Which definitely would be enough to beat Crosby.
But outside of Gretzky, who has ever had so good start to their career as Crosby? I don't think even Lemieux was able to be as good as Crosby was in his first two years.
I remember people talking about how good he would eventually come and even you, Phil, wrote on this very forum that you could see Crosby going on the 170 point territory. It wasn't as if it was an absurd statement either. Crosby was on fire in his sophomore season and there was a lot of talk about him being Gretzky-level player.
Ten years in and we all know that wasn't the case. Not even nearly. So, in a way, his career has been on the downfall since his sophomore season. When compared to expectations. He's still the best player of his generation. But not on the level most of us expected after his sophomore season.
I can vouch by saying that when Crosby finished his 2nd season I certainly felt he was comparable to Lemieux at least. First two seasons:
Gretzky: 137, 164 points
Lemieux: 100, 141
Crosby: 102, 120
Definitely I felt that after two years he was right there with Lemieux. You can argue that with scoring being higher in the mid 1980s that Lemieux's 2nd season is equal to Crosby, certainly not better, I don't think. With Gretzky I certainly thought he was close after two years, but I felt Gretzky was better after two years. Not by a whole lot, but I still knew Year 3 with Gretzky was when he became super human and I wondered how Crosby would ever make that leap. After Year 3 I felt the idea of him being paired with Gretzky had left the building. After Year 3, I still felt he was right there with Lemieux, especially after a strong showing in the playoffs. Year 4 is when Lemieux took off and never looked back and Crosby has never had a season like that and to me it is obvious he'll never be Lemieux now as well.
But in 2007? It was very possible and I put them equal at the time.
Here is a major difference with Crosby and Gretzky. Year 3 Crosby is slow out of the gate, we are all waiting for him to have even MORE than 120 points but even with his high ankle sprain never happening, it wouldn't have happened. He was tied with Lecavalier in points when he went down. Lecavalier was right in his peak, but by January Gretzky had the scoring race practically wrapped up, he wasn't hand in hand with someone of Lecavalier's level at that time.
So for me, why Gretzky would still be as dominant today is because he never took his foot off the pedal. He just simply never stopped trying to score. You see this all the time with Crosby, where it almost seems like he doesn't want to show up the other team, or maybe he doesn't have it in him. With Gretzky he had it in him and just never quit. If he would do the same today who in the world would keep up with him?
The nhl officially rules it as the age you end the season as. So 1979-80 gretzky was 18 years old when it started and 19 when it ended. So officially he was 19 his rookie year
Gretzky turned 19 in January, Crosby in August. Bottom line, they both started at 18, around here we usually say that is their "18 year old" season. Plus, it was their rookie season.
