Michael van Gerwens exceptional emergence as the world No 1 has lasted long enough that he might become even greater than Phil Taylor.The Dutchman is just 26, whereas Taylor didnt throw his first competitive arrow until the same age. Van Gerwen broke Taylors record for the highest ever televised average in this years Premier League but does that mean hes overtaking the 16-time world champion?Sky Sports expert Wayne Mardle ponders who is better... Sky Live: PL Darts Thursday, 7pm, Sky Sports 1 Has Van Gerwen has become the best darts player ever? The debate has started. Is Michael van Gerwen the greatest darts player ever? Mardle said: Its not just the wins, its the performances. Whenever he is pushed, he has an answer.At the World Championship he lost with a 105 average. I dont ever remember Taylor having to deal with that during a World Championship. What Im getting at, is that the quality Michael needs to play at to win week-in week-out is not what Taylor had to put up with.I was world No 4 for a while. I was the equivalent of Adrian Lewis or Peter Wright. I couldnt beat Taylor, I only beat him once on the main stage. These guys can beat Van Gerwen or Taylor. Dave Chisnall is currently world No 10 - back in the day, that would have been Roland Scholten who has the very worst record of absolutely anyone against Taylor.Scholten was in the world top eight for six years! Can you imagine someone in todays top eight playing Van Gerwen 28 times and losing 25? That wouldnt happen now, its not possible. Watch Michael van Gerwen set a new record for the highest televised average score The players today are of a standard where, in 25 times, they will play their best game which is good enough to beat Michael. Against Phil it wasnt possible. My record against Phil was dismal - I played him 29 times and won three, and I was one of the players gunning for him!Phil didnt throw a competitive dart until he was 26. Michael, at 16, was ranked inside the BDOs top 10. Im not taking anything away from Phil but the opposition were not good - and I include myself in that.Does Taylors longevity makes him greater than MVG? Llook back at Phil Taylor’s previous record average of 117.35 from Exeter in 2012. Mardle said: Phil could only beat what was in front of him. He was probably too good, before his time. Hes a darting freak because he was always so much better than the rest.He didnt have the opponents to push him which is actually more impressive because he still pushed himself on. The fact that he kept striving for another win, another hiding, is impressive.I remember playing him in a Premier League game when you had to play all 11 legs. I was 8-0 down in Norwich and I remember thinking Phil really wanted to beat me 11-0 badly. I won two legs and he was devastated, you could see it in his eyes. I remember thinking he had something I didnt have - forget wins or talent - he had a special desire. Relive a Phil Taylor classic in the 2013 Grand Slam semi-final against Adrian Lewis We have all these stats about averages but do you really need to average 103? If you average 93 against someone averaging 83, you will annihilate them. Averages are just a guide.Deciding who is the best ever player shouldnt be subjective. You need a fact or a stat. Michael, before he packs up, needs to win six world titles. He cant have five, in the same bracket as Eric Bristow or Raymond van Barneveld, he needs six.Also See:Fixtures/ResultsOn Sky TVPrem TableDarts bettingGet Sky SportsBrett Favre Youth Jersey . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. 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Fran Tarkenton Jersey .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N.DENVER -- Rene Bourque was simply fighting for the puck along the boards in overtime. Moments later, he was credited with the winning goal without having taken the shot.Bourque had two goals, including the game-winner when Nikolaj Ehlers scored into his own net, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Friday night.Bourque was given the score after Ehlers backhanded the puck through the legs of teammate Toby Enstrom and past goaltender Michael Hutchinson 1:23 into overtime.I felt some pressure from two guys and thought I had some support, Ehlers said. I tried to get the puck off the boards and to Toby. The puck got past him and into the net.Bourque wasnt bothered by the way he got credit for the goal.Ill take 20 more of those, he said. I was just behind the net and it kind of got moved to the corner and we were still battling two-on-two and he got the loose puck and just fired it. I didnt even see it.Mikko Rantanen scored his first career goal and Semyon Varlamov had 16 saves for the Avalanche, who lost center Matt Duchene to a head injury suffered in the second period.I know they said in the intermission they were going to take a look at him and then I got word on the bench he wasnt coming back, Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. Im hoping hes going to be back (soon), but I have to talk with them and see what the plan is for him. Hes played real well for us. Hes been the driving force to the bulk of our offense this season.Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist, Mark Scheifele also scored and Ehlers had two assists. Hutchinson finished with 25 saves two weeks after blanking Colorado here.Varlamov didnt face many shots but came up with a big save in overtime when he stopped Wheeler on a breakaway, and moments later Bourque scored.I never thought the game would end the way it, Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. The pass went to thhe net and it should never had gotten through.dddddddddddd But that play wasnt the reason we lost tonight.Rantanen, who played in nine games last season and started this year in the AHL, got his first goal 1:03 into the second period. He got the puck at the right circle, looked for a passing lane before putting one off Hutchinsons shoulder and in just 15 seconds into Colorados power play.They gave me enough room, Rantanen said. I tried to look first, look (for a) tip for (Gabriel Landeskog) but it wasnt open so I just tried to rip it over the glove and this time it went in.Bourque gave Colorado a 2-0 lead at 9:33 of the second, his third goal of the season.The Jets wiped out the lead with goals 2:33 apart. Wheeler got Winnipeg within with 6:33 left and Scheifele tied it with a power-play goal later in the period.Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba made his season debut after signing a two-year deal with the team Monday. Trouba was a restricted free agent and held out to start the season.Trouba had two shots on goal in 23:14 of ice time.It was good. I didnt really know too much what to expect, Trouba said. After the first period I thought I started feeling the puck a little better and making a couple better reads. Obviously there is some adjusting, overall I thought it was pretty well.Game notesFormer Avalanche star and Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg was in attendance. ... Colorado RW Blake Comeau missed his third straight game with a groin injury. ... Winnipeg C Mathieu Perreault missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla played in his 1,487th career game to tie Wayne Gretzky for 18th all time.UP NEXTJets: Host Los Angeles on Sunday.Avalanche: Host Boston on Sunday. ' ' '