blogofmike
Registered User
- Dec 16, 2010
- 2,182
- 929
Gretzky just didn't age well after 30. Plus the back issues didn't help him through the 90s. Back then, generally players did fade after 30, they last longer today. Probably due to better nutrition and far and away better workout regimes.
He aged abruptly after 1991
| ES Goals | ES Points |
1980 | 37 | 100 |
1981 | 36 | 104 |
1982 | 68 | 147 |
1983 | 47 | 132 |
1984 | 55 | 135 |
1985 | 54 | 146 |
1986 | 38 | 143 |
1987 | 42 | 124 |
1988 | 26 | 91 |
1989 | 38 | 100 |
1990 | 26 | 96 |
1991 | 33 | 103 |
1992 | 17 | 63 |
1993 | 14 | 38 |
1994 | 20 | 62 |
1995 | 8 | 23 |
1996 | 16 | 54 |
1997 | 19 | 65 |
1998 | 17 | 60 |
1999 | 6 | 32 |
There was no fade. This was not a gradual decline. It was a steep drop after the Suter hit. And 33 ES goals doesn't sound like a lot, but he was 4th in the league at ES goal scoring and 2 back of 2nd place in 1991. All of a sudden his ES scoring plummets and the man who was never below a 100 ES point pace can barely pass 60.
But even in 1991, he probably could have hit 50 overall if it wan't for the absurd 8-51-59 split on the powerplay. Gretzky was the virtual equal of the best goal scorers in the league at even strength (except peak Brett Hull), but he passed up opportunities because he was putting up insane PP assist totals. (51 PP assists is 3rd most all time, behind Lemieux 88 and Coffey 89. Gretzky's team was 109 PP opportunities behind Lemieux's 88 Pens, yet Gretzky 91 was only 7 assists back of the record).
Wayne Gretzky was still an All Star calibre goal scorer thru 1991. His ES goal totals were on par with everyone but peak Brett Hull. Of the 3-way tie for 2nd place, Gretzky was 2 ES goals back of 51 goal Theo Fleury, tied with 51 goal Yzerman at ES, and 4 ES goals ahead of 51 goal Cam Neely.
Yet despite the fact he was still a good ES goal scorer, Gretzky from 1988-1991 (first year after he last led in goals thru last year pre-back injury), Gretzky's splits were a lopsided 38-163-201 on the powerplay. (For reference, d-man Al MacInnis posted a more goal heavy 46-162-208 on the PP.) In this span Gretzky has 175 total goals. He is 5th in ES goals. He barely makes the top 50 in PP goals.
Are we to believe that the guy who was scoring harder ES goals was bad at scoring easier PP goals? Isn't it more likely that he passed up shots on the PP to feed his teammates considering he was the top PP assist guy in the NHL over this span?