Ultimate Gretzky DVD

[slade]

just received this in the mail- i was pretty amazed with what i had to see. for some reason or another this board has a terrible bias against gretzky, and im sure the majority of his detractors havent seen him play, or when they did- it was as his career was nearing its end.

watching the 1983 all star game completely changed my thoughts on how wayne plays. he was easily one of the quickest players on the ice. his back checking and tenacity were readily apparent, and he got into the mix around the boards more often than not. and this was an allstar game!

you could really see it in his play that he wanted to make something happen everytime he was out there. for all those who have a chance to grab this dvd set- you will not be dissapointed.

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[revolverjgw]

watching the 1983 all star game completely changed my thoughts on how wayne plays. he was easily one of the quickest players on the ice. his back checking and tenacity were readily apparent, and he got into the mix around the boards more often than not. and this was an allstar game!

Very true. Another example of him being much more than a cherry picker is the '88 finals. Not a Selke performance or anything, but he was a huge factor even when without the puck. He put in an effort and of course he was in the right places at the right times.

 

[Weztex]

It's weird to say that Gretzky is somehow underated on these boards.

 

[slade]

It's weird to say that Gretzky is somehow underated on these boards.

i wouldnt say underrated- but people seem to always have a list of excuses as to why he accomplished what he did, to knock him down. his skill level at the time was so far ahead of a very competitive league in the 80s and early 90s.

At 22 years of age- he already held 28 NHL records......

 

[Masao]

people seem to always have a list of excuses as to why he accomplished what he did, to knock him down.

I'd say this applies to Lemieux more than Gretzky. Gretzky has gotten his share of unfair bashing as well though.

 

[Sens Rule]

People act like Gretzky was horrid defensively and played the game completely at the perimeter. I really think many of the critics were too young to see Gretzky play or at least Gretzky before 1994.

The other day on the NHL network they were showing the top 10 games for the 1980's with the most points. So they showed the 6 and 7 point games. They showed all the points Gretzky got in 4 or 5 different games. There were a couple of times Gretzky came in on a breakaway and missed and then stole the puck back from the other team within 5 or 6 seconds and passed it off and the Oilers score.

Gretzky dominated a game in a way that I never saw anyone else do. More than Mario because while Mario was a better singular player Gretzky literally involved everyone on the ice in his plays. You would see him draw in 3 or 4 defenders and than dish to Coffey who would give it to Kurri who was right beside the open net. If you watched any game he played in the 1980's Gretzky could create 12 or 15 amazing scoring chances easy.

In the playoffs in 1987 and 1988 Gretzky, Kurri and Tikkanen dominated the play and were huge defensively as well.

 

[VanIslander]

It's weird to say that Gretzky is somehow underated on these boards.

well, he is known as the last Crosby