup as a player
Crosby has some cups too

Both of them are perceived as some of the greatest team captains ever. Béliveau is the greatest gentleman to ever played the game, Crosby is up there

Overall, two legends, but edge to Crosby

 

[Coffee]

Béliveau is top 10 all time
Crosby is my #5

Béliveau had top compete with some of the greatest player ever, and was never far behind (he was a comtemporary of Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Howe and Orr
Crosby was THE guy for almost 15 years, with only Ovechkin in his rear mirror

Béliveau, obviously, had much, much, much more success, team wise, being part of some of the greatest teams ever, the guy had 10 Stanley Cup as a player
Crosby has some cups too

Both of them are perceived as some of the greatest team captains ever. Béliveau is the greatest gentleman to ever played the game, Crosby is up there

Overall, two legends, but edge to Crosby

Frank Nighbor vs Kopitar

 

[Jack Spider]

They are both some of the greatest capatains in hockey. Similar junior hype. Great careers. Gentlemens. Let's wait to see Crosby's post-playing career.

 

[centipede2233]

Also factor in Crosby playing in a cap era, where you couldn’t have stacked dynasty teams like what Beliveau had

 

[Midnight Judges]

Béliveau is top 10 all time
Crosby is my #5

Béliveau had top compete with some of the greatest player ever, and was never far behind (he was a comtemporary of Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Howe and Orr
Crosby was THE guy for almost 15 years, with only Ovechkin in his rear mirror

Béliveau, obviously, had much, much, much more success, team wise, being part of some of the greatest teams ever, the guy had 10 Stanley Cup as a player
Crosby has some cups too

Both of them are perceived as some of the greatest team captains ever. Béliveau is the greatest gentleman to ever played the game, Crosby is up there

Overall, two legends, but edge to Crosby

Bobby Orr was born 16.5 years after Beliveau. They weren’t contemporaries in any meaningful way.

And no, Sidney Crosby was not THE guy for 15 years. Dude has 2 Harts which came in the only 2 seasons where he led the NhL in points. Ovechkin has 3 consecutive seasons that are all clearly better than Crosby’s best season.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Bobby Orr was born 16.5 years after Beliveau. They weren’t contemporaries in any meaningful way.

And no, Sidney Crosby was not THE guy for 15 years. Dude has 2 Harts which came in the only 2 seasons where he led the NhL in points. Ovechkin has 3 consecutive seasons that are all clearly better than Crosby’s best season.

Béliveau and Orr playerd against each other in the 70s

From the Day Crosby was drafted until forever, Crosby is > Ovechkin

Do a poll if you want. They're already countless that exist, and they all point in the same direction

 

[wetcoast]

Any pick that isn't qualified as being very close is not reasonable.

Both looked very good in the eras they played in.

They are close but Crosby is clearly ahead and it's extremely hard to state overwise and have it stand up to scrutiny.