March 23, 1994 happened in the history of the NHL. This is the day Wayne Gretzky immortalized himself. ()NHL live games selected on free tv Game 1)
It’s easy to tell: The ice hockey veteran scored the most important goal of his career at that time – NHL goal number 802.
With this, Gretzky, the best ice hockey player in league history, eventually won the title of record scorer and surpassed the record of his idol Gordy Howe. However, Howe needed 26 years for the record, while Gretzky won his 15th season.
Although half the time of the game had passed, 15 minutes after the goal the game was interrupted against the Los Angeles Kings, Gretzky’s parents and his wife Janet were on the ice as well as club owner Bruce McNeil. The fact that the Kings lost 3: 6 in the end hardly matters. (News: All about the NHL)
Long list of successes and records
But the title of record scorer is only one item in a long list of successes. Part.
When “The Great One”, who revolutionized ice hockey with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s and played on-the-ground competition, retired in April 1999, he held or shared 61 NHL records. Nearly 22 years later, he is still capturing 60 of them.
In his twenty-year career for the Tellers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers, he has amassed 2,857 career points, 936 more than second-placed Jerome Jag. For comparison: The distance between Gretzky and the second-best scorer in the history of the NHL matches the total career scores of other ice hockey icons.
But that’s not all: If you remove each of the nearly 900 goals from your total career points, which Gretzky achieved in the regular NHL season, he still has 42 points more than Jagr.
Gretzky change has lasting effect on NHL
The Canadians also hold postseason records for most goals, even consolidating goals, assists and points and have won four Stanley Cups and placed in the finals six times. Gretzski was voted MVP nine times in the NHL, unbelievable eight times in a row.
More than his passports, goals and titles, he impressed the NHL with his transfer to Los Angeles in 1988 after nine seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. The change signaled the beginning of a new era. American teams dominated the Canadians in ice hockey.
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The deal reverberated in Canadian history as “The Trade”. Since Gretesky’s transfer, only three teams from Canada have won the Stanley Cup – the last being the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
The greatest team athlete in the world?
Gretzky is still considered the greatest ice hockey player of all time. Some even claim that they are GOATs in the history of team sports. (NHL schedule and results)
Of course, it is difficult to compare them to the top stars in other sports. Still an effort: Gretzky said he has 936 points more than the Jag, a 32 percent difference between him and the next best player. Karim Abdul-Jabbar leads 1459 points – 3.8 percent over NBA runner-up Karl Malone as the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.
Michael Jordan, viewed by many experts as a basketball GOAT, is only fifth in points – which is also due to his retirement in the meantime. But even though Jordan was basketball-shaped like any other, Gretzky was ice hockey.
For Michael Akelsen as a journalist Bleacher report When he drew up a list of the 30 most prominent athletes, asking that No. 1 was his easiest decision. He wrote as an explanation: “I am the biggest fan of Michael Jordan, but even I have to admit that Wayne Gretty was much more effective. Gretzky was one of a lot of boys.”
Goat vor Brady?
In the NFL, Tom Brady is arguably the greatest player of all time. The difference between Tampa Bay Buccaneers superstars, Drew Breeze and Peyton Manning when it comes to key passport stats, however, is almost negligible.
Brady has to line up behind trees in completions and passing yards, and he is only seventh in passer rating. Although he threw ten touchdowns from the trees and 42 more than Manning, seven-time Super Bowl MVP is miles away from Gretzsky’s lead.
Why is Gretzky rarely mentioned in the GOAT debate? The answer is simple: ice hockey is nowhere as popular as the other three major team sports in the United States. Not to mention the fact that Gretzky played most of his career in Canada.
Gretzky sees Dressel in the Oilers
Today is a club official for the ice hockey legend Edmonton Oilers with countless NHL records. He sits on the board of the Oilers Entertainment Group, a five-time Stanley Cup winner and the owner of the arena and club.
The 60-year-old also looked closely at how Leon Dreisit became the top scorer and best player in the NHL. Gretzky himself announced in September last year that the German had been named the league’s “MVP”.
It is “a lot of fun” to see Dristital, said Gretzky, who hopes that Cologne and his inborn Canadian Hurricane partner Conor McDavid will lead the Highters again like the ’80s.
This is why “The Great One” closely resembles when the German NHL star who bears his name across the ice. “The German Gretzky” is called Dreissetel. Why is it such a huge honor in Gretzky’s career.
