Wayne Gretzky's name fills the NHL record book, so it only stands to reason that he also filled the posts in our Question of the Week: Which NHL record is the most impressive?
I love the very first post:
zoomaaa927: Wayne's 92 goals.
That didn't take long! Gretzky's single-season record of 92 goals was by far the most popular answer, followed by the '77 Habs and their amazing eight losses. Let's take a look:
eocahill: These days, elite players have 92-POINT seasons. 92 goals is simply unconscious.
the_onikage: I can't accept Gretzky's for a few reasons. If you put Ovie or Crosby or Modano or Sakic in the same league at the same time, they'll have numbers like that. Goaltending was not what it is now. You can't tell me that he'd score 92 goals against Brodeur, Luongo, Kipper and Nabokov. It just wouldn't happen.
UnbiasedSportsFan:
I can't accept [the_onikage's] nonacceptance for a few reasons:
1. Yes, Gretzky played in a high-scoring era, but so did every other player in the same era. You think Bossy and Lemieux and Yzerman and LaFontaine, etc., were chump change? Please.
2. It was a man's game back then. Crosby and Ovechkin would have to drop the gloves once in a while ... or play with an enforcer as a winger. Gretzky's wingers, in his heyday, included Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley. Not exactly gifted linemates. Gretzky and [Jari] Kurri practically played short-handed back in the day. Semenko was there as an enforcer if anyone took liberties. Period. You think Ovechkin would be taking runs at star opposition players like Malkin back in the day? HAHA. Pens' enforcer du jour would knock him out. A shame about the instigator rule being used in today's wussified game, truly.
3. If you don't think a prime Gretzky could dominate today's NHL, give your head a shake. If it falls off, kick it. I can't even imagine what Gretzky would do with eight power plays and an additional five-on-three every single game.
Nobody can come close to Gretzky. In any era. Except Gretzky.
Pengwin7: Another comparison on most goals in a season:
Gretzky: 92 G (1981-82). League Scoring = 8.03 g/g. 92/8.03 = 11.46
Ovechkin: 65 G (2007-08). League Scoring = 5.57 g/g. 65/5.57 = 11.67
So, it's also arguable that Ovechkin's 65 goals last season is as impressive as Gretzky's 92 (in 1981-82).
My take: Let's start with "the_onikage," who clearly lost his brain in a poker game over the weekend for even suggesting that anybody in today's game would have been just as good had he played in that era. Dude, seriously. My thanks to UnbiasedSportsFan for setting him straight.
Now, I will give Pengwin7 some street cred for his math comparison. Nicely done. I have a buddy, let's call him Schmittdy for the heck of it; he's a math genius, too. His nickname is Rainman. That's exactly the kind of math argument he would have drawn up, and it definitely would have impressed our group of friends. Oh, and Schmittdy has never won a single one of our fantasy pools in the decade I've known him.
But the point is, math doesn't quite explain the whole story when you are trying to compare eras in all sports, let alone hockey. What matters most is that Gretzky was so much better than any other player in his era. No player in today's game is that much separated from the pack.
Mike Bossy was second to Gretzky in 1981-82 with 64 goals -- 28 fewer. Now that's amazing.
olivier_amar: The Habs' eight losses is the Holy Grail. How could anyone even be looking at individual stats for a team sport? They still stand as the most complete team ever to play the game. Wayne's accomplishments are tops for individual stats, but again, it's a team sport, and Wayne's 92 goals didn't get his team eight losses.
profudge: The Habs' eight-loss season is a pinnacle achievement in the fastest team sport there is. There are many individual stats and achievements that are great, but team sport should be marked by team success or failure!
bombaybrad: I would vote for Canadiens' eight losses in 1976-77. This is a record that I think will never be broken. A 90-percent rate of not losing over 82 games. This isn't Miami or New England in a 16-game season. This is a rough-and-tumble, high-speed implosion. Not even close. Individually, Gretzky's 50 in 39 is most impressive. Just my opinion.
My take: Tough to argue with anything above here. Scotty Bowman's Habs from 1976-77 were a monster powerhouse. The next-closest team in losses was Philadelphia with 16. The Canadiens won the Norris Division by 49 points. Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Jacques Lemaire and Bob Gainey up front, the big three of Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe and Serge Savard on defense, and Ken Dryden (who's now a federal politician in Canada, by the way) in goal. Lapointe, for what it's worth, never gets enough credit. He's the forgotten man of the big three. He put up 76 points that season and was plus-69. The salary-cap era won't allow a team like this to be put together ever again, but today's parity-filled NHL isn't too bad to watch, either. Everybody has a shot.
Fatslobs7: Martin Brodeur's record is impressive, but not the best. The past decade of hockey has been defensive, and goal production has gone down; it has been and still is the golden age of the goalies. Brodeur broke the record for most wins in a season, but that's because games no longer end in ties. [Patrick] Roy and other netminders would have more wins right now if ties had been eliminated at some point in their era. I think the most impressive record is Gretzky's 215 points in one season, the only player to achieve more than 200 points and did it more than once.
My take: This will come up the next few weeks as Brodeur approaches and passes Roy's record for 551 regular-season wins. Brodeur himself has mentioned it to me before, so he's well aware of it. In fact, as of Wednesday morning, Brodeur is by far the all-time leader in shootout wins with 27. (Three other goalies have 19.) You have to wonder how many of Roy's 131 career ties could have ended up as shootout victories. It's not Brodeur's fault, and I don't think his record should have an asterisk, but it's obviously a relevant reality.
IdiotVig: Hockey's physical toll has always been a grueling constant. While it's probably not the best of the best, Doug Jarvis' 964 consecutive games played is certainly worth an honorable mention alongside the rest of them. Playing every game for 12 consecutive seasons in the NHL is an astonishing accomplishment.
nyrfandc:
IdiotVig ... I could not agree with you more. Considering the physical demand hockey has on the body, Doug Jarvis' consecutive-games record deserves more than an honorable mention, that record is up there as far as I am concerned. A very Ripken-esque record. And, let's face it, the risk of injury in a sport like hockey is much higher than say, baseball.
My take: A worthy mention for sure. Having played hockey most of my life, I have the knees and back to prove how tough a game it is. Then again, losing 40 pounds wouldn't hurt me. But back to Jarvis. It's a highly respectable record given the aches and pains of the game and the grind of the regular-season schedule. But given the fitness levels of today's players? I bet you someone one day might threaten this record.
bornleda1984: It has to be most goals by a rookie in one season: Teemu Selanne, 76 (1992-93).
My take: That's 23 goals better than the second-best rookie total by Mike Bossy. I will note that Selanne was 22 when he did it in 1992-93, slightly more mature as a player than when most superstar rookies enter the league at 18, 19 or 20. But still an impressive record and one that, given today's defensive coaching, likely won't ever be touched again. Unless we make the nets bigger. :)
Twoteams: The most dominant season by a defenseman. Bobby Orr's 1970-71 season, when he recorded 139 points in 78 games and a plus/minus of plus-124. The next closest competitor, Jean Tremblay, had 63 points in 76 games, and a plus/minus of plus-16. That's more than twice as productive than second place ... yikes!
acMIDD28: I have to say Bobby Orr's 1969-70 season will never be matched. His four major awards by a defenseman: Norris (best D), Hart (MVP), Art Ross (scoring) and Conn Smythe (playoff MVP), will never be matched. Top that off with the most memorable goal in Stanley Cup playoff history and the Cup to go along with it. We won't see it again. It just won't happen.
My take: You can't talk about NHL records without mentioning the greatest defenseman ever to play! I don't think the younger generation of puckheads appreciates how dominant the pride of Parry Sound, Ontario, was on the ice. He's the only blueliner ever to capture the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's scoring leader, let alone do it twice. That, to me, is what no other defenseman will duplicate. Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey ate into some of his other scoring records, but they never came close to winning an Art Ross. (OK, I know Coffey was second in NHL scoring in 1983-84, but he was 79 points behind Gretzky!)
oeangus: Gretzky, career 2,857 points. 'Nuff said.
hrenfilms: Gretzky's career points. Considering Gretzky has more assists than anyone else has TOTAL points is remarkable. No one will ever come close to him. That record is the most impressive statistical feat in the history of professional sports.
My take: No question. And again, to me it's not so much his actual points total that sticks out the most, but how far ahead of the pack he was in his era. His 1,963 assists are more than the second all-time leader in points, Mark Messier at 1,887 (Gretzky's former teammate and a perfect comparable from the same era). And yes, no one will ever touch 2,857 points.
MoJoDosugar: Five Stanley Cups in a row, especially now with a salary cap when it comes to team records; individually, Wayne Gretzky's winning the scoring race by 73 points in '84-85.
My take: Good one, MoJoDosugar. And one, with the cap era, we'll surely never see threatened again. Rocket Richard's Habs from the 1950s were a big-time powerhouse. Of course, that makes you wonder … if Steve Smith hadn't scored in his own net in the Smythe Division final in 1986, would the Oilers ever have matched this record? Very likely.
And the last post of the week:
akhanfootball: The most impressive NHL record is Wayne Gretzky's record for having or tying for the most records -- 61.
My take: No kidding! But do you folks want to know which record I believe is the most impressive? The
Montreal Canadiens' 24 Stanley Cups (23 in the NHL). It's about winning it all, baby, and no team has done it more in hockey than Les Glorieux.
Pierre LeBrun
