Mark Madden: Gretzky had Nothing to do With Lemieux's Greatness

Beaver County Times
10/28/2007

I'm not much for book burning, but "Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup" makes me want to re-explore some of the philosophies that made fascism great.

The book examines the "O Canada"-soundtracked notion that Wayne Gretzky anointed Mario Lemieux with greatness at the 1987 Canada Cup, greatness Lemieux would never have achieved without the Great One's blessing.

Like undercooked back bacon, the supposition makes me gag.

You know what helped Lemieux win? Good teammates. And good linemates, whether it was Gretzky in 1987, Mark Recchi in 1991 or Kevin Stevens in 1992.

But then, Gretzky won the Stanley Cup every year. Except all the years he didn't play on the most offensively-loaded team in hockey history. And he didn't even always win with them. Is it possible Lemieux actually made Gretzky better in '87 when Canada beat the Soviet Union in a deliciously epic three-game series? Heck, I'd even say it's probable.

What's a bigger accomplishment: 215 points playing between Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson, or 199 points playing between Rob Brown and Bob Errey?

I may disagree with those who call Gretzky hockey's best ever, but it's a difficult argument to win. He has statistics and durability on his side. But Lemieux's success is in no way attributable to Gretzky. Nothing tangible even remotely suggests that.

Mark Messier played for Canada in 1987. Maybe Messier showed Lemieux how to win. Maybe Messier showed Gretzky, too. After Gretzky and Messier parted ways, Messier was the one who kept winning. Until Gretzky joined Messier on the New York Rangers, that is. Then Messier stopped winning. Maybe Gretzky showed Messier how to lose.

How come Gretzky hasn't taught the Phoenix Coyotes how to win? He's their coach. They stink.

How come Canada didn't win the gold medal in men's hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics? Gretzky picked the team. Didn't he teach it how to win? Canada might have had better luck had Gretzky picked Sidney Crosby instead of Todd Bertuzzi, Shane Doan or Kris Draper. How come Gretzky won't teach Crosby how to win? A better question: How did Gretzky and Canada turn a foolproof situation into a quarterfinal loss?

Canada has never really embraced Lemieux unless he's had a stylized maple leaf slashing across his sweater. He's French, and he's not Gretzky. He's accepted in Canada, but outside of Quebec, Lemieux isn't truly beloved.

I'm not arguing Gretzky's place in hockey history. I'm tired of disputing he's No. 1. Rank Gretzky, Lemieux and Bobby Orr in any order. I'm fine with that. But when you leave Lemieux out of the top three because Gordie Howe threw the occasional elbow and played to the point of senility, it's time for us to drop the gloves and go.

And when you act like skating together as linemates for a fraction of one international tournament enabled Gretzky to sprinkle Lemieux with magic dust, thus propelling No. 66 to a level darn near as good as No. 99, it's an insult to Lemieux and to every person who legitimately helped Lemieux's career flourish.

To suggest that Lemieux didn't learn to compete until he played with Gretzky implies that Lemieux had no heart. Lemieux, during countless crises both on and off the ice, showed that he was better when times were bad than Gretzky could ever dream of being.

Buy this book.

Don't read it. Burn it.

Mark Madden hosts a sports talk show 3-7 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Radio 1250.

©Beaver County Times Allegheny Times 2007