Questions about Wayne Gretzky

Rpenny

Registered User
Feb 23, 2019
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I am not sure how legit this is but this site is really good for modern day trades noting when options to trade are. I have to believe if Montreal had the option to do this in 1979, they would have taken that option since Colorado was #1

1980 NHL Entry Draft Pick Transactions

Canadiens
Traded • Ron Andruff • Sean Shanahan • Canadiens option to swap 1980 first round picks (#19-Paul Gagne) to Rockies for • Canadiens option to swap 1980 first round picks (#1-Doug Wickenheiser) on 1976-09-13


Canadians said it was 79 or 80 the could have swapped
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
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I've created a list of questions about the "Great One"

1. Would he be a good commissioner for the NHL?

2. If the Oilers joined the NHL before 1979, then the Whalers, Nordiques, & Jets would've had the chance to take him in the expansion draft?

3. If he had success being the head coach in Arizona, then he would've stayed?

4. If Gretzky chose another sport besides hockey, then who would replace him as the "GOAT"?

5. Will there be another player like Gretzky someday, in the NHL?

1. He's not qualified to perform all the legal duties that Bettman likely performs. But if the job of Comissioner was seen more as "ambassador" - yes - he'd 100% be great for it, maybe the absolute best fit possible.

2. No clue. The more interesting question is - if he had been drafted, who is the greatest prospect of all time? Still Lemieux? Lindros? Gretzky? Other? I don't have an actual answer either.

3. I'm sure if he was a good coach he'd have coached longer. But he wasn't very good

4. This is the most interesting question. Who is the "GOAT" without Gretzky.

Orr has the peak. So maybe him
Howe has the longevity and the records (plus he came first). So maybe him
Lemieux has the video game stats - so maybe him.

Gretzky is a combo of all 3. No he's not good defensively or physically like Orr/Howe - but he has the peak to match Orr, the longevity/records to pass Howe, and the video game stats to pass Lemieux.


5. Sure, why not. Crosby could have been. Or McDavid. There's always been talent in sports. Some day some kid will come along who'll be as good or better than Gretzky. I'm hoping he plays for the Habs.
 

Yukon Joe

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Aug 3, 2011
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In all reality the NHL should not have allowed this and let the Colorado Rockies pick him first overall in the 1979 draft

HOnest question - would he have gone number 1? I had to look up his stats - in his last year of junior Gretzky did put up 70 goals and 112 assists in 64 games, which is a pretty gaudy stat. But when you look that Colorado took Rob Ramage with that #1 pick it looks like they were looking for more "toughness" than they would have gotten in Gretzky.
 

Hasbro

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1. Hell no.

He's a high school dropout, who has always had a penchant for cronyism. It would be his edition of the Coyotes or the current Oilers writ huge.
 

lostinwarsaw

A Slovak living in Belgium
Feb 26, 2019
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Warsaw, Poland
I have some questions.
Can someone explain how Gretzky developed into the best player? What was he doing as a 12-18 year old that made him into dominant force? (Skating for hours a day?, Always with a stick in his hands?)
 

Strangelove

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I've created a list of questions about the "Great One"

1. Would he be a good commissioner for the NHL?

2. If the Oilers joined the NHL before 1979, then the Whalers, Nordiques, & Jets would've had the chance to take him in the expansion draft?

3. If he had success being the head coach in Arizona, then he would've stayed?

4. If Gretzky chose another sport besides hockey, then who would replace him as the "GOAT"?

5. Will there be another player like Gretzky someday, in the NHL?

1. NO
2. NO
3. NO
4. BO (Bobby Orr)
5. NO

I wish you had asked me if I think he would make a great Pope...
 

Bood12

Registered User
Oct 12, 2016
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6) was Gretzky projected to be the dominant player that he was? or was he just supposed to be a really good/dominant player like Lemieux/Crosby/McDavid, did people basically suspect he would change the landscape of the game?
 

steveayres35

Registered User
Apr 27, 2018
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These answers are all over the place...

TBH, maybe he should get a business degree so he can become the future commissioner of the NHL. Would you rather have Bettman or Gretzky as the face of the NHL?

On an extra note, he can always hire someone with a background in finance if he ever becomes the commissioner. The final ranking would look like this:

1. NHL Commissioner: Gretzky

2. Financial Businessman - he/she would take of the financial decisions within the NHL, based off of what Gretzky wants.

3. Everyone else within the company

TLDR: Gretzky will be the commissioner of the NHL without any financial responsibilities.
 

raswilliam

Registered User
Feb 18, 2008
859
1,106
East TN.
I have some questions.
Can someone explain how Gretzky developed into the best player? What was he doing as a 12-18 year old that made him into dominant force? (Skating for hours a day?, Always with a stick in his hands?)

there are some good documentaries out there about his life, I'd recommend watching some. His dad made him a backyard rink which he was on nonstop, made him take paper and watch a hockey game on tv at the same time and use pencil to follow the puck using the paper like it was the rink (anticipate where the puck goes). He was also so good growing up, he had to play in leagues with older players so he didnt dominate as much.

Wayne had the hockey mind, vision and anticipation like no one else. Mario, had the amazing skill and size. If his back held up, he maybe could have equaled or bested wayne. (maybe)
 
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KoozNetsOff 92

Hala Madrid
Apr 6, 2016
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You sure about that.....?

78a42184c8d30a9b094cf7181110d388.jpg


Let’s not forget about Babe Ruth either... He hit more home runs than any other team twice in his career.

Despite being a Gretzky fanatic, your statement is very wrong.

Pele is probably the most overrated footballer ever. His "legend" is made up of a bunch of goals he scored in amateur matches. And before you say "3 world cups", 1 of them he didn't play a game and another he was on arguably the best international team ever. Maradona, Ronaldo (R9), Messi all easily ahead.

As for Ruth, he was good but not at Gretzky level.
 

The Crypto Guy

Registered User
Jun 26, 2017
26,065
32,813
1) Probably not
2) I guess so
3) For sure, though every head coach eventually falls out of favour
4) Considering that many people believe that Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux, or Gordie Howe are superior to Gretzky, you have your answer.
5
) Every eventuality is an inevitability.
Wut?? This is completely false :laugh: unless you’re definition of “many people” is about 0.5% of hockey fans.
 

Daximus

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The only one that interests me is question #5. And I think the answer is likely going to be no. It will be damn hard to replicate that kind of success. It was a perfect storm.

- They have to have the perfect development growing up. Which in today's NHL is heavily monetary based.
- They have to have that insane hockey IQ that only comes along once every decade or so at the very least.
- They have to arrive during a time when scoring reaches the heights it did in the 80's.
- They will easily be that dominant player without much help but with the likes of guys like Kurri, Messier, Anderson, Coffeey and Fuhr, they can reach absolutely insane heights in that scoring environment. Think of a team with a peak McDavid and Karlsson on it to even come close to the Gretz/Coffey combo. Then add one of the best shooters in the league on his wing. A beastly secondary leader as another center and a huge performer that can get some clutch goals. As well as a goalie that can steal wins.
- The team will have to be able to keep that kind of talent around in the cap era, which is already looking almost impossible.
- They'll have to arrive on a team that has competent enough management to not only get those guys but keep them together and develop them well.
- They'll have to be either an insanely durable monster athlete or be able to be agile enough to remain healthy as protection in today's NHL is pretty much out the window.

It was honestly the perfect storm for a peak athlete with insane on ice intelligence. No doubt a Gretzky in today's NHL would be a dominant athlete but it would be damn hard to reach those insane levels of peak output he did in today's game.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
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Tokyo, Japan
I think someone like Mario would be much preferable to Wayne as commissioner, even as a figurehead. He has experience as owner and seems less crony-ish.

Also, who wants to see Gretzky getting booed by everyone as he presents the Cup every year??
 

AlanHUK

5-14-6-1
Nov 27, 2010
2,470
394
Nottingham, England
Pele is probably the most overrated footballer ever. His "legend" is made up of a bunch of goals he scored in amateur matches. And before you say "3 world cups", 1 of them he didn't play a game and another he was on arguably the best international team ever. Maradona, Ronaldo (R9), Messi all easily ahead.

As for Ruth, he was good but not at Gretzky level.

Don Bradman is the most dominant over a sport ever. His average score over a 20 year career 99.94. The next highest average is 60.97.

Just to make a point on how ridiculous that is the 12th highest is 56.67
 

Murky

Registered User
Jan 28, 2006
851
439
I cannot offer facts. Just my memories and opinions.

I have some questions.
Can someone explain how Gretzky developed into the best player? What was he doing as a 12-18 year old that made him into dominant force? (Skating for hours a day?, Always with a stick in his hands?)

What set Gretzky apart was his head. That is why he is so easily underappreciated today. He consistently made plays that others would not have noticed were there at all. I do not know why but the space and dynamics of the game in time was just more clear to him than others. It doesn't really translate into highlight gaols as well as Mario's incredible skill etc., it just translates into numbers. You can't really even see it in TV because you miss so much of what is happening away from the puck, which was more relevant to his decisions than to anyone else's. That is the skill that set him apart.

Even as an old and broken player he was still incredibly dangerous.

I am not sure if he did anything that special during his development. He was born different if I had to guess.

6) was Gretzky projected to be the dominant player that he was? or was he just supposed to be a really good/dominant player like Lemieux/Crosby/McDavid, did people basically suspect he would change the landscape of the game?

It was so different then with no internet etc., and even because things like less monetization of hype. It is really hard to compare to anything except Lemieux in that sense. By the time Lemieux was coming up we already had Gretzky and he had changed things and that's why it is so hard to compare Lemieux.

The hype for Gretzky was huge though, he was fully expected to become the best player in the World; but so was McDavid in a different time.
 
Last edited:

Dondini

Registered User
Apr 28, 2010
3,367
2,811
I’m not going to answer questions 1,2,3and 5 but I can definitely tell you that I think the only answer to number 4 is Mario Lemieux.
 

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