Gretzky and Lemieux (mod: and now Orr) in the "new" NHL

[Rhiessan71]

And his shot accuracy on the fly was just unreal.

Bigtime and what was even worse was that most of the time he shot a knuckle puck. There are videos where you can actually see the puck arc over a goalies shoulder and then go down into the net.

 

[tazzy19]

I remember an empty net goal Gretzky scored in 1989 or 90 against Montreal (I think), a year or two after he was traded to the Kings….. He basically got the puck at his own blue line and spun around with a wrister - without even looking at the net which was all the way down the ice - flinging it toward the goal, but almost a lob shot high above. It sank right into the top corner. It was probably the most incredible empty net goal I'd ever seen. Everyone was just kind of in shock. But that was Gretzky for you.

 

[overg]

The term, 'first to every loose puck' doesn't do it justice because that implies there would be some sort of race. There rarely was with Gretzky. He was usually already there.

Hah! After reading your use of the phrase "first to every loose puck" I stopped reading, got all excited, and was going to back up your point with the argument that Gretzky didn't chase pucks, pucks chased him. Then I read the rest of your statement and saw you made exactly that point. So, ummm . . . "ditto!"

That really is a great video to show those who don't understand how Gretzky was so effective. Even past his prime, it shows you his 1) crazy good anticipation, 2) ability to outmaneuver one of the fastest players in the game, and 3) incredible shot accuracy against an all-time great, and modern era, goalie. It's often very hard to pick any of those things out from a random Gretzky highlight, but all three really jump out at you in that clip.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

And his shot accuracy on the fly was just unreal.

Not quite the knuckle puck R71 is talking about, but your conversation there immediately made me think of:

 

[Big Phil]

Exactly, and this clip proves why today's 'more athletic players' and 'more advanced defensive systems' wouldn't really slow 99 down at all: errant puck bounces off the boards and boom. Gretzky's on it and headed down ice. The guy was simply supernatural. The term, 'first to every loose puck' doesn't do it justice because that implies there would be some sort of race. There rarely was with Gretzky. He was usually already there.

Yes, that's right. Gretzky's worst seasons at the end are when he's scoring 25 goals and leading the NHL in assists. That's his worst.