Twitter/X kicked up a fuss this past weekend, doing a frantic comparison of Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky.

Bobby Orr should be included in that discussion.

Lemieux, Gretzky and Orr are three of a kind when it comes to sheer talent, success and impact on hockey.

But if it’s just Lemieux vs. Gretzky, mano a mano, there’s no definite winner.

Gretzky had unparalleled vision and playmaking.

Lemieux was the best finisher, better stickhandler and had everything that goes with being 6-foot-4: Reach, leverage, etc.

Gretzky had the sheer numbers: More assists than anybody else had points.

But Lemieux had big stats, too, and was more fun to watch.

Gretzky would catch you unaware.

Lemieux would skate right down your throat.

You can rank Lemieux, Gretzky and Orr in any order and not be wrong.

Gordie Howe isn’t in that conversation. Didn’t have the skill set.

It’s a clear-cut top three. Sidney Crosby completes Mt. Rushmore. Howe ranks fifth. Connor McDavid leapfrogs if he ever wins a Stanley Cup.

I don’t include goalies, because nobody goes to a hockey game hoping the puck doesn’t go in the net. Separate conversation.

Lemieux was better internationally.

Lemieux won Olympic gold in 2002. Gretzky never did.

Lemieux dominated the 1987 Canada Cup, netting the winning goal in each of the tournament’s last two games to give Canada the championship over the Soviet Union. It might have been hockey’s zenith.

Gretzky assisted on both those goals, and Canadian folklore immediately held that Gretzky made Lemieux. But it was vice-versa.

I have Lemieux at No. 1, Orr at No. 2, Gretzky at No. 3.

But I would. I saw Lemieux’s whole career up close.

There are a lot of what-ifs for Lemieux. Gretzky maxed out. Did all he could.

Lemieux needed back surgery.

Lemieux beat cancer.

Lemieux retired for three-and-a-half seasons.

Otherwise, Lemieux might have scored 1,000 career goals. (But Lemieux was ennobled by his difficulties. They made the story bigger.)

Lemieux spent the early part of his career on bad Penguins teams, elevating marginal talents like Warren Young and Robbie Brown.

Gretzky played in Edmonton with arguably the greatest collection of offensive talent ever.

Put Lemieux on that Oilers team and he could have a 100-goal season.

Lemieux had pockets where nobody ever played hockey better.

Like his 199-point season in 1988-89.

His assault on the NHL after radiation treatment for cancer in 1993: 30 goals and 26 assists in 20 games.

Posting 35 goals and 41 assists in 43 games in 2000-01, his comeback season, entering mid-campaign after no training camp.

Lemieux was incomparable on the power play and shockingly impactful on the penalty-kill: 13 short-handed goals in 1988-89, still the NHL single-season record. The opposition had the extra man but was terrified and under siege.

Lemieux was a surgeon on breakaways. (Gretzky wasn’t.)

Lemieux was three different players over the course of his career: The shake-and-bake dangler before his bum back, then the pure finisher, then the monster hockey IQ and always the great hands.

Lemieux saved hockey in Pittsburgh twice. (Gretzky paved the way for hockey in California after he got traded to Los Angeles.)

It’s hard to stop listing Lemieux’s qualities.

You can’t go wrong picking Lemieux or Gretzky.

I’m picking Lemieux.