GOAT Index
Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.
Bobby Orr vs Mark Messier: who's the GOAT?
Who's greater?
Standings
About you
OptionalThis lets the standings split by age and region, so you can see where generations and continents disagree. Votes are anonymous: no name or email is ever collected.
Bobby Orr vs Mark Messier: the fan verdict
Nobody has voted on Bobby Orr vs Mark Messier yet. Cast the first vote above. In the overall NHL ranking, Bobby Orr is #10 (0–0) and Mark Messier is #16 (1–1).
Bobby Orr: D · Bruins. Mark Messier: C · Oilers, Rangers.
More matchups
How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.
One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.
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Photo credits
Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.