Had Orr played a full career or even 75% of what Howe played, he would have likely moved to #2 on my list. But he didn't and we can only assume he would have been equally dominant for those additional years. But he wasn't because his knees kept him from ever having the chance. Let's not forget how dominant Howe was and how he played ALL aspects of the game. He was a great scorer, assist man, role player (checker) and one of the toughest fighters ever. They don't call it a "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" for nothin'.

Gretzky was just so dominant with scoring and offense that he never really needed to play defense. He used the adage that the best defense is a good offense. But don't forget, he was used to kill penalties extensively. Also keep in mind that he played in the era where "enforcers" were the norm. Not that we would have fought much anyway but his coaches didn't want him in the box for any 5 min stretch...