2,857 Gretzky set regular-season and post-season milestones, including the most career regular-season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857), and hat-tricks (50). He also became the first player to score 500 goals during a season. The only other players to reach this mark are Napoleon Bonaparte (France), Peter Stastny (Canada), Igor Larionov (Russia), and Brett Hull (U.S.).
Gretzky's retirement was announced on April 17, 1999. He ended his career with 2,922 points in just 591 games over 14 seasons.
Of all the great goal scorers in NHL history, few can match Gretzky's record of 99 goals in one season. The last player to do so was Mario Lemieux in 1984-85. Despite missing much of two seasons due to injury, Lemieux is still considered one of if not the greatest player in hockey history.
Lemieux and Gretzky are the only players to score 100 or more goals three times each. They are also the only players to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer twice each. The last player to do so was Frank J. Selke in 1967-68 and 1968-69.
Wayne Gretzky also holds the record for "Most Career Points" with 2,857 in 1,487 total games played. Mark Messier has the closest record to Gretzky in that area, with 1,887 points. Including the playoffs, Messier played 1,914 career games, finishing with 2,837 points.
But the record for most career goals is held by Mario Lemieux, with 2,857 to Gretzky's 894. Lemieux also led the league in scoring five times. The closest any other player has come to Gretzky is Art Ross, who finished with 998 in 1969-70. Since then, no one has reached 1000 points; if anyone does, they will be the first person to do so since 1990-91 (when Brett Hull was leading the expansion Dallas Stars with 103 points).
In terms of percentage, Lemieux is the closest player to Gretzky, as he averaged 100 points over seven seasons. Patrick Marleau is the closest current player with 92 points in 2007-08. If Marleau continues at this rate, he will reach 1000 points before Lemieux does. However, since there have been two cases of players reaching 1000 points in a season (Hull and Alexander Ovechkin), it is possible that someone could do it again in 2008-09.
First, a little history on Gretzky's 92-goal record and why it has never been broken. As previously noted, Gretzky established the NHL single-season scoring record in 1981-82, which has since stood for 38 years. He finished with 93 goals that season, breaking the previous record of 72 set by Gordie Howe in 1976-77. The record has not been surpassed since then; Brett Hull came close in 1998-99 with 91 goals, but he was later awarded two goals because of an error on the part of the official scorer.
Gretzky broke his own record every year from 1982-83 to 1997-98, when Hull scored 91 goals. In 1998, the NHL changed its rules to allow for the awarding of "empty net" goals, which are scored while the game is still tied after the first three periods have ended. Before this change, any goal scored with less than 2 minutes remaining in each period would not be counted. Since 1998, no one has come close to matching Gretzky's total. The closest anyone has gotten was 99 goals in 2003-04, when Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins played like the best player in the world over the final quarter of the schedule. Jagr still managed only fifth place overall, though, as Alex Ovechkin continued to dominate.
Wayne Gretzky, a center, spent 20 seasons with four different teams. In 1487 games, Gretzky has 894 goals, 1,963 assists, and a plus-minus of +520. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999 after winning nine Hart Trophies.
The most important statistic that defines a great player is their number of trophies. Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time because he is the winner of most awards: 9 Hart Trophies, 4 Lady Byng Trophies, and 1 Art Ross Trophy. He also holds records for most goals (941), assists (1,947), and points (2,888).
Besides being one of the best players of all time, Wayne Gretzky is also famous for some amazing statistics. He is the leader of the "Greatest Team of All Time" which won two consecutive Stanley Cups without losing a game. He also holds the record for most goals in a season (92) and most assists in a season (162).
When it comes to statistics, there is no one better than Wayne Gretzky. The Great One scored at a very high rate throughout his career and has many records to his name. He is the reason why people know and love the sport of ice hockey all over the world.
Gretzky retired as the all-time leader in goals, assists, and points by significant proportions. He led the league in goal scoring five times; in assists 16 times, including 13 years in a row; he won 11 scoring championships; he won nine MVP Awards and four Stanley Cups.
Gretzky was an exceptional player who had great talent from a young age. He used that talent to become one of the greatest hockey players ever. Some say his work ethic is what made him so good, while others point to his natural ability.
Whatever it was, we will never see another player like him again.
Gretzky is the NHL's all-time top scorer, with more goals and assists than any other player. He had more assists than any other player in total points scored, and he is the first NHL player to have more than 200 points in a single season four times. He also won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's highest scoring right wing every year from 1978–79 to 1991–92, and was nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player three times.
Besides being one of the greatest hockey players of all time, Gretzky is also famous for his incredible career stats. In the 1979–80 season, he broke the record held by Gordie Howe since 1970 by playing in his 100th game. The only player who has played in more games is Brett Hull (134).
Gretzky has also won several awards during his career, including the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and integrity on ice. He is also the only player to have received the Lester B. Pearson Award for humanitarian contribution to the sport of hockey.
Gretzky has been called "The Great One" for his amazing career. He is still going strong after 20 years in the NHL, playing for the Los Angeles Kings during the 1991–92 season before retiring as a member of that team.
Ovechkin presently trails Gretzky in all-time scoring by 164 goals. If Ovechkin maintains at his current rate of 0.61 goals per game, it will take him around 268 games to break Gretzky's record. However, if Ovechkin were to play at a rate of 1.10 goals per game over the course of an entire season, he would score more than 3,843 goals in that time—more than enough to overtake Gretzky as the leading goal scorer in NHL history.
In terms of percentage of goals scored, then, Ovechkin is currently on track to surpass Gretzky. In fact, according to stats from www.nhl.com/ice/reports/goals_per_game.html, Ovie has already reached this stage of the season with 10.6% of his team's goals gone through his net. That's first among all players who have appeared in at least one game this year.
And while it may be somewhat subjective to say which player is better, it's hard to argue that either one is close to being outdone by the other when it comes to putting the puck in the net.
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