[VIDEO] Wayne Gretzky: Legends Series Ep.1 (1985): A Look At What Made Him Great (17 G, 47 P, 18 GP)

[CambieKev]

We all miss hockey, so to try to fill the void, here is a look at one of Wayne Gretzky's great performances: Game 5 of the 1985 Stanley Cup Finals vs the Philadelphia Flyers.

We get a look at his style of play, and also quite a bit of the magnificent Paul Coffey at his best.

Gretzky won the Conn Smythe Trophy with 17 goals and 47 points in 18 playoff games.

Enjoy!

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[McFlash97]

All that hooking and holding on 99. He hits 250 plus if those get called.

 

[Heckler81]

Honestly, it looks like a bunch of kids playing. No one tries to play defense. A lot of plays would’ve been stopped with a body check today but instead, players let their opponent past them.

Gretzky looked like the fastest player on the ice and he looks slow to today’s standards. The rest of the players in the video look like they’re skating in quicksand.

 

[Agent Zub]

Honestly, it looks like a bunch of kids playing. No one tries to play defense. A lot of plays would’ve been stopped with a body check today but instead, players let their opponent past them.

Gretzky looked like the fastest player on the ice and he looks slow to today’s standards. The rest of the players in the video look like they’re skating in quicksand.

Crazy how the game has evolved. It looks a shinny game compared to the NHL today.

 

[bleedgreen]

Honestly, it looks like a bunch of kids playing. No one tries to play defense. A lot of plays would’ve been stopped with a body check today but instead, players let their opponent past them.

Gretzky looked like the fastest player on the ice and he looks slow to today’s standards. The rest of the players in the video look like they’re skating in quicksand.

No one is letting anyone by. They don’t think the way players do today, gapping up on defense didn’t really exist. Gretzky and Coffey were both years ahead of what everyone else was doing.

You can’t try to bring in comparisons to today. Or turn it into some ridiculous conversation about how much today’s stars are better, if that’s where you’re going.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Crazy how the game has evolved. It looks a shinny game compared to the NHL today.

The amount of hooking and holding in Canada Cup 1987 kinda ruins it. I don't want those times back.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

No one is letting anyone by. They don’t think the way players do today, gapping up on defense didn’t really exist. Gretzky and Coffey were both years ahead of what everyone else was doing.

You can’t try to bring in comparisons to today. Or turn it into some ridiculous conversation about how much today’s stars are better, if that’s where you’re going.

Yeah, pretty much this. The demands of ones environment are what lead to innovation, but that doesn't mean that innovative individuals are superfluous or any less impressive. Put a modern player back in the 60s as an infant, and they will be far less impressive than they are now, precisely because the innovators of the game had yet to leave their mark. Citizen Kane.

Gretzky had elite skills and a generational brain. We do and will see players with generational skills and elite brains, but its almost impossible to imagine what a truly generational brain would entail at this point, and how they could change the landscape to the extent of an Orr, Gretzky, Coffey, Roy, etc.

 

[Agent Zub]

its not the stars that have changed its the 3rd and 4th liners. they used to be scrubs who would constantly get stunted on by the star players. now almost every player on the roster can skate and play defense.

the stars back then would be stars today, the bottom six back then would be ahlers today.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

its not the stars that have changed its the 3rd and 4th liners. they used to be scrubs who would constantly get stunted on by the star players. now almost every player on the roster can skate and play defense.

the stars back then would be stars today, the bottom six back then would be ahlers today.

Ahlers today are better than your average player from the early 80’s. it wasent until the late 80’s 90’s where the nhl actually became a competent league

 

[phillyb]

What even is goaltending?
It's been a long time since I've watched some older hockey vids; I really forgot what the game looked like.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

its not the stars that have changed its the 3rd and 4th liners. they used to be scrubs who would constantly get stunted on by the star players. now almost every player on the roster can skate and play defense.

the stars back then would be stars today, the bottom six back then would be ahlers today.

I disagree, the stars have changed a ton - just not as much as the average. Strength/stamina training and skill development are night and day from then to now, and that applies to the stars too.

 

[authentic]

I disagree, the stars have changed a ton - just not as much as the average. Strength/stamina training and skill development are night and day from then to now, and that applies to the stars too.

Gretzky was the best then and of all time (compared to his peers), but if you really think Crosby, Ovechkin or McDavid wouldn't score more if they went back in time you live in a fantasy land.

 

[authentic]

It's funny watching this and thinking back 10 years ago when people were seriously arguing that the league was more physical in the 80s, are you freaking kidding me lol

 

[Agent Zub]

I disagree, the stars have changed a ton - just not as much as the average. Strength/stamina training and skill development are night and day from then to now, and that applies to the stars too.

they have changed a ton. but the stars back then were also in some cases more naturally gifted in terms of skating. you had good/elite skaters with good hockey iq going up against players who moved like they had cement in their skates and were dumb af. I mean even Gretzky who isn't awfully fast is blowing past these guys like hes McDavid. and a lot of it has to do with systems as well. the defensive support is atrocious.

the stars today are very good/elite skaters going up against good skaters who all play a systematic defensive game.

dont even get me started on the goalies. the majority of them would get laughed off the ice if they tried to play like they did in the 80s.

 

[Esq]

I almost forgot how utterly dynamic Paul Coffey was.

 

[Muikea Bulju]

What was the instrumental song at 1:18????

Edit: already found it, Crockett's theme

 

[Muikea Bulju]

I almost forgot how utterly dynamic Paul Coffey was.

There might be a reason for him having the D-men scoring record. If he would have been just a floater on Gretzky's wing, all the Oilers D-men would have had similar stats.

 

[Beukeboom]

It's funny watching this and thinking back 10 years ago when people were seriously arguing that the league was more physical in the 80s, are you freaking kidding me lol

Of course it was. Last time NHL was a league for proper men was before the 2004-05 lock out. Fair enough some old school guys lingered on for a few seasons after. Guys like Nylander and Marner would not have survived a game in the 80's.

In regards to the video, I don't think it's very representative of a Gretzky game to be honest. They all looked tired and play is sloppy (which is understandable in a game 5).

 

[wintersej]

There might be a reason for him having the D-men scoring record. If he would have been just a floater on Gretzky's wing, all the Oilers D-men would have had similar stats.

Paul Coffey has fewer career points than Bourque. Orr scored more in a season so not sure why record you think Coffey has.

 

[wintersej]

they have changed a ton. but the stars back then were also in some cases more naturally gifted in terms of skating. you had good/elite skaters with good hockey iq going up against players who moved like they had cement in their skates and were dumb af. I mean even Gretzky who isn't awfully fast is blowing past these guys like hes McDavid. and a lot of it has to do with systems as well. the defensive support is atrocious.

the stars today are very good/elite skaters going up against good skaters who all play a systematic defensive game.

dont even get me started on the goalies. the majority of them would get laughed off the ice if they tried to play like they did in the 80s.

The ice and skates are so much different from then to now.

The goalies is just a different thing. They couldn’t play butterfly with those pads, just a different position.

 

[kaiser matias]

Paul Coffey has fewer career points than Bourque. Orr scored more in a season so not sure why record you think Coffey has.

Coffee has the single season goal record.

 

[ESH]

I was excited to watch this but it’s kind of an annoying mash-up. So many random clips that don’t need to be there with cuts so quick that you don’t even have time to process what just happened.

 

[McFlash97]

Paul Coffey has fewer career points than Bourque. Orr scored more in a season so not sure why record you think Coffey has.

Coffey has a boatload of records. Welcome to Earth.

 

[McFlash97]

Honestly, it looks like a bunch of kids playing. No one tries to play defense. A lot of plays would’ve been stopped with a body check today but instead, players let their opponent past them.

Gretzky looked like the fastest player on the ice and he looks slow to today’s standards. The rest of the players in the video look like they’re skating in quicksand.

Its the Oilers. They made a lot of defenseman look like a bunch of kids.

 

[CambieKev]

Of course it was. Last time NHL was a league for proper men was before the 2004-05 lock out. Fair enough some old school guys lingered on for a few seasons after. Guys like Nylander and Marner would not have survived a game in the 80's.

In regards to the video, I don't think it's very representative of a Gretzky game to be honest. They all looked tired and play is sloppy (which is understandable in a game 5).

Thanks for your response,

I've looked at a lot of footage of Gretzky over the last little while, both from the regular season and playoffs. His performance here is quite good for his standards. He always tended to hang high in his own zone and let other players drive the puck through the neutral zone unless he wanted to carry it up himself.

He was officially a centerman, but played more like a winger. He generated many opportunities as a result of odd-man rushes and quick counter attacks, and he knew that he could draw numerous opponents towards him to create space for teammates. He understood how to take advantage of primitive defensive systems and ill-prepared defenders with pivots, turns, and unorthodox behavior.

There are a lot of signature Gretzky plays in this package, including his button hook, his slap shot fake, his two-on-ones, etc.

I was excited to watch this but it’s kind of an annoying mash-up. So many random clips that don’t need to be there with cuts so quick that you don’t even have time to process what just happened.

The plays in this package are sequenced in a specific manner so as to illustrate his usual types of plays and positioning. There are clips where he exits the defensive zone early and that's all that happens, specifically to show that he usually did exactly that. There are other clips where he spends time setting up plays, weaves around, carries the puck into the offensive zone, dodges a check, or chips the puck up to a teammate who is speeding up the ice. Not every play results in a goal.

This is not a goal reel; it's a concise look at his average shifts and his tendencies to give viewers a sense of what his shift-to-shift contributions were.