ovi vs wayne

[squaleca]

500 goals in 575 games vs 500 in 801 games how does era adjustment account for that discrepancy in fewer games. sorry just posting this because all people look at is waynes gpg avg being so low cause of his last 5 seasons

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[Fantomas]

Gretzky scored his 500th goal in his 8th season. Based on hockey-reference's adjustments, these are Gretzky's adjusted goals for his first eight seasons:

Gretzky: 1) 43, 2) 42, 3) 68, 4) 57, 5) 69, 6) 58, 7) 41, 8) 52
Total: 430

For Ovechkin the results are as follows:

Ovechkin: 1) 52, 2) 48, 3) 72, 4) 59, 5) 55, 6) 35, 7) 43, 8) 62
Total: 426

Gretzky is a little better, but the adjustments aren't perfect for different reasons and one can make arguments in favor of one or the other. Also Ovechkin's 8th season is strike shortened, but the adjustment assumes a full 82-game schedule.

Nevertheless for seasons 9 and beyond, Ovechkin's scoring is much better.

 

[squaleca]

yes beyond 9 seasons when wayne didnt care about scoring i mean waynes goals per game in as an oiler is ridiculous

 

[Thenameless]

Not a Gretzky fan. It should be noted that specifically in 85-86 (his 7th season), Gretzky outright declared that he would be going more for assists than goals. In this year, he sets both the assists (163) and the points (215) record while scoring a measly 52 goals, and you can clearly tell that he lived up to his promise, as the season before he had 73 goals and the season after he had 62 goals.

The adjustment I have in my head is that if Gretzky only wanted to score goals throughout his career, only a healthy and motivated Mario Lemieux would have any chance of being close to him.

 

[pitcher]

Nobody stop caring about scoring. He regressed as a goal scorer.

 

[filinski77]

Nobody stop caring about scoring. He regressed as a goal scorer.

This. Any elite hockey player will do what's best in the current moment to score a goal. Ovi usually doesn't pass the puck when him shooting gives the best scoring chance. Just like Wayne wouldn't pass up a prime scoring opportunity to make a pass that would lead to nothing.

 

[Ralph Spoilsport]

You can score a goal without an assist, but you can't get an assist without a goal. So if Gretzky says he's concentrating on getting more assists, I think he means he's trying to increase his team's scoring. Some may call that regression, some may call it playing the game on a different level.

 

[Doctor No]

You can score a goal without an assist, but you can't get an assist without a goal. So if Gretzky says he's concentrating on getting more assists, I think he means he's trying to increase his team's scoring.

Your first sentence does not imply your second sentence.

 

[WingsFan95]

Like with most great players, Gretzky probably thought at that point he would pass Howe if he played long enough and didn't make scoring a priority. Let's also not forget his WHA season. If someone told him his 894 mark wouldn't be enough to hold the lead until his death, he may have cared enough to push to 1,000.

 

[Messrules11]

Ovies numbers in this era are impressive but Gretzky’s numbers in his era were spectacular. Gretzky has said many times in the past that he got more enjoyment out of assists than he did scoring goals, Ovie will never say that. Gretzky’s goal record will remain intact by the time Ovie hangs em up and if we include playoff goals it won’t even be close.

 

[abo9]

I really hope Ovechkin breaks the goal scoring records. Because then it means people will have to defend Gretzky's title with "what if"'s instead of having to promote Ovechkin because he played in a lower scoring era. Records are meant to be broken and this one would be big, showing that any single of Gretzky's record is not untouchable.

And I think it even adds to Gretzky's legacy, because he holds all those records and only very specialized players will be able to break them (ala Ovy), which says something about Gretzky's level of dominance in all offensive aspects of the game.

 

[CupHolders]

Why are playoff numbers never considered? I mean when you see what Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy did against his peers when it actually mattered...

As for the notion that Gretzky focused more on assists versus goals... I absolutely believe it. When actually watching him play, he thought the game at an entirely higher level. He clearly had no problem playing the point guard role to the rest of his teammates.

 

[shtorm2005]

Why are playoff numbers never considered? I mean when you see what Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy did against his peers when it actually mattered...

As for the notion that Gretzky focused more on assists versus goals... I absolutely believe it. When actually watching him play, he thought the game at an entirely higher level. He clearly had no problem playing the point guard role to the rest of his teammates.

1) They don't consider playoffs numbers because players don't play same amount of games. An elite player can play much fewer playoffs games than average Joe through their career. You don't consider them especially when there are no salary cap teams that make deep playoffs every damn year.
2) Players are focusing on the things that they are good at. Focusing on assists helped him to get two more major records (assists/points) instead of one (goals).

 

[amoboko]

I'm curious to see if Ovi can break the record.

 

[Albatros]

As for the notion that Gretzky focused more on assists versus goals... I absolutely believe it. When actually watching him play, he thought the game at an entirely higher level. He clearly had no problem playing the point guard role to the rest of his teammates.

I'm sure he had no problem with it, but he did lead the league in shots on goal several times which for example Bossy never did.