Wayne Gretzky is hockey’s Greatest of All Time. When you are picking an athlete to be the absolute #1 best player of the history of the sport, it will lead to some difference in opinions. I intend to move this type of post to each sport but I wanted to start with the unmistakable greatest hockey player ever, Wayne Gretzky.
Hockey – Wayne Gretzky
Analyzing Gretzky’s hockey skills, he says, “What we take to be creative genius is in fact a reaction to a situation that he has stored in his brain as deeply and firmly as his own phone number.” Gzowski presented this theory to Gretzky, and he fully agreed. “Absolutely,” Gretzky said. “That’s a hundred percent right. It’s all practice. I got it from my Dad. Nine out of ten people think it’s instinct, and it isn’t. Nobody would ever say a doctor had learned his profession by instinct; yet in my own way I’ve put in almost as much time studying hockey as a medical student puts in studying medicine.
The Great One’s career started at the ripe age of 19 and lasted all the way to 38. In his rookie year he totaled 137 points (goals and assists) and tied for the league lead. Not being a huge hockey fan this number meant little to me. Upon further research, his stats are out of this universe.
- He won the scoring title 7 years in a row and his margin over the second place person was 29, 65, 72, 79, 73, 74, and 75. Mario Lemieux dethroned him for 2 years in a row in ’87 through ’89. Gretzky then won the next 2. Mario won 2. Gretzky won his final scoring title in 93-94.
- Wayne Gretzky has scored 891 goals. Gordie Howe is second with 801 and Brett Hull is 3rd with 741.
- Gretzky has 1,963 assists. The second place person, Ron Francis, has 1,249.
- Gretzky has 2,857 points. This is 970 points ahead of 2nd place Mark Messier.
- Gretzky holds the record for 92 goals in a season.
- He has the top 7 spots for most assists in a season. His 163 assists is untouchable.
- He’s 18th in amount of games played. His 1,487 is 280 less than Gordie Howe’s 1,767 which is the all-time most. These make his feats more remarkable.
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He won 4 Stanley Cups, all with Edmonton between ’84-’88.
- He played in 18 All Star Games.
- He lead the league in assists 16 times and goals 5 times.
- His greatest accomplishment is creating Paulina who married PGA Pro Dustin Johnson.
In 1980, when an exercise physiologist tested the recuperative abilities of all of the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky scored so high the tester said that he “thought the machine had broken.” His stamina is also indicated by the fact that Gretzky often scored late in the game. In the year he scored his record 92 goals, 22 of them went in the net during the first period, 30 in the second—and 40 in the third.
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