The Most Amazing (lesser known) Wayne Gretzky Stats/Facts

[The Panther]

I've noticed a bunch of these over the years posting on here and reading up on it, so I thought I'd compile a list for fun discussion.

We all know Gretzky has the most scoring titles, most Hart trophies, most goals (season, career), most hat-tricks, most assists (season, career), most points (season, career), and that he’s the all-time leading scorer on assists alone. We all know he set the record for having the most records. We also all know he scored 50 goals in 39 games, 47 points in a playoff, etc.. But these obvious or oft-celebrated things aside, what are his 10 most amazing achievements that are a bit more obscure?

So, here are 12 points, in no particular order:

1) Gretzky led the NHL in goals and assists in the same season 5 times. No one else has done it more than twice (Howe and Lemieux) and, not counting Gretzky, it’s been achieved only five times in the past 100 years.

2) 1981-82 home ice stats: 40 games played: 59 goals, 64 assists, 123 points. (He would have led the Oilers in scoring by 18 points if he’d never left Edmonton all season.)

Similarly, in 1986-87, Gretzky's 107 points on home-ice was 1 point below the otherwise NHL scoring leader (who was his linemate, Jari Kurri). That is, Wayne would have won the 1987 scoring title if he’d never left Edmonton all season.

3) In 1984-85, Gretzky had 101 primary assists, and in 1985-86 he had 109. (To this point in time, one player in history had once scored more than 100 total.) In 1983-84, he scored 178 primary points (despite missing some games), and another 174 in 1984-85.

4) Gretzky is both the 1st and the 2nd-fastest player to score 1000 points in the NHL.

5) Gretzky would have won 4 scoring titles on his assists alone.

6) Gretzky led the NHL in even-strength points in 1980 (by 9), 1981 (by 18), 1982 (by 47), 1983 (by 42), 1984 (by 45 – despite missing six games), 1985 (by 45), 1986 (by 53), 1987 (by 48), 1988 (by 17 – despite missing sixteen games), 1990 (by 17 – despite missing seven games), and 1991 (by 17). (In 1989, Gretzky [his first season in L.A.] missed the ES-points lead by 2.)

If you add short-handed points to even-strength points, these gaps are even larger in most seasons. For example, in 1983-84 Gretzky scored 158 total non-PP points, and the next highest was 92, for a gap of 66 points. (That is, if he hadn’t played a single shift on the power play all season, Gretzky would have had the highest scoring season in NHL history… and he missed six games to injury.)

7) Played in 1978 World Jr. champions (aged 16), 1981 Canada Cup, 1982 World Championships, 1984 Canada Cup, 1987 Canada Cup, and 1991 Canada Cup – and led every one of these in scoring.

8) “Won” the 1983-84 scoring title on January 7th, 1984 (his 42nd game of the season).

9) Scored 49 points in one calendar month (November, 1983), while going +32 in that month.

10) Highest points-per-game for every one of the 9 seasons he played in Edmonton (and again in 1991 and 1994 for L.A.).

11) From 1981-82 through 1986-87 (six seasons), Gretzky outscored the next best producer by a points ratio of 1219 to 698 (in plus/minus, it’s +459 to +284).

12) For a 12-year period from 1979 to 1991, Gretzky scored more than a point-per-period against Detroit.

______________________

I think I'm forgetting a really good one, but it'll come to me later...

Anyway, which one(s) do you find most remarkable?

Click to read more...

 

[TANK200]

Just mentioned this in another thread, but I'm always impressed that Gretzky would have led the league in points two times (and tied a third) without scoring a single goal... while also leading the league in goals. It is impressive enough to do that over an entire career, even with the advantage of having played in the 1980s. But to do that in a single season is incredible.

In 1983-84, Gretzky had 23 power play points (12 G, 11A), while only being on the ice for 30 power play goals against. I'll take that penalty killing on my team.

Gretzky's career achievements are obviously remarkable, and his legacy is certainly helped by having a lengthy career and compiling such incredible stats. But I sometimes wonder how he would be viewed if similarly to Orr, he had never played (or played very few games) after leaving Edmonton. At that time, the only thing people would have seen is him obliterating the league every year. No minus seasons, no "most goals against all time", etc. that seem to be the only knocks on him in a comparison of all-time greats.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Gretzky's career achievements are obviously remarkable, and his legacy is certainly helped by having a lengthy career and compiling such incredible stats. But I sometimes wonder how he would be viewed if similarly to Orr, he had never played (or played very few games) after leaving Edmonton. At that time, the only thing people would have seen is him obliterating the league every year. No minus seasons, no "most goals against all time", etc. that seem to be the only knocks on him in a comparison of all-time greats.

Gretzky would definitely be seen in an even better light if he had never played after being Sutered.

Players like Orr / Lemieux / Forsberg get romanticized a lot because they were never really seen fading away outside of their prime years..

It's like the 27 club for musicians.. better to burn out than to fade away..

 

[BadgerBruce]

Gretzky (and his dad) is the first in a string of Canadian superstars to really push the boundaries of control over one’s developmental pathway.

His dad unsuccessfully used the Ontario courts to force the CAHA and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association to allow Wayne to leave Brantford and play for a minor hockey team in what is now the Greater Toronto Hockey League. Walter even had legal guardianship papers (of dubious legitimacy) drawn up to support a “change of residency” argument.

The Lindros family is quite possibly the most litigious in youth/junior hockey history.

Crosby’s dad also sued Hockey Canada, Hockey Nova Scotia and the Halifax-Dartmouth association when minor bantam age Sid was not permitted to play major midget hockey.

But it all started with Wayne back in 1975. To me, one of the beautiful ironies is that Gretzky, Lindros and Crosby were, at various times, the Face of Hockey Canada. Yet, all three sued them at one point and went to extraordinary lengths to exert developmental self-determination, beginning really at age 14.

 

[bobholly39]

1) Gretzky led the NHL in goals and assists in the same season 5 times. No one else has done it more than once, and, not counting Gretzky, it’s been achieved twice in the past 100 years.


4) Gretzky is both the 1st and the 2nd-fastest player to score 1000 points in the NHL.

7) Played in 1978 World Jr. champions (aged 16), 1981 Canada Cup, 1982 World Championships, 1984 Canada Cup, 1987 Canada Cup, and 1991 Canada Cup – and led every one of these in scoring.

#1 Isn't accurate. Lemieux did it twice, Esposito did it once, and Howe did it twice. So that's 5 more times this has been done.

#4 What do you mean by that? Are you saying he went from 1000 to 2000 points faster than anyone went from 0 to 1000, or am I mis-reading that?

#7 That's one of my absolute favorite things about Gretzky.

 

[VanIslander]

I've noticed a bunch of these over the years posting on here and reading up on it, so I thought I'd compile a list for fun discussion.

We all know Gretzky has the most scoring titles, most Hart trophies, most goals (season, career), most hat-tricks, most assists (season, career), most points (season, career), and that he’s the all-time leading scorer on assists alone. We all know he set the record for having the most records. We also all know he scored 50 goals in 39 games, 47 points in a playoff, etc.. But these obvious or oft-celebrated things aside, what are his 10 most amazing achievements that are a bit more obscure?

Obscure?! Even this Gretzky homer who goes on to wax poetic about 12 Gretzky overlooks the OBVIOUS.

GRETZKY LED THE LEAGUE IN ASSIST FOR 13 STRAIGHT SEASONS, 16 IN ALL.

There ought to be an assist trophy in his name. The Gretzky Trophy for assist points leader or the more subjective voting: "passer".

When the **** did you come across a top-5 or top-10 PASSES of any superstar player? Even Gretz the highlights are 80/20 goals to passes when it should be the opposite!!!

 

[Minar]

Gretzky would definitely be seen in an even better light if he had never played after being Sutered.

Players like Orr / Lemieux / Forsberg get romanticized a lot because they were never really seen fading away outside of their prime years..

It's like the 27 club for musicians.. better to burn out than to fade away..

Then we would have missed out on his extraordinary 1993 playoffs and his 1997 playoffs which were also remarkable.

 

[McGuillicuddy]

7) Played in 1978 World Jr. champions (aged 16), 1981 Canada Cup, 1982 World Championships, 1984 Canada Cup, 1987 Canada Cup, and 1991 Canada Cup – and led every one of these in scoring.

This is an underappreciated "stat". Every asshat (HOH excepted of course ) who says "Gretzky only scored so much because nobody was allowed to hit him" doesn't think about this. Even if we accept the ridiculous notion that hitting Gretzky in NHL action was forbidden, please explain his dominance of international play. You think the Soviets/Czechs/etc. wouldn't have pasted Gretzky to the glass if they could? Please.

Also, the idea that somebody like Denis Potvin would avoid hitting Gretzky due to either i) being intimidated (as if), or ii) some unwritten rule that hitting Gretzky is not allowed, is uproariously funny.

 

[Hynh]

#1 Isn't accurate. Lemieux did it twice, Esposito did it once, and Howe did it twice. So that's 5 more times this has been done.

#4 What do you mean by that? Are you saying he went from 1000 to 2000 points faster than anyone went from 0 to 1000, or am I mis-reading that?

#7 That's one of my absolute favorite things about Gretzky.

1-1000 took 424 games. 1001-2000 took 433 games. Lemieux took 513 games to get to 1000.

 

[bobholly39]

There ought to be an assist trophy in his name. The Gretzky Trophy for assist points leader or the more subjective voting: "passer".

Points > Assists
Best overall player > best playmaker
Best playoff performer ever > best playmaker

Gretzky is all 3 of the above things (most points, best player, best playoffs). Naming an award for him on just assists seems cheap tbh as it doesn't recognize his overall greatness. They need to either pick a better award to name after him - or not name one.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Obscure?! Even this Gretzky homer who goes on to wax poetic about 12 Gretzky overlooks the OBVIOUS.

GRETZKY LED THE LEAGUE IN ASSIST FOR 13 STRAIGHT SEASONS, 16 IN ALL.

There ought to be an assist trophy in his name. The Gretzky Trophy for assist points leader or the more subjective voting: "passer".

When the **** did you come across a top-5 or top-10 PASSES of any superstar player? Even Gretz the highlights are 80/20 goals to passes when it should be the opposite!!!

I agree, this was Wayne's bread and butter, and his strenght that'll remain the most undisputed. Conceivably, in other eras Gretzky's goalscoring would suffer to some extent*. But his playmaking domination is inarguable any way you twist it ; he dominated for too long, against all comers ; he was a savant.

* What I mean is that even if Wayne dominated say Mike Bossy in the environment of the 1980s, it doesn't follow that the Wayne/Bossy ratio would stay the same if goaltending stepped up a notch. Some players perform more equally against all competition, whereas others blow up in some environment and suffocate in others. Wayne would always be a top goalscorer IMO, but I think Bossy might have more chance to outscore Wayne if they faced 2015 Carey Price every game than he did in the 1980s. I could be wrong, but at least it's conceivable. I can't conceive any era where Wayne isn't by far the best playmaker.

 

[The Panther]

#1 Isn't accurate. Lemieux did it twice, Esposito did it once, and Howe did it twice. So that's 5 more times this has been done.

I'll correct that. (Lemieux did do it twice, though only 'outright' once, as he tied in assists in '89.)

#4 What do you mean by that? Are you saying he went from 1000 to 2000 points faster than anyone went from 0 to 1000, or am I mis-reading that?

He went from 1 to 1000, and also 1001 to 2000, faster than anyone else went 1 to 1000.

 

[The Panther]

Obscure?! Even this Gretzky homer who goes on to wax poetic about 12 Gretzky overlooks the OBVIOUS.

GRETZKY LED THE LEAGUE IN ASSIST FOR 13 STRAIGHT SEASONS, 16 IN ALL.

I didn't mention that since I thought "leading the league per season" was already known. "The obvious" was what I was trying to avoid.

 

[alko]

Is there any detailed list with all his records?

 

[mrhockey193195]

Across the four seasons of 1982-83 through 1985-86, Gretzky went scoreless in a game just 15 times. I repeat, out of 314 regular season games, he had at least one point in 299 of them. Not once in that stretch did he go back-to-back regular season games without scoring a point. Number of scoreless games by season:

1982-83: 4
1983-84: 3
1984-85: 5
1985-86: 3

That is patently absurd.

 

[The Panther]

Fifteen 5-or-more point games in a season (1983-84) is pretty crazy...

Scoring points in 77 of 80 games (1985-86) is a good one, too.

 

[FerrisRox]

Gretzky wore one-of-a-kind hockey sweaters.

Because of his "jersey tuck" Nike, and later CCM, manufactured his sweaters with their logo on both the bottom left and bottom right of the back of the sweater so that even when Gretzky tucked his jersey in, their logo was still visible.

 

[vikash1987]

Across the four seasons of 1982-83 through 1985-86, Gretzky went scoreless in a game just 15 times. I repeat, out of 314 regular season games, he had at least one point in 299 of them. Not once in that stretch did he go back-to-back regular season games without scoring a point. Number of scoreless games by season:

1982-83: 4
1983-84: 3
1984-85: 5
1985-86: 3

That is patently absurd.

Simply amazing. If you go a layer deeper into the scoreless games for Gretzky in that first season (1982-83)...

• Dec. 9, 1982: Oilers tie against the Kings. Kings goalie is Gary Laskoski. Multiple Oilers miss open nets on Gretzky-assisted plays, and there are other close calls
  
• Jan. 1, 1983: Oilers still win against the Jets. Jets goalies are Doug Soetaert & Ed Staniowski. The Oiler d-men do the scoring: Lowe (2x), Coffey, Gregg
• Jan. 29, 1983: Oilers still win against the Flames. Flames goalie is Reggie Lemelin.
• Mar. 11, 1983: Oilers still win against the Rangers. Rangers goalie is Steve Baker. Gretzky actually hits the post twice in this game, so there's a bit of luck involved

It's impressive that (1) the Oilers go lossless in these games; (2) Gretzky could just as easily have scored in at least a couple of these; and (3) no other household-name goalies in the ENTIRE league managed to keep Gretzky off the scoresheet

 

[Gambitman]

56 empty net goals. The next guy is 40. I would be curious to know how many empty net points he had in his career but I couldn’t find that. He was a threat every time he was on the ice and just never took his foot off the gas.

 

[Big Phil]

There were 4 seasons where he did NOT lead the NHL in assists and even then there is context. 1993 was the first time in his career he did not do this and that was because he played just 45 games. 1995 was the shortened and somewhat disastrous season for him and he finished 9th in assists. 1996 he is getting older but still finishes 5th. Then he leads the NHL the next two seasons and then even in his retirement season he finished 6th.

Think about it, in 1999 a season where Gretzky is basically a small fraction of his former self and he still finishes 6th in assists and was the All-Star Game MVP.

 

[The Panther]

Think about it, in 1999 a season where Gretzky is basically a small fraction of his former self and he still finishes 6th in assists and was the All-Star Game MVP.

Yes, and don't forget he was injured in his final season (missed about a month). At the time of his injury (Feb. 22nd, game 58) he was 2nd in the NHL to Jagr in assists.

 

[authentic]

It's crazy how consistently good he was in the playoffs and in international competitions his entire career. You figure there would be one tournament where by some fluke or playing with injury he would finish under a point per game, but no, not once in 20 years. Even in the 1997 playoffs he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 15 games for New York. Just over a decade later peak Ovechkin had 11 goals and 10 assists in 14 games in his best per game playoff performance of his entire career for context, and I believe that was compared to Gretzky's 2nd worst and last playoff run of his career.

 

[Big Phil]

It's crazy how consistently good he was in the playoffs and in international competitions his entire career. You figure there would be one tournament where by some fluke or playing with injury he would finish under a point per game, but no, not once in 20 years. Even in the 1997 playoffs he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 15 games for New York. Just over a decade later peak Ovechkin had 11 goals and 10 assists in 14 games in his best per game playoff performance of his entire career for context, and I believe that was compared to Gretzky's 2nd worst and last playoff run of his career.

Even when Suter ran him into the boards in 1991 Gretzky still finished at the top of the scoring race for that tournament. I honestly think that since he didn't have Lemieux by his side like in 1987 that he was at least as good in the 1991 tournament. People forget that. This was still Gretzky being Gretzky at this time.

 

[authentic]

Even when Suter ran him into the boards in 1991 Gretzky still finished at the top of the scoring race for that tournament. I honestly think that since he didn't have Lemieux by his side like in 1987 that he was at least as good in the 1991 tournament. People forget that. This was still Gretzky being Gretzky at this time.

I haven't seen as much of this as the 1987 tournament which I own. I could probably check out some games online.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

I think you could make a pretty good bullet point just out of the injuries he played through late career when he easily could have retired.

I believe the core issue when it looked like he would have to retire in 1992-93 was a herniated disc?