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yep, was wondering when someone might land on this one and always makes for lively conversation, entertaining day dream... usually beginning with either myself or someone else citing Guyle Fielder.... "Wayne Gretzky before Wayne Gretzky was Gretzky". Ranks 4th All Time in PT's at the professional hockey levels behind only Gretzky, Jagr & Gordie Howe. Fielder unorthodox, an outlier who like Gretzky had tremendous vision, re-thought the game & the way Center should be played, bucking the prescribed "dump n' chase" - defensive "system hockey" (not a new debate exclusive to todays game by any stretch).
Fielder a puck carrier, stick handler extraordinaire, cycling, stepping out of the lanes. Like Gretzky an oddball skater, deceptive, not tremendously fast but hard to hit, Guyle or "Tom" as he was called by his teammates drawing the attention of the oppositions defenders leaving his linemates wide open for that perfect pass. Lithe at just 160-165lbs, small by todays standards at 5'9" but for the era (1951/73) about average, little bit shorter than most but certainly no handicap. He only played 15 NHL games with Chicago, Boston & Detroit, failing to register a point, never given the chance and given the autocratic/draconian nature of the game during his prime instead settled in quite comfortably to the top rungs of Minor Pro where his talents were allowed to shine.
Had he be given every opportunity, paired with some free thinking Wingers, someone behind the bench who like Sather several generations later willing to cut loose the shackles, remove the yolks & blinkers, cut the reins & let er' rip Fielder could well have revolutionized the game at the NHL level in the 50's.... not as dramatically as Wayne Gretzky would have if teleported back in time & given all the rope in the world, complimentary Wingers, open-minded Coaches, far less disciplined.... however like Fielder I'm just not so sure we'd see Wayne Gretzky being given that opportunity at the NHL level during the last 10-20yrs of the 6 team era.
HOWEVER.... all things being relative, and lets say Wayne grows up in Brantford but comes of age in like 1953 or 57 or whenever, well, obviously Detroit or one of the teams would have long since sponsored his minor hockey team in order to acquire his rights, thereafter building his Jr.B & Jr.A teams around him, Gretzky & a number of his Junior teammates with whom he grew up & played stepping into the NHL "whole cloth". And I suspect that yes, he would not only take the League by storm but the game itself, shaking it up, accelerating its fundamental approaches, philosophy... beyond the lab experiment that was the 72 Summit & all that followed.
Thats PROVIDED Wayne Gretzky actually SURVIVED. Make no mistake, there would have been a huge bounty on his head from Junior on up & ya, the game far more viscous during that era, into the 70's. Cheap shotted & injured badly, chased down & beaten to a pulp so one would hope that at some point along the rung he'd have been taken into a gym & been taught how to defend himself, how to take & throw a punch etc. When you were that good back in the day, you also had to be tough. Wayne would need to have toughened up & given the earlier era he likely would have.