Gretzky was undrafted because he was signed by the WHA, a league competing with the NHL. In the NHL there was a rule where a player had to be 20 before they could sign, the WHA didn't have those rules and signed all the best young players they could. Gretzky was one of them, joining the league at 17. A year or two later the WHA would be absorbed by the NHL in 1979 and Wayne would start rewriting the record books from then. Also, a good few of NHL players didn't start off in college but in major junior leagues. Which is the highest level for young players from the ages of 16 to 21 in Canada. The US has their own in the USHL. In Europe, like Sweden, teen prospects will usually play against men in their top league (for Sweden it's the SHL, or Swedish Hockey League) if they are good enough. Prospects can also be found in college and even high-school. Lots of places to look for talent.
I think they're mistaken about the whole "minor league" thing... the WHA was a major league just like NHL, but I can imagine having to compete with another league with much bigger markets, that's why the WHA and NHL merged (bringing the total of NHL teams from 17 to 21) and the former WHA teams (with the exception of the Oilers) didn't fare too well because of it.
@@QuackAttack While you're right about the WHA, I think he was referring to the fact that most pro hockey players of that era were drafted from major junior, not college.
Wayne Gretzky was the fastest player to hit 1000 points. He was also second fastest player to hit 1000 points, which was his second time hitting 1000 points.
and in one season he had 92 goals 120 assists for 212 points... that record will never ever be broken... insane record... any more to even reach 50 in a season in a feat...
Try to find yourself a decent amount of Bobby Orr or Mario Lemieux highlights. Both of them actually played hockey. Wayne was figure skater with a really great shot and outstanding passing skills (and having six other 30 goal scorers on the best team ever assembled certainly helped)... nobody was allowed to hit him, though
@@nonenone7250 well that was actually 3 records. Most goals in a season, most assists in a season, and most points in a season. The 92 goal record still stands and is safe for a while at least. 120 assists has been beaten 5 times since then, but all by Gretzky (125 in 82-83, 135 in 84-85, 163 in 85-86, 121 in 86-87, and 122 in 90-91) and 212 points has been beaten once, also by Gretzky (215 in 85-86)
Gordie Howe was known as Mr. Hockey for good reason. He played for 26 seasons in the NHL (plus 6 years in the WHA). He played with both of his sons when he was in his 50’s.
The summer after my first year of Pee-wee league, I think I was 6 or 7, I attended a week long hockey camp, and Gordie was a guest coach one of the days. They told us all to line up at center ice, and be quiet, when he came walking out of the locker room to the ice, I swore I could feel the ground shaking, I know I was a little kid, but he was a monster of a man, with even a bigger heart!
The other teams left Gretzky alone in terms of roughing him up. I lived in Edmonton, Alberta Canada when he was coming up in the Oilers. We used to say it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. In Canada back in the 50s and 60, most dads would run a hose and flood the back yard with water in order for us kids to skate. Gretzky grew up like that. He became #1. Amazing man. And humble too.
Making a reckless run at him would open up more ice for him to make you look stupid or get off a great pass. The #99 is retired for ALL teams in the NHL.
He was just so hard to check, you see guys in this attempting to, he just makes them look like it's their first day on skates. It's almost like he had eyes, all around his head. I'm in St. Louis, so I got to see him play a couple times near the end of his career. Brett Hull used to come to our firefighters Union Hall once in a while, we got a real nice bar open to the public, he got to telling stories to a group of us near closing one night, he said he'd never played with or seen another player in his life, that had such extreme situational awareness of every single thing that was going on anywhere on the ice and any given time during play. He's like, I swear he's either an alien or got some superhero shit that happened to him as a kid...lol.
The other teams left him alone because of the unwritten Bobby Orr rule. Orr was blasted out of the game before he was 30 years old by dirty hits, cheap shots, and people targeting his knees for years. when he retired, every arena in the NHL became a ghost town for a couple years. Then Gretzky came in and started putting butts back in the seats. That was the end of purposefully trying to injure the one guy who fills every seat in every Arena
@@dimestorephilosopher3308 the NHL/ all the owners kept him from getting abused. He was about to become their big time money maker. They knew that if he had to play the same game that the guys before him had played, he never would have lasted five years
Gretzky had a total of 1,072 goals in his career. That "802" number was the goal that beat the previous record of 801 career goals by Gordie Howe {Howe is pronounced "How"} . Gretzky also holds the record assist at 2222 including playoffs
Ever seen any Ron Hextall highlights? I told thw guys about a Goride Howe Hat Trick. But if they didn't like the 80's quality TV Howe clip might be a challenge for them...
@@chaseparsons7040 Cause they retired number 6 last year so moving forward it cant be worn, but players who all ready wear it can wear it out to retirement or until they change their number
Gordie Howe has an unofficial stat named after him, its called the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick". Instead of scoring 3 goals like a normal hat trick, you score 1 goal, get 1 assist, and win one fight.
@1:19, the reason you don't see anybody hitting Gretzky is because if someone did, Gretzky's teammates, particularly Dave Semenko and Marty McSorely would quickly kick the ever living shit out of anybody that even tried to lay a finger on Gretzky. Again, you REALLY SHOULD WATCH the video that explains THE CODE. The unwritten but highly enforced rules of the game as policed by the players themselves. It will help all of you all to truly have a better understanding of the game of hockey. Nice reaction. Cheers.
Yes, the game was different back then and guys like Semenko, Tiger Williams etc. weren’t just tough, they were solid players too. And keep in mind Gretzky was really really hard to hit which sometimes he doesn’t get enough credit for. McCreary for one really laid him out
Loved McSorely, I'm in the Lou, so my guy was Tony Twist, him n McSorely never scrapped, just a few pushing matches refs broke up. I will say this, McSorely was part of what is arguably the best and longest heavy weight fight in hockey in recent history, against none other than Probert! ua-cam.com/video/QIgfbfaTtLY/v-deo.html
what's crazy about most of the Gretzky videos is that by and large his greatest ability was that he could make passes to his teammates that no one else could even think let alone execute and these videos almost never show that. if you can find a video that shows his passing ability you guys really need to check it out.
One of hockey's greatest achievements is 50 goals in 50 games. It’s only ever been reached by five players. On Dec. 30th 1981, Wayne scored 5 goals against The Philadelphia Flyers to score 50 goals in…39 games. He is forever simply “The Great One”. Do a bit of a dive down the Gretzky rabbit hole and you’ll be amazed. Great reaction!
Gordie Howe ) pronounced like "how" was a legend. The Gordie Howe hat trick was known as a goal, an assist and a fight in one game. He was solid as a wall, could handle and shoot the puck right or left-handed. He played into his 50s in the NHL. Amazing guy!
Gretzky had some of the best fighters in the game protecting him. If anyone managed to hit Gretzky , they ended up paying a very high price. In that era, that's how the game was played.
Same era as Gretzky (#99) is Mario Lemieux (#66), multi Stanley Cup winner in the 90's lineup. Very good leader and known for puck handling/top fakie shooter. Puts it in the 5-hole a lot (between the legs). The best montage out there for him rn I think is "Mario Lemieux || Career Highlights || 1984-2006"
The injuries(especially the back) & Hodgkins are the only things that slowed down Super Mario, even Wayne admits he was more skilled than him. Mario was amazing, but Wayne had him, & everybody else, in the hockey IQ department. What an era, Wayne, Mario, Stevie Y, Brett Hull, Pavel Bure, Sergei Federov, Eric Lindros & so many more, & that's just mentioning the forwards.
@@chizorama I always thought Mario's size and reach allowed him to do certain power moves that would be physically impossible for the much smaller Gretzky. But I felt Gretzky's overall talent was just a bit more impressive. But one can agree to disagree because they both along with Bobby Orr were the rarest masters of the game of Hockey and a joy to watch.
I don't think you guys honestly realize jow much a goat Wayne is. In my opinion he is the goat of sports when you account his accolades and records, he's just miles ahead of everyone. MILES.
If Wayne Gretzky had never scored a single goal in his entire 20 year career, he'd still be the NHL's all time points leader just from his assists: 1,963. Jaromir Jagr is 2nd in all time points with 1,921. He has more assists than the next guy has points!
Wayne Gretzky is undoubtedly the greatest sports athlete ever he owns almost every single record there’s to own in the sport and he has 9mvps the most in any sport and just say he never scored a goal he’d still have the record for most points in a career his records are literally untouchable
Gretzky dominated hockey for sure, but calling him the great sports athlete ever is a bit much in my opinion. Jim Thorpe, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, LBJ etc might have something to say about that. And this is coming from a Canadian that grew up watching hockey & Wayne Gretzky.
@@ryanc9888 doesn’t matter where you came from. Name me one other person who can manage to achieve 9 mvps and hold 61 records more than half of them are deemed unbeatable. He has 10 art Ross trophies most people don’t even play for 10 years and he lead it for half his career. Name me anyone in any sport that can manage to win 8 consecutive mvps
Gordie Howe! He's from my home city, basically. Apparently, back in the day, he showed up at my grandparents' farm with some family, I think he was young. They were going berry picking in the area, maybe looking for someone who knew a good spot! Anyways, he's a legend in Saskatchewan, and Canada really.
You asked about what it is called when you hit the puck. It is called a shot, but there are different kinds, so it was a valid question. When you haul off and raise that stick high above your shoulder and hit with power it is called a slap shot, when you flick it low from the ice it is a wrist shot because you use your wrist to move your stick that way. A backhand shot iß when you use the back of the stick opposite from the way you shoot. You asked why no one took him out. If someone goes to him, they lose any position they have on him, and he could usually get away or pass the puck, then you are behind. Also, Gretzy is smaller guy, he never fought, but the rest of the team would always defend him, and there were guys on the team just to protect him. If anyone hit Wayne there would be massive retaliation, and they would probably get a penalty. Wayne was a prodigy, he pretty much ruled from the time he started. In hockey there is a minor league system and most guys don't go to University or College. They finish high school, maybe play Junior hockey for a few years and then go to their draft team. In Canada most guys and girls start hockey around the age of 4.
Whoever's reading this, i pray that whatever you're going through gets better and whatever you're struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day! Amen
His precision and timing is impeccable!He was born to play hockey for sure!It was fun watching the look on your faces as he slapped in shot after shot!🏒🤯😁👏
he had a cereal and a Saturday morning cartoon..Wayne Gretzky's Pro Stars was the cereal..in the cartoon he fought crime or something with Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson..
At 1:05, that's good picture quality for the '80s. Before we got cable TV in 1982, when I was 12, the UHF station I watched hockey on was so far away that there was always at least a little bit of static on the screen. I had to fiddle with the rabbit-ears antenna to get rid of as much of it as I could. At least the living room TV was in color; the one in my bedroom was black-and-white!
you should watch "Gretzky's most insane records" video. He's basically the Wilt Chamberlain of Hockey.... his records are probably the best in all of sports history. For 1, they could assists as points in Hockey... He is the number 1 scorer of all time by far. If you put Wayne Gretzkys points at 0 .... he is STILL the leading scorer just off assists alone. He has more assists than 2nd place has points. He scored more 5 point games in his career, than he scored 0 point games. His stats are like 3 careers compared to 2nd place guys. Its fucking insane lol
@@davidigleniec2483 I'm a huge Red Wings fan and Pavel is fucking incredible. But even as great as he was. he was not on Gretzky's level. No one has been or probably ever will be.
Fellas, Wayne Gretzky aka The Great One is a Canadien born hockey player that has many records that there r some that still have not been broken. Tae Glory, the shot is called a Slapshot. Glad U enjoy the Great one do his magic on the hockey rink.
You guys want to see a wild hockey game. Type in Minnesota North Stars vs Boston Bruins, most penalized game in history. A fight breaks out with something like 50 seconds into the game. The fight goes into the stands. It is unbelievable. The Bruins had been picking on the North Stars for years. It finally came to a head. Check it out.
Yes, Edmonton in Alberta ... Canada's Texas. Also, there are wrist shots, snap shot, slap shots and when they shoot from a pass without stopping it, it's a one timer. Break away, instead of a fast break.
Gretzky told a story in his autobiography about how he was playing in a charity game with Howe and on the bench he told Howe "man this guy's all over me, grabbing and holding, I can't do anything" so Howe told him "next time you get the puck down the wing pass it off and immediately cut across center ice, I got you" so Gretzky gets the puck up the wing, he passes it off and peels off to center ice and hears this huge crashing sound, he looks back and sees Gordie smiling and the guy pestering Gretzky is laying there in a heap of unconsciousness.
There are different types of "shots" - wayne was performing a lot of slap shots in this video. There's the most common wrist shot, snap shot (my favourite) backhand, tip in, one timer and a range of trick shots.
Wayne Gretzky took up ballet that's why he's so good and so damn talented!! Ballet gave him the agility and discipline and smoothness that he demonstrated out on the ice!! Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were unstoppable and possib!y the two best hockey players of all time!!! I mean how many assists did Lemieux make off the tip of Wayne's Gretzky's stick!!
Wayne Gretzky has more assists than anyone else has goals + assists in history. He also has the most goals in history. Hockey is the only sport that doesn't have a goat debate.
This is kind of a weird stat, but I love it. Wayne Gretzky and his brother Brent have the most combined points by 2 brothers in NHL history...Brent had 4. The only multiple brothers to beat them are the 6 Sutter brothers who lead by 73 points combined.
Not only is Gretzky number one in Goals with 894 but he is also number one in assists with 1,963 making him the "Great One". As a child Gretzky was so obsessed over hockey he would watch games with a notepad sideways like a hockey court before video games and with a pen he would trace the puck movement as he watched the game and then after the game he would look at the piece of paper to see where all the intersections were so that he could understand puck movement/flow.
Yea that’s cool. Lemieux came in and put up monster numbers on a not dynasty roster. When he finally got help, cancer/back problems came along, but he still managed to dominate. Performing magic on your own will always overshadow magic with assistance. Put Wayne on the penguins and his name would be just in the mix
you boys might want to check out probably the strongest player to ever play. He is a black American at 6'5" 240. Hardest hitting player to ever play. Dustin Byfuglien AKA Big Buff
Two reasons why no one lit Wayne Gretzky up: 1. Not many could catch him. One guy went one way and Wayne slipped out the other. If two guys tried to cut off both ways he made a pass that would be a goal or he found a way to slip out. 2. Marty McSorley. Anyone who DID light him up had to deal with Marty. Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL records for Goals-894.....Assists-1963.....for a total of 2857 pts FUN FACT: Even if you minus Gretzky's 894 goals and just charted his 1963 assists he would STILL have the most points ever because the 2nd most scored points ever was Jaromir Jagr with only 1921 points. FUN FACT #2: Wayne Gretzky holds or shares 61 records listed in the NHL's Official Guide and Record Book: 40 for the regular season, 15 for the Stanley Cup playoffs and six for the All-Star Game.
Gretzkey dominated the NHL more than MJ, Messi, Tiger Woods, did their sports.... and its really not that close. I'm not a big hockey fan but this he is the GOAT of GOATS.
A "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" is a goal, an assist and a fight. You guys need to do a Ron Hextall highlight clip. THAT GOALIE holds records for fights, goals and penalty minutes 🤯 Gretzky is Canadian, Brantford, Ontario. Apparently his Peripheral vision was exceptional so... 🤷♂️ it helped with his passing skill and presence of mind overall.
My father grew up in the same city as Gretzky and his siblings, and went to the same school as his younger brothers in Brantford, Ontario. He wasn’t his personal friend and he was older than my dad, but everyone in town knew he was going to be a professional hockey player by high school.
Wayne Gretzky was a hockey Prodigy from Edmonton he spent a lot of time on that frozen pond behind his house crafting his game and his amazing Puck handling skills along with his blazing fast Puck shots! There's a reason why he's called the great one he signed with the Edmonton Minor League system at age 16 in 1977 and then was brought to the big ball Club in 1979 when he was 18 and they won five Stanley Cups Edmonton Oilers did but he had a little help he had a Defender named Mark Messier who was on his Squad in Edmonton who he eventually joined squads with in 1994 when he joined the New York Rangers! Unfortunately they weren't able to reclaim the glory that they once had in Edmonton because Gretzky had signed right after New York had just won a Stanley Cup! Once Gretzky left Edmonton for Los Angeles he never achieved greatness in the playoffs again! I would have liked to have seen him stay in Edmonton I think they could have competed with Montreal as the greatest hockey team ever along with the Detroit Red Wings! That's who Gordie Howe played for! I believe Gretzky is still the only one who leads not only in goals but also in assists! You have to understand in one season he scored 92 goals that was in the 1981 and 1982 season which they went on to win the Stanley Cup! I guess if you tally up all the goals he scored in the playoffs it would be well over a hundred for the season! Mario Lemieux came close and the 1996-97 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and they want to Stanley Cup and he had a little left-winger that he could pass the puck to by the name of Yaomir Yager!
stumbled on your channel and dig it fellas love the camaraderie....coming from Denver Avs just won the Stanley Cup ...check the highlights and especially Cale Makar... definitely subscribing keep up the good work!!!
He played on a pond in his backyard from a very young age. He was born and raised in Brantford Ontario, Canada. He is considered the best hockey player who ever lived.
In the NHL fans versions of Fantasy Leagues, Wayne Gretzky was so great that he was divided into 2 different players. People could draft Wayne by Goals in the season, and another person could draft Wayne by assists in a season. In Hockey a goal = 1 point and assists = 1point. Wayne is the all time goal scoring leader in NHL history, but more amazingly if you took away all his goals and just added up his points from assists he is still the leading point producer in NHL History. Wayne's impact; Because of Wayne there is Hockey in Southern American States. In 1988 "The Great One" was shockingly traded from a Canadian team to the Los Angeles Kings. In the next years 5 new American Teams joined the NHL, Teams were now in Tampa Bay, Florida, San Jose, and Anaheim. Since his trade 5 new American teams have won the Cup some several times. Kids playing youth hockey increased 220 % in California. For fun watch videos of Wayne and Charles Barkley interacting, two very different personalities with so much respect for each other.
The area behind the net you’ll often hear announcers calling it Gretzky’s office because of how he would use the area to let plays evolve and years after his retirement, they still say that to this day when a player sets up behind the net.
I first heard of Wayne Gretzky from the Epic Rap Battle with Wayne vs Tony Hawk. I went into that such a die hard Tony hawk fan. I left that battle a massive Wayne Gretzky fan.
Gretzky has more assits then any other player has goal and assists combined. If Gretzky never scored a goal ever. He would still be the all time points leader in the nhl
Thanks for watching "The G.O.A.T Wayne Gretzky". No one can out do him. But he was a humble man... always gave Mark Messier who always always was his assist man. I wore his jersey with pride ..99. Proud to be a Canadian! 🙂
That’s why they call him “THE GREAT ONE” And he’s a nice guy too. Early in his hockey career before he got that title he was dating a girl in our neighborhood. She lived on Booth Ave. Just a couple of blocks from (I’m sure you’ll know this street name) D’Grassi and he would join in the neighborhood tag football games in the local rec. field @ Jimmy Simpson park in Toronto.
He played for the Edmonton Oilers then was traded to the LA Kings in 1993 (I believe)...that is when I became a hockey fan and had Kings season tickets for 3 years. Gretzky brought hockey to California and now it's a phenomenon here with 3 hockey teams. Gretzky is the greatest of all-time...The Great One!!!
Many years ago I took a friend to a hockey game. She knew nothing about hockey, but noticed Wayne on the ice, and remarked that there was something different about him. He skated in circles instead of straight up and down the ice. Later in that game Gretzky swooped in from nowhere stole the puck and scored a goal. Even tho she knew nothing about the game, she recognized that Wayne was special.
Gretzky was essentially untouchable. As are his records. Even if you remove all of his goals from his career, he has more assists than anyone else has goals and assists combined.
He's from Brantford, Ontario and played for the Edmonton, Oilers....then the LA Kings. But, he was great as an Oiler. He has an amazing winery in Niagara on the lake, Ontario!
The quality was clear back in the day. Both live TV and on highlight videos. Growing up in the 90s, I got to watch prime Gretzky, Jordan, Griffey, Bo and Barry Sanders (from Detroit, saw almost every Barry run). Gordie Howe may be the greatest player in Detroit Sports history.(Barry, Ty Cobb, Joe Louis, Isiah Thomas, Steve Yzerman rounds out my top 6) If you've never heard of Pete Sampras and Mario Lemeiux, they were both dominant in the 90s and all time greats.
Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, the NHL itself, and by The Hockey News, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records. After his retirement in 1999, Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, making him the most recent player to have the waiting period waived. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only hockey player and one of only three players in professional sports history to receive such an honor, along with Jackie Robinson, whose uniform number 42 was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997, and Bill Russell, whose uniform number 6 was retired by the National Basketball Association in 2022
Fun fact lol, shin splints usually means laces weren't tight as they could have been or as high up as they could go. Or the size of the skate wasn't just right (or both).
FYI: there are 3 20 minute periods in a hockey game. Gretzky played for the Edmonton Oilers. Won 4 Stanley cups. Also Gordie Howe was Wayne’s Favourite and his number was 9 which is why Wayne wears 99.
Gotta react to Mario Lemieux and Connor McDavid next. You wont be disappointed! a GOAT list for hockey would look something like this: 1. Gretzky (80s-90s) 2. Bobby Orr (70s defenceman) 3. Mario Lemieux (80s-90s) 4. Gordie Howe (50s-70s) 5. Jean Beliveau (50s-70s) 6. Sidney Crosby (05-present) 7. Alex Ovechkin (05-present) 8. Bobby Hull (60s-70s) 9. Jaromir Jagr (90s-10s) 10. Rocket Richard (40s-50s) HM. Dominik Hasek (90s-00s goalie)
After watching highlights by McDavid or Crosby, Gretzky highlights may seem underwhelming. But make no mistake, he was the first to use the entire ice surface with that kind of creativity and vision. I didn’t watch a lot of Gretzky growing up as I lived on the east coast and he played most of his career on the west coast. But after having watched the game my whole life and developed a true understanding of how it’s played I can now fully appreciate the brilliance and vision that he had. His father taught him from a young age to not go where the puck is but to where the puck is going to be and Gretzky always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Nobody since has had the combined skill and innate understanding that he does. It’s been said that he possessed a birds eye view of the whole rink even while playing at ice level and I think that best describes his game.
The fastest 50 goals scored was in 50 games, until Wayne was at 45 in 38 games. The press was all about Wayne scoring 5 goals in the next 2 games to reach 50 in 40. Game 39 was against the Flyers where Wayne netted 5 to reach 50 in 39.
notice guys that on the boards there is no adverts it was that way up to the early 1990s... and during games they did not put the stats on the screen....
In hockey, points are the total of goals and assists. Even subtracting goals from his points total, he remains the all time leading scorer based on his assists alone. Yes, my friends, that is a incredible fact.
Gretzky is the GOAT! The only current player that may, may, have a chance at dethrowning him is Connor McDavid, however Connor Badard is about to make his mark in the NHL. When comparing current players, ie Ovechkin, Crosbie, Mathews... you must consider that Gretzky played his entire career in the Obstruction Era with an actual wooden hockey stick. Now, any hooking, holding, back checking...is a penalty and may even be a penalty shot. Additionally, like all sports, the current sticks are composites which give the 'stick' a flex range that results in a whiplash or slingshot effect when the pick is shot. This increases the speed of the puck by a significant margin. There are a lot of analytics that equalize the differences in the various hockey eras. These show Gretzky was on a different plane of hockey existence. If you ask most NHL hockey players, other than Gretzky, they will likewise acknowledge Gretzky as the best.
Gretzky was undrafted because he was signed by the WHA, a league competing with the NHL. In the NHL there was a rule where a player had to be 20 before they could sign, the WHA didn't have those rules and signed all the best young players they could. Gretzky was one of them, joining the league at 17. A year or two later the WHA would be absorbed by the NHL in 1979 and Wayne would start rewriting the record books from then.
Also, a good few of NHL players didn't start off in college but in major junior leagues. Which is the highest level for young players from the ages of 16 to 21 in Canada. The US has their own in the USHL. In Europe, like Sweden, teen prospects will usually play against men in their top league (for Sweden it's the SHL, or Swedish Hockey League) if they are good enough. Prospects can also be found in college and even high-school. Lots of places to look for talent.
I think they're mistaken about the whole "minor league" thing... the WHA was a major league just like NHL, but I can imagine having to compete with another league with much bigger markets, that's why the WHA and NHL merged (bringing the total of NHL teams from 17 to 21) and the former WHA teams (with the exception of the Oilers) didn't fare too well because of it.
@@QuackAttack While you're right about the WHA, I think he was referring to the fact that most pro hockey players of that era were drafted from major junior, not college.
At one time Gretzky held 70 NHL records. He still owns 61 records even though he retired in 1999…
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@@Comedyvibesfuck jesus
@@ComedyvibesAMEN 🙏
He’s definitely the GOAT of hockey
Wayne Gretzky was the fastest player to hit 1000 points. He was also second fastest player to hit 1000 points, which was his second time hitting 1000 points.
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and in one season he had 92 goals 120 assists for 212 points... that record will never ever be broken... insane record... any more to even reach 50 in a season in a feat...
He scored 1036 points in 5 seasons!
Try to find yourself a decent amount of Bobby Orr or Mario Lemieux highlights. Both of them actually played hockey. Wayne was figure skater with a really great shot and outstanding passing skills (and having six other 30 goal scorers on the best team ever assembled certainly helped)... nobody was allowed to hit him, though
@@nonenone7250 well that was actually 3 records. Most goals in a season, most assists in a season, and most points in a season. The 92 goal record still stands and is safe for a while at least. 120 assists has been beaten 5 times since then, but all by Gretzky (125 in 82-83, 135 in 84-85, 163 in 85-86, 121 in 86-87, and 122 in 90-91) and 212 points has been beaten once, also by Gretzky (215 in 85-86)
Gordie Howe was known as Mr. Hockey for good reason. He played for 26 seasons in the NHL (plus 6 years in the WHA). He played with both of his sons when he was in his 50’s.
He also came back in his 70's to play again.
Howe was a monster. Only player with a hat trick named after him. Still my all time favorite player.
@@DangerClose0608 Gordie Howe only had 2 Gordie Howe hat tricks... Jarome Iginla had around 10..
@@scottward2366 odd that they’d name it literally the Gordie Howe hat trick
The summer after my first year of Pee-wee league, I think I was 6 or 7, I attended a week long hockey camp, and Gordie was a guest coach one of the days. They told us all to line up at center ice, and be quiet, when he came walking out of the locker room to the ice, I swore I could feel the ground shaking, I know I was a little kid, but he was a monster of a man, with even a bigger heart!
The other teams left Gretzky alone in terms of roughing him up. I lived in Edmonton, Alberta Canada when he was coming up in the Oilers. We used to say it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. In Canada back in the 50s and 60, most dads would run a hose and flood the back yard with water in order for us kids to skate. Gretzky grew up like that. He became #1. Amazing man. And humble too.
Making a reckless run at him would open up more ice for him to make you look stupid or get off a great pass. The #99 is retired for ALL teams in the NHL.
He was just so hard to check, you see guys in this attempting to, he just makes them look like it's their first day on skates. It's almost like he had eyes, all around his head. I'm in St. Louis, so I got to see him play a couple times near the end of his career. Brett Hull used to come to our firefighters Union Hall once in a while, we got a real nice bar open to the public, he got to telling stories to a group of us near closing one night, he said he'd never played with or seen another player in his life, that had such extreme situational awareness of every single thing that was going on anywhere on the ice and any given time during play. He's like, I swear he's either an alien or got some superhero shit that happened to him as a kid...lol.
The other teams left him alone because of the unwritten Bobby Orr rule. Orr was blasted out of the game before he was 30 years old by dirty hits, cheap shots, and people targeting his knees for years. when he retired, every arena in the NHL became a ghost town for a couple years. Then Gretzky came in and started putting butts back in the seats. That was the end of purposefully trying to injure the one guy who fills every seat in every Arena
People like McSorley kept the other team from messing with Gretzky, too.
@@dimestorephilosopher3308 the NHL/ all the owners kept him from getting abused. He was about to become their big time money maker. They knew that if he had to play the same game that the guys before him had played, he never would have lasted five years
Gretzky had a total of 1,072 goals in his career. That "802" number was the goal that beat the previous record of 801 career goals by Gordie Howe {Howe is pronounced "How"} . Gretzky also holds the record assist at 2222 including playoffs
Gretzky scored 894 goals
React to 300 Montana boyz
Ever seen any Ron Hextall highlights? I told thw guys about a Goride Howe Hat Trick. But if they didn't like the 80's quality TV Howe clip might be a challenge for them...
894
I was like no! “How” not Howie! LOL
One of the only players in all sports to have his number retired throughput the league #GOAT💯💯
Jackie Robinson in the MLB and Bill Russell in the NBA
NBA has no league wide retired numbers. There are many players who wear #6 in the league.
@@chaseparsons7040 Cause they retired number 6 last year so moving forward it cant be worn, but players who all ready wear it can wear it out to retirement or until they change their number
Gordie Howe has an unofficial stat named after him, its called the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick". Instead of scoring 3 goals like a normal hat trick, you score 1 goal, get 1 assist, and win one fight.
The thing is.. He only ever had 2... Iginla had 10 or 11 Gordie Howe hat tricks..
Gordie loved a good fight!
I love you guys! Reminds me of me hanging out watching sports highlights 30 years ago with my buddies before the internet on ESPN sport center!
@1:19, the reason you don't see anybody hitting Gretzky is because if someone did, Gretzky's teammates, particularly Dave Semenko and Marty McSorely would quickly kick the ever living shit out of anybody that even tried to lay a finger on Gretzky.
Again, you REALLY SHOULD WATCH the video that explains THE CODE. The unwritten but highly enforced rules of the game as policed by the players themselves. It will help all of you all to truly have a better understanding of the game of hockey.
Nice reaction.
Cheers.
came here to say this, you even included mcsorely's reference. thanks and couldnt agree more, same thing i always heard too.
Yes, the game was different back then and guys like Semenko, Tiger Williams etc. weren’t just tough, they were solid players too. And keep in mind Gretzky was really really hard to hit which sometimes he doesn’t get enough credit for. McCreary for one really laid him out
@@mccullochmike yes, I remember. Then McCreary never played another shift in the NHL. lol
Loved McSorely, I'm in the Lou, so my guy was Tony Twist, him n McSorely never scrapped, just a few pushing matches refs broke up. I will say this, McSorely was part of what is arguably the best and longest heavy weight fight in hockey in recent history, against none other than Probert! ua-cam.com/video/QIgfbfaTtLY/v-deo.html
Never forget Semenko boxed Muhammed Ali and held his own, McSorley was tough, Semenko was a whole other level of scary
what's crazy about most of the Gretzky videos is that by and large his greatest ability was that he could make passes to his teammates that no one else could even think let alone execute and these videos almost never show that. if you can find a video that shows his passing ability you guys really need to check it out.
One of hockey's greatest achievements is 50 goals in 50 games. It’s only ever been reached by five players. On Dec. 30th 1981, Wayne scored 5 goals against The Philadelphia Flyers to score 50 goals in…39 games. He is forever simply “The Great One”. Do a bit of a dive down the Gretzky rabbit hole and you’ll be amazed. Great reaction!
Gordie Howe ) pronounced like "how" was a legend. The Gordie Howe hat trick was known as a goal, an assist and a fight in one game. He was solid as a wall, could handle and shoot the puck right or left-handed. He played into his 50s in the NHL. Amazing guy!
Gretzky had some of the best fighters in the game protecting him. If anyone managed to hit Gretzky , they ended up paying a very high price. In that era, that's how the game was played.
Gretzky was also the assist leader of all time in fact he has more assists then anyone eles has goals and assists combined
Same era as Gretzky (#99) is Mario Lemieux (#66), multi Stanley Cup winner in the 90's lineup. Very good leader and known for puck handling/top fakie shooter. Puts it in the 5-hole a lot (between the legs). The best montage out there for him rn I think is "Mario Lemieux || Career Highlights || 1984-2006"
Mario's highlight reel is probably more appealing to these guys vs Wayne's
The injuries(especially the back) & Hodgkins are the only things that slowed down Super Mario, even Wayne admits he was more skilled than him. Mario was amazing, but Wayne had him, & everybody else, in the hockey IQ department. What an era, Wayne, Mario, Stevie Y, Brett Hull, Pavel Bure, Sergei Federov, Eric Lindros & so many more, & that's just mentioning the forwards.
@@chizorama I always thought Mario's size and reach allowed him to do certain power moves that would be physically impossible for the much smaller Gretzky. But I felt Gretzky's overall talent was just a bit more impressive. But one can agree to disagree because they both along with Bobby Orr were the rarest masters of the game of Hockey and a joy to watch.
You want to see some crazy puck skills go watch some Pavel Datsyuk highlights.
I don't think you guys honestly realize jow much a goat Wayne is. In my opinion he is the goat of sports when you account his accolades and records, he's just miles ahead of everyone. MILES.
If Wayne Gretzky had never scored a single goal in his entire 20 year career, he'd still be the NHL's all time points leader just from his assists: 1,963.
Jaromir Jagr is 2nd in all time points with 1,921.
He has more assists than the next guy has points!
Wayne Gretzky is undoubtedly the greatest sports athlete ever he owns almost every single record there’s to own in the sport and he has 9mvps the most in any sport and just say he never scored a goal he’d still have the record for most points in a career his records are literally untouchable
Gretzky dominated hockey for sure, but calling him the great sports athlete ever is a bit much in my opinion. Jim Thorpe, Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, LBJ etc might have something to say about that. And this is coming from a Canadian that grew up watching hockey & Wayne Gretzky.
@@ryanc9888 doesn’t matter where you came from. Name me one other person who can manage to achieve 9 mvps and hold 61 records more than half of them are deemed unbeatable. He has 10 art Ross trophies most people don’t even play for 10 years and he lead it for half his career. Name me anyone in any sport that can manage to win 8 consecutive mvps
Only player to have his number retired league wide
@@angelolagrutta4679 Look at the team he had
@@angelolagrutta4679 well hockey is different from other sports
Gordie Howe! He's from my home city, basically. Apparently, back in the day, he showed up at my grandparents' farm with some family, I think he was young. They were going berry picking in the area, maybe looking for someone who knew a good spot! Anyways, he's a legend in Saskatchewan, and Canada really.
You asked about what it is called when you hit the puck. It is called a shot, but there are different kinds, so it was a valid question. When you haul off and raise that stick high above your shoulder and hit with power it is called a slap shot, when you flick it low from the ice it is a wrist shot because you use your wrist to move your stick that way. A backhand shot iß when you use the back of the stick opposite from the way you shoot.
You asked why no one took him out. If someone goes to him, they lose any position they have on him, and he could usually get away or pass the puck, then you are behind. Also, Gretzy is smaller guy, he never fought, but the rest of the team would always defend him, and there were guys on the team just to protect him. If anyone hit Wayne there would be massive retaliation, and they would probably get a penalty. Wayne was a prodigy, he pretty much ruled from the time he started. In hockey there is a minor league system and most guys don't go to University or College. They finish high school, maybe play Junior hockey for a few years and then go to their draft team. In Canada most guys and girls start hockey around the age of 4.
truly the Great One, most goals, most assists and of course most points.. by far
Whoever's reading this, i pray that whatever you're going through gets better and whatever you're struggling with or worrying about is going to be fine and that everyone has a fantastic day! Amen
itsMateo my health isn't good, I have COPD and it's pretty advanced. Thank you so much, your post picked me right up. God Bless You 🙏
His precision and timing is impeccable!He was born to play hockey for sure!It was fun watching the look on your faces as he slapped in shot after shot!🏒🤯😁👏
he had a cereal and a Saturday morning cartoon..Wayne Gretzky's Pro Stars was the cereal..in the cartoon he fought crime or something with Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson..
Being Canadian I know that we produce the Best Canadian Hockey and NHL players. True✌🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Please react to Mario Lemieux (Pgh, Penguins) highlights? 🙂 I'm excited to see your sub numbers climbing, climbing!! Yay!
At 1:05, that's good picture quality for the '80s. Before we got cable TV in 1982, when I was 12, the UHF station I watched hockey on was so far away that there was always at least a little bit of static on the screen. I had to fiddle with the rabbit-ears antenna to get rid of as much of it as I could. At least the living room TV was in color; the one in my bedroom was black-and-white!
you should watch "Gretzky's most insane records" video. He's basically the Wilt Chamberlain of Hockey.... his records are probably the best in all of sports history. For 1, they could assists as points in Hockey... He is the number 1 scorer of all time by far. If you put Wayne Gretzkys points at 0 .... he is STILL the leading scorer just off assists alone. He has more assists than 2nd place has points. He scored more 5 point games in his career, than he scored 0 point games. His stats are like 3 careers compared to 2nd place guys. Its fucking insane lol
more likely to score 5 points than 0? That's nuts
Pavel Datsyuk
@@davidigleniec2483 I'm a huge Red Wings fan and Pavel is fucking incredible. But even as great as he was. he was not on Gretzky's level. No one has been or probably ever will be.
@@DanInBranson But don't you think they'd enjoy it? :) I think so.
Fellas, Wayne Gretzky aka The Great One is a Canadien born hockey player that has many records that there r some that still have not been broken. Tae Glory, the shot is called a Slapshot. Glad U enjoy the Great one do his magic on the hockey rink.
You guys want to see a wild hockey game. Type in Minnesota North Stars vs Boston Bruins, most penalized game in history. A fight breaks out with something like 50 seconds into the game. The fight goes into the stands. It is unbelievable. The Bruins had been picking on the North Stars for years. It finally came to a head. Check it out.
Yes, Edmonton in Alberta ... Canada's Texas.
Also, there are wrist shots, snap shot, slap shots and when they shoot from a pass without stopping it, it's a one timer. Break away, instead of a fast break.
Gretzky told a story in his autobiography about how he was playing in a charity game with Howe and on the bench he told Howe "man this guy's all over me, grabbing and holding, I can't do anything" so Howe told him "next time you get the puck down the wing pass it off and immediately cut across center ice, I got you" so Gretzky gets the puck up the wing, he passes it off and peels off to center ice and hears this huge crashing sound, he looks back and sees Gordie smiling and the guy pestering Gretzky is laying there in a heap of unconsciousness.
There are different types of "shots" - wayne was performing a lot of slap shots in this video. There's the most common wrist shot, snap shot (my favourite) backhand, tip in, one timer and a range of trick shots.
Wayne Gretzky took up ballet that's why he's so good and so damn talented!! Ballet gave him the agility and discipline and smoothness that he demonstrated out on the ice!! Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were unstoppable and possib!y the two best hockey players of all time!!!
I mean how many assists did Lemieux make off the tip of Wayne's Gretzky's stick!!
That’s entirely Bull Shit.
Wayne Gretzky has more assists than anyone else has goals + assists in history. He also has the most goals in history. Hockey is the only sport that doesn't have a goat debate.
I'll tell you this. I tested an NHL game as a job. Every game I could, I'd make sure Gretsky was on my team. Such a powerhouse. Great video. Cheers.
wayne gretzky said "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take" .. works in hockey and life .. love your reactions guys
This is kind of a weird stat, but I love it. Wayne Gretzky and his brother Brent have the most combined points by 2 brothers in NHL history...Brent had 4. The only multiple brothers to beat them are the 6 Sutter brothers who lead by 73 points combined.
Not only is Gretzky number one in Goals with 894 but he is also number one in assists with 1,963 making him the "Great One". As a child Gretzky was so obsessed over hockey he would watch games with a notepad sideways like a hockey court before video games and with a pen he would trace the puck movement as he watched the game and then after the game he would look at the piece of paper to see where all the intersections were so that he could understand puck movement/flow.
Yea that’s cool. Lemieux came in and put up monster numbers on a not dynasty roster. When he finally got help, cancer/back problems came along, but he still managed to dominate. Performing magic on your own will always overshadow magic with assistance. Put Wayne on the penguins and his name would be just in the mix
Hands down the greatest ever no debate
you boys might want to check out probably the strongest player to ever play. He is a black American at 6'5" 240. Hardest hitting player to ever play. Dustin Byfuglien AKA Big Buff
In my opinion (injuries prevented a lot of records) the second best player of all time (my fav goal scorer) is Mario Lemieux.
Check him out
Wayne was simply the most dominate athlete of any sport. His records will never be broken and to top it all off he is a very humble guy.
Two reasons why no one lit Wayne Gretzky up:
1. Not many could catch him. One guy went one way and Wayne slipped out the other. If two guys tried to cut off both ways he made a pass that would be a goal or he found a way to slip out.
2. Marty McSorley. Anyone who DID light him up had to deal with Marty.
Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL records for Goals-894.....Assists-1963.....for a total of 2857 pts
FUN FACT: Even if you minus Gretzky's 894 goals and just charted his 1963 assists he would STILL have the most points ever because the 2nd most scored points ever was Jaromir Jagr with only 1921 points.
FUN FACT #2: Wayne Gretzky holds or shares 61 records listed in the NHL's Official Guide and Record Book: 40 for the regular season, 15 for the Stanley Cup playoffs and six for the All-Star Game.
Gretzkey dominated the NHL more than MJ, Messi, Tiger Woods, did their sports.... and its really not that close. I'm not a big hockey fan but this he is the GOAT of GOATS.
This man has the record for the most records.
A "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" is a goal, an assist and a fight. You guys need to do a Ron Hextall highlight clip. THAT GOALIE holds records for fights, goals and penalty minutes 🤯 Gretzky is Canadian, Brantford, Ontario. Apparently his Peripheral vision was exceptional so... 🤷♂️ it helped with his passing skill and presence of mind overall.
It was exciting to watch him, poetry in motion
Avril Lavigne and Wayne ? You guys are on a 🇨🇦 roll! 👋🏼
Wayne was a joy to watch. Gordie was great too. Another you should look for is Bobby Orr.
Goat of Hockey. Him, Jordan, Bo Jackson had a cartoon called Pro Stars in Like 1991 I believe
My father grew up in the same city as Gretzky and his siblings, and went to the same school as his younger brothers in Brantford, Ontario. He wasn’t his personal friend and he was older than my dad, but everyone in town knew he was going to be a professional hockey player by high school.
Love watching you guys. Your reactions are fun and spontaneous. Thanks for the good videos
Wayne Gretzky was a hockey Prodigy from Edmonton he spent a lot of time on that frozen pond behind his house crafting his game and his amazing Puck handling skills along with his blazing fast Puck shots! There's a reason why he's called the great one he signed with the Edmonton Minor League system at age 16 in 1977 and then was brought to the big ball Club in 1979 when he was 18 and they won five Stanley Cups Edmonton Oilers did but he had a little help he had a Defender named Mark Messier who was on his Squad in Edmonton who he eventually joined squads with in 1994 when he joined the New York Rangers! Unfortunately they weren't able to reclaim the glory that they once had in Edmonton because Gretzky had signed right after New York had just won a Stanley Cup! Once Gretzky left Edmonton for Los Angeles he never achieved greatness in the playoffs again! I would have liked to have seen him stay in Edmonton I think they could have competed with Montreal as the greatest hockey team ever along with the Detroit Red Wings! That's who Gordie Howe played for! I believe Gretzky is still the only one who leads not only in goals but also in assists! You have to understand in one season he scored 92 goals that was in the 1981 and 1982 season which they went on to win the Stanley Cup! I guess if you tally up all the goals he scored in the playoffs it would be well over a hundred for the season! Mario Lemieux came close and the 1996-97 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and they want to Stanley Cup and he had a little left-winger that he could pass the puck to by the name of Yaomir Yager!
He still holds the goal record and point record
stumbled on your channel and dig it fellas love the camaraderie....coming from Denver Avs just won the Stanley Cup ...check the highlights and especially Cale Makar... definitely subscribing keep up the good work!!!
he was doing this well before anyone else , hes like jordan where everyone had to evolve the game around him and the new stuff he was doing
Please do Pavel datsyuk for your next hockey video. He was the Allen Iverson of the nhl. Just embarrassing people with the nastiest jukes
Great recommendation! Datsyuks shoot out / breakaway made great goalies look so silly
ua-cam.com/video/dXT2m6sgbIM/v-deo.html
You guys gotta check out Pavel Bure. He was unreal back in the day.
For a current star, check out Connor McDavid
keep up the awesome videos guys!
He played on a pond in his backyard from a very young age. He was born and raised in Brantford Ontario, Canada. He is considered the best hockey player who ever lived.
The great hockey players are roughed less often, the opposing players know that there will be hell to pay.
In the NHL fans versions of Fantasy Leagues, Wayne Gretzky was so great that he was divided into 2 different players. People could draft Wayne by Goals in the season, and another person could draft Wayne by assists in a season. In Hockey a goal = 1 point and assists = 1point. Wayne is the all time goal scoring leader in NHL history, but more amazingly if you took away all his goals and just added up his points from assists he is still the leading point producer in NHL History.
Wayne's impact; Because of Wayne there is Hockey in Southern American States. In 1988 "The Great One" was shockingly traded from a Canadian team to the Los Angeles Kings. In the next years 5 new American Teams joined the NHL, Teams were now in Tampa Bay, Florida, San Jose, and Anaheim. Since his trade 5 new American teams have won the Cup some several times. Kids playing youth hockey increased 220 % in California. For fun watch videos of Wayne and Charles Barkley interacting, two very different personalities with so much respect for each other.
His #99 is retired through out the entire league, no one else can wear it in the NHL
The area behind the net you’ll often hear announcers calling it Gretzky’s office because of how he would use the area to let plays evolve and years after his retirement, they still say that to this day when a player sets up behind the net.
I first heard of Wayne Gretzky from the Epic Rap Battle with Wayne vs Tony Hawk. I went into that such a die hard Tony hawk fan. I left that battle a massive Wayne Gretzky fan.
Gretzky has more assits then any other player has goal and assists combined. If Gretzky never scored a goal ever. He would still be the all time points leader in the nhl
Thanks for watching "The G.O.A.T Wayne Gretzky". No one can out do him. But he was a humble man... always gave Mark Messier who always always was his assist man. I wore his jersey with pride ..99.
Proud to be a Canadian! 🙂
50 goals in 38 games in context will never be broken. Growing up in Canada in the 80's this was the man.
Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson had a tv show call Pro Stars back in the day
Three G.O.A.T.S
That’s why they call him “THE GREAT ONE”
And he’s a nice guy too.
Early in his hockey career before he got that title he was dating a girl in our neighborhood. She lived on Booth Ave. Just a couple of blocks from (I’m sure you’ll know this street name) D’Grassi and he would join in the neighborhood tag football games in the local rec. field @ Jimmy Simpson park in Toronto.
I need y'all to react to NHL biggest hits compilations.
HE got so good, for his dad, they live in Canada, and built a little rink out in their backyard, and put Gretzkey on skates at 2 or 3 years old.
He played for the Edmonton Oilers then was traded to the LA Kings in 1993 (I believe)...that is when I became a hockey fan and had Kings season tickets for 3 years. Gretzky brought hockey to California and now it's a phenomenon here with 3 hockey teams. Gretzky is the greatest of all-time...The Great One!!!
Many years ago I took a friend to a hockey game. She knew nothing about hockey, but noticed Wayne on the ice, and remarked that there was something different about him. He skated in circles instead of straight up and down the ice. Later in that game Gretzky swooped in from nowhere stole the puck and scored a goal. Even tho she knew nothing about the game, she recognized that Wayne was special.
You guys still need to check out "Pistol" Pete Maravich. One of the most underrated NBA players of all time.
Gretzky was essentially untouchable. As are his records. Even if you remove all of his goals from his career, he has more assists than anyone else has goals and assists combined.
He's from Brantford, Ontario and played for the Edmonton, Oilers....then the LA Kings. But, he was great as an Oiler. He has an amazing winery in Niagara on the lake, Ontario!
The quality was clear back in the day. Both live TV and on highlight videos.
Growing up in the 90s, I got to watch prime Gretzky, Jordan, Griffey, Bo and Barry Sanders (from Detroit, saw almost every Barry run).
Gordie Howe may be the greatest player in Detroit Sports history.(Barry, Ty Cobb, Joe Louis, Isiah Thomas, Steve Yzerman rounds out my top 6)
If you've never heard of Pete Sampras and Mario Lemeiux, they were both dominant in the 90s and all time greats.
Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, the NHL itself, and by The Hockey News, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
After his retirement in 1999, Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, making him the most recent player to have the waiting period waived. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only hockey player and one of only three players in professional sports history to receive such an honor, along with Jackie Robinson, whose uniform number 42 was retired by Major League Baseball in 1997, and Bill Russell, whose uniform number 6 was retired by the National Basketball Association in 2022
Fun fact lol, shin splints usually means laces weren't tight as they could have been or as high up as they could go. Or the size of the skate wasn't just right (or both).
The Oilers-Flames playoff series in the 80s were fantastic.
Love the 'Gritsky' episode on Everybody hates Chris.. always a classic!
Great video men. We need to see a reaction to Connor McDavid. He is the best player in the world currently and he plays for the Oilers as well.
He's the best hockey player ever. No one has come close yet. He makes it look so easy, but he things he does really is not.
FYI: there are 3 20 minute periods in a hockey game. Gretzky played for the Edmonton Oilers. Won 4 Stanley cups. Also Gordie
Howe was Wayne’s Favourite and his number was 9 which is why Wayne wears 99.
You’re so right about video quality lol- HD was very important for hockey
That's the REAL GOAT what he did in his sport aint nobody even close in comparing to what they did in thr sport!!!
Howe is the real GOAT. I got to meet him when I was 12 and began playing myself the next year.
Gotta react to Mario Lemieux and Connor McDavid next. You wont be disappointed!
a GOAT list for hockey would look something like this:
1. Gretzky (80s-90s)
2. Bobby Orr (70s defenceman)
3. Mario Lemieux (80s-90s)
4. Gordie Howe (50s-70s)
5. Jean Beliveau (50s-70s)
6. Sidney Crosby (05-present)
7. Alex Ovechkin (05-present)
8. Bobby Hull (60s-70s)
9. Jaromir Jagr (90s-10s)
10. Rocket Richard (40s-50s)
HM. Dominik Hasek (90s-00s goalie)
After watching highlights by McDavid or Crosby, Gretzky highlights may seem underwhelming. But make no mistake, he was the first to use the entire ice surface with that kind of creativity and vision. I didn’t watch a lot of Gretzky growing up as I lived on the east coast and he played most of his career on the west coast. But after having watched the game my whole life and developed a true understanding of how it’s played I can now fully appreciate the brilliance and vision that he had. His father taught him from a young age to not go where the puck is but to where the puck is going to be and Gretzky always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Nobody since has had the combined skill and innate understanding that he does. It’s been said that he possessed a birds eye view of the whole rink even while playing at ice level and I think that best describes his game.
He said “dang he really getting the needle through the thread “🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣💙💙💙💯💯💯
The Great One had the Hezzys AND that Euro-step,, on ice! 👀👀👀
Pavel Datsyuk had some of the sickest goals…check out his high lights. You won’t be disappointed.
The fastest 50 goals scored was in 50 games, until Wayne was at 45 in 38 games. The press was all about Wayne scoring 5 goals in the next 2 games to reach 50 in 40. Game 39 was against the Flyers where Wayne netted 5 to reach 50 in 39.
notice guys that on the boards there is no adverts it was that way up to the early 1990s... and during games they did not put the stats on the screen....
Gretzky played for many teams but the biggest were the Oilers and the NY Rangers
He only ever hoisted the cup as a Oiler.
In hockey, points are the total of goals and assists. Even subtracting goals from his points total, he remains the all time leading scorer based on his assists alone. Yes, my friends, that is a incredible fact.
Gretzky is the GOAT! The only current player that may, may, have a chance at dethrowning him is Connor McDavid, however Connor Badard is about to make his mark in the NHL. When comparing current players, ie Ovechkin, Crosbie, Mathews... you must consider that Gretzky played his entire career in the Obstruction Era with an actual wooden hockey stick. Now, any hooking, holding, back checking...is a penalty and may even be a penalty shot. Additionally, like all sports, the current sticks are composites which give the 'stick' a flex range that results in a whiplash or slingshot effect when the pick is shot. This increases the speed of the puck by a significant margin.
There are a lot of analytics that equalize the differences in the various hockey eras. These show Gretzky was on a different plane of hockey existence. If you ask most NHL hockey players, other than Gretzky, they will likewise acknowledge Gretzky as the best.