What made Gretzky so great?

[greatgazoo]

Let's not forget how he used his "office" behind the net like nobody else. I'd like to see how many goals and assists he created just by setting up back there. In the glory days, it seemed like at least half of his points came from plays where he was set-up behind the net, waiting to find an open winger or d-man.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Simply put, he was a chess player on skates. We have since seen better skaters, better shooters, better checkers, stronger hockey players, virtually better everything. BUT, we'll never see another hockey player with Gretzky's hockey sense. He had what cannot be taught. He was like a car without a blind spot. He knew what defenses were going to try to do to stop him well before the play developed, so he zigged when they tried to zag.

Throw in some of the greatest set of hands you will ever find, exceptional passing skills, accurate shooting ability, great stop-on-a-dime quickness and a cast of awesome talent surrounding him (in Edm, anyway), and what you had was the greatest production in pro sports history. He wasn't so much electrifying as he was mesmerizing.

Oh, and he also wanted to win more than anyone on the ice. When you combine all of those gifts with the desire to be better than anyone else by a lot, well you get 200+ points in a season.

If I had a dollar for every person from my generation who idolized The Great One, I'd be very rich.

 

[greatgazoo]

Simply put, he was a chess player on skates. We have since seen better skaters, better shooters, better checkers, stronger hockey players, virtually better everything. BUT, we'll never see another hockey player with Gretzky's hockey sense. He had what cannot be taught. He was like a car without a blind spot. He knew what defenses were going to try to do to stop him well before the play developed, so he zigged when they tried to zag.

Throw in some of the greatest set of hands you will ever find, exceptional passing skills, accurate shooting ability, great stop-on-a-dime quickness and a cast of awesome talent surrounding him (in Edm, anyway), and what you had was the greatest production in pro sports history. He wasn't so much electrifying as he was mesmerizing.

Oh, and he also wanted to win more than anyone on the ice. When you combine all of those gifts with the desire to be better than anyone else by a lot, well you get 200+ points in a season.

If I had a dollar for every person from my generation who idolized The Great One, I'd be very rich.

Even when he didn't have "awesome talent surrounding him" he was still the best (ie. turning Bernie Nicholls into a 70 goal scorer)

 

[lextune]

...not to mention racking up 137 points as a rookie playing with the likes of Blair MacDonald.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

True, on both Bernie Nicholls and Blair MacDonald. I wasn't slighting The Great One with that comment. There's no doubt he made a great number of good, average and below-average players better than they were. Those two come to mind. There was also Dave Lumley, Bob Kudelski, Chris Kontos, Tomas Sandstrom, Vitali Yachmenev, Shayne Corson and Niklas Sundstrom, just to name a few. Some were good but he turned them great, some were not very good until they played with Wayne.

 

[mco543]

Tomas Sandstrom was a very good player with or without Gretzky. It's just that every time he'd be putting together a great season he'd end up getting injured.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Then you haven't watched Bourque.

I'll take Gretzky's slaphot over Bourque's 8 days a week, and that's not a knock of of Ray. His slapshot is among the very best, especially for defenseman over the last 40 years.

If you're talking about Bourque winning all those all-star game target shooting contests, he was doing that with his wrist shot.

 

[lextune]

I'll take Gretzky's slaphot over Bourque's 8 days a week, and that's not a knock of of Ray. His slapshot is among the very best, especially for defenseman over the last 40 years.

If you're talking about Bourque winning all those all-star game target shooting contests, he was doing that with his wrist shot.

Speaking as someone who literally saw Ray's entire career, (probably 99.8% of his games played actually, (I know; I needed to get a life right? Lol), I can tell you that Bourque used his slapshot, (as great as it was), far less frequently than you might imagine.

Ray's greatness from the point came from his ability to get the puck on net with the wrist shot, snap shot and half-slappers. His accuracy, and ability to find the path to the net quickly was far more important than his shot velocity, and consequently he used the full wind-up type of slapshot far less than Gretzky.

That being said, Bubba did have a ridiculous slap shot. I saw him pick corners time and time again. But I would still give the nod to 99.

 

[Scott1980]

His in entire game!

All these things, you know?

Bad skater? Ever seen someone catch up to him on breakaway?

Weak shot? Maybe. But how many times did he miss the net on a shot? What was his shooting %?

Strength? Ever seen someone knock him off the puck? You couldn't get to him anyway so what's the point in trying THAT?

Endurance? Late in the game (how about overtime, game 2 in '88 vs Calgary?) how many times would get a goal or an assist? All those times he'd be invisible for two periods and then, BANG! He'd go out in period 3 or 4 and just TAKE OVER!

 

[JT Dutch*]

... Gretzky was only of above average straight-ahead speed. But I never saw anyone more agile and balanced on their skates at the time, especially when handling the puck. He could handle the puck on his backhand like it was second nature, and throw in a tight turn or a 360 degree swivel that would screw the rest of the league into the ice. He had tremendous balance, where after spinning on his backhand, he could simply step past defensemen who were checking him, because they were busy regaining/recovering their balance. His lateral movement was amazing and almost effortless. His balance was so good that he could lean away from a hit - like a boxer, he could move just enough so that a hit that seemingly was dead-on turned into just a glancing blow. Wayne had a magnificent stutter-step that would put defenders back on their heels, which in turn gave him more room with which to operate.

The danger of his shot was, in many cases, multiplied by the goaltenders' absolute inability to play him. Gretzky never looked at the goaltender - he looked at the hole the goaltender left, and the goaltender always left something because Gretzky's backhand shot was as good as his forehand. And, if a top corner needed to be picked, no one picked it better than Wayne while on the move and leaning into or away from the shot. Gretzky changed edges so well and so quickly; he could make a backhand pass and be on his forehand and ready for a return pass in an eyeblink. He always kept a tight grip on his stick when he was killing penalties or on the power play, so he could cradle softly even the hardest desperation clearing attempts - so he was forever ready to start the transition game, either by himself with a breakaway or to one-touch it ahead for a teammate. His stick blade was always on the ice, either to accept a pass or tip a shot. The praise for his playmaking genius is well-deserved, but I don't think Gretzky will ever get enough credit for simply executing fundamentals.

Gretzky's genius was to make order out of apparent chaos ... while defenders were scrambling back to establish their defensive positions, while his teammates were trying to find open ice ... Wayne was able to pick through all of the movement and anticipate and seek out the best option, whether it was finding a teammate or making the play and taking the shot himself. Everyone knows he had his "office" behind the net, but he had a "branch office" along the left wing boards, where he could quickly run through his options and hit a guy in stride with him or coming into the play late. Nobody found and exploited open ice faster or more efficiently than Gretzky did, and since he was always thinking a couple plays ahead, he seemed to have an instant answer for anything the defense tried to counter him with.

 

[Sabretip]

The best summation I ever heard or read, and completely agree with after having watched Gretzky over his entire NHL career, came from Phil Esposito, when he said:

"He has total intensity and desire that outweighs anybody else. That, plus all that God-given talent, is what makes him so great."

Sather naturally had reason to be biased but nevertheless offered an equally fair and accurate assessment:

"He's the ultimate team player. He's probably the most unselfish guy we have. Wayne's not playing for himself. He's playing for the team and he doesn't want to lose at anything."

 

[Sabretip]

... Gretzky was only of above average straight-ahead speed. But I never saw anyone more agile and balanced on their skates at the time, especially when handling the puck. He could handle the puck on his backhand like it was second nature, and throw in a tight turn or a 360 degree swivel that would screw the rest of the league into the ice. He had tremendous balance, where after spinning on his backhand, he could simply step past defensemen who were checking him, because they were busy regaining/recovering their balance. His lateral movement was amazing and almost effortless. His balance was so good that he could lean away from a hit - like a boxer, he could move just enough so that a hit that seemingly was dead-on turned into just a glancing blow. Wayne had a magnificent stutter-step that would put defenders back on their heels, which in turn gave him more room with which to operate.

The danger of his shot was, in many cases, multiplied by the goaltenders' absolute inability to play him. Gretzky never looked at the goaltender - he looked at the hole the goaltender left, and the goaltender always left something because Gretzky's backhand shot was as good as his forehand. And, if a top corner needed to be picked, no one picked it better than Wayne while on the move and leaning into or away from the shot. Gretzky changed edges so well and so quickly; he could make a backhand pass and be on his forehand and ready for a return pass in an eyeblink. He always kept a tight grip on his stick when he was killing penalties or on the power play, so he could cradle softly even the hardest desperation clearing attempts - so he was forever ready to start the transition game, either by himself with a breakaway or to one-touch it ahead for a teammate. His stick blade was always on the ice, either to accept a pass or tip a shot. The praise for his playmaking genius is well-deserved, but I don't think Gretzky will ever get enough credit for simply executing fundamentals.

Gretzky's genius was to make order out of apparent chaos ... while defenders were scrambling back to establish their defensive positions, while his teammates were trying to find open ice ... Wayne was able to pick through all of the movement and anticipate and seek out the best option, whether it was finding a teammate or making the play and taking the shot himself. Everyone knows he had his "office" behind the net, but he had a "branch office" along the left wing boards, where he could quickly run through his options and hit a guy in stride with him or coming into the play late. Nobody found and exploited open ice faster or more efficiently than Gretzky did, and since he was always thinking a couple plays ahead, he seemed to have an instant answer for anything the defense tried to counter him with.

Excellent, well-thought out and succinctly described post!