He played 675 games in the 90s, almost half his career. He was 43rd in goals in that span, 53rd in goals per game (>200gp).
He was obviously still an elite playmaker, but his goal scoring prowess really fell off as the league's pace picked up in the late 80s into the early 90s.
Even from age 26-30 (87-88 to 91-92 seasons) he was 8th in the league in goals, almost 100 goals behind the leader. The prior 5 years? He led the league by 45 goals, 140 ahead of 8th place. That's a crazy dramatic swing that can't be explained by aging - it's a symptom of changing dynamics as more speed and skill flooded the league. Gretzky's style would be far less effective today, though he'd still be an elite offensive player.
Somewhat unrelated, but Mario was far and away the most dominant player of the 90s.
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Damn Mario.
