It’s safe to say that professional athletes are sort of obsessed with records. They may not actually come out and say it, but they are. Think Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, who are giving Michael Jordan’s records a run for the money. But this isn’t about them or basketball for that matter.
No, this is about the greatest sport in the world and the greatest player to play it. In case you missed it, this author is talking about hockey, and Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky, the man who pretty much owns every record in the NHL.
His career spanned 20 seasons with four different teams; he’s won four Stanley Cups and after all of that, he holds 60 NHL records, including most career points, most goals, most assists, and most points in a season, just to name a few.
No other player in the NHL has come close to breaking his records for pretty much any of these with the exception of Mario Lemieux, who scored 199 points in the 1988-89 season.
Gretzky may have the records, but he is up there with some of the greatest to play the game. And instead of boring you, here are two records that will remain untouchable.
CAREER POINTS: 2,857
Gretzky scored nearly 3,000 points in a 20-season span. That’s a lot, if you haven’t noticed. And maybe you’re sitting here, saying people came close. The truth is, no one really did.
Mark Messier, who ranks second on the all-time career points list, scored 1,887 points. He played for 25 seasons. Basically, Messier played five more seasons and scored 970 fewer points. The only player on the top five all-time scorers who is still playing is Jaromir Jagr. Twenty-one seasons in, and he has 1,780 points. That being said, if he could pull off another thousand points in the next few months, which is highly doubtful, the record will be Gretzky’s probably forever.
MOST GOALS: 894
Gretzky has scored almost 900 goals in his career. The last player to be that close was the Red Wings’ Gordie Howe (yes, that Gordie Howe), who ended with 801 goals in 26 seasons. Again, the only player who can possibly (but won’t) break this record is Jagr, who needs to score 178 more goals. Let’s face it, though, Jagr is probably going to retire sooner than later, sooner like at the end of the season.
And if you want to compare a current player, take Sidney “The Next One” Crosby, who in 10 seasons with the Penguins has scored 291 career goals. Double that amount and add another 10 seasons, and Crosby still won’t touch Gretzky’s record. He’s probably closer to the point’s record.
Basically, there hasn’t been a hockey player like Wayne Gretzky since, well, Wayne Gretzky. And in an era of superstar players, the NHL tried to tout Crosby as “The Next One” before he even got to the NHL. But try as he might, he will never be The Great One.