Who is better, Gretzky or Thornton?
Wayne Gretzky leads with a GOAT score of 97.8 against 84.1 for Joe Thornton — a gap of 13.7 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Gretzky vs Thornton
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Wayne Gretzky above Joe Thornton: 97.8 vs 84.1. Wayne Gretzky leads on Dominance, Honours, Peak. Joe Thornton leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
GretzkyWinner
97.8Gretzky wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Thornton
84.1Thornton wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to Ice HockeyShareable URL · /compare/gretzky-vs-joe-thornton
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇦 Wayne Gretzky
97.8
Gretzky leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Wayne Gretzky
2. Joe Thornton
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇨🇦 Wayne Gretzky513 points
3 seasons by age 21 · 171 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Thornton — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Gretzky97.8
Thornton84.1
FAQ
Where does Thornton beat Gretzky?
Thornton scores higher on longevity. Gretzky leads on peak, dominance, honours, statistics.
How is the Gretzky vs Thornton score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Gretzky: 97.8, Thornton: 84.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Gretzky vs Thornton. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.