Where do you think he would be in points if he played today? I don´t think his stats would be possible in today´s hockey (not taking anything away from him, he is for sure the greatest of all time)
He put up the points he did on the rangers in modern hockey, with clutch and grab, no 2 lines passes at the end of his career etc I don't think he would really have trouble all things considered. He would also have the benefits of all the modern EQ and training. Add to that all the powerplay time he would get from all the soft holding calls etc we see today.
people who didnt see him play just dont understand how dominant he was.
Where do you think he would be in points if he played today? I don´t think his stats would be possible in today´s hockey (not taking anything away from him, he is for sure the greatest of all time)
Still makes me wish they pulled the trigger on the Kovy for Shanahan deal, can you imagine Gretzky and Shanahan together. If we would have done that, kept Verbeek, and pulled the trigger on the Schneider for Karpotsev deal 2 years earlier we might be here talking about 2 cups in the 90s instead of 1.
Honestly? In his prime, he'd be hitting 150 EASILY. Gretzky as a 37 year old, in the dead puck era, with a destroyed back, and his best offensive teammates being a broken down Adam Graves and past-his-prime John Maclean, managed to score 90 points and was pacing with Forsberg, Kariya, Selanne in their primes.
There is no doubt in my mind that Gretz in his prime is scoring 150, 160, 170 points a season - even in the modern game.
Man could you guys imagine if we got Bure a couple years earlier??? I woulda bet my nuts he wouldve gotten Bure to hit triple digits in the G column.
Hell, just goin down to watch the warmups in 96-97 was unreal. All the names...Kovy dont go down, we might not have either.
That Kovy for Shanahan deal reportedly included Richter for Joseph. Long term, Joseph had the better career, but up until 1998 I'd rather have Richter (though Joseph in STL is one of the most underrated goalies in my lifetime).
He was still great for us, especially in 96-97 playoffs he had 2 hat tricks (one incredibly memorable one against Florida and one against Philly). I also remember the game-winning goal he set up Robitaille for when Gretzky was in his office for like 10 seconds and waited for Robitaille to go all the back up near the blue line and come back and one-time a perfect pass home to win the game.
His vision, hockey IQ, and ability to anticipate where the puck was going to end up was second to none. I still haven't never seen anyone with that level of hockey IQ and amazing intuitive vision. He was truly a masterful player. I'm so grateful I had the privilege of watching him play.
That Kovy for Shanahan deal reportedly included Richter for Joseph. Long term, Joseph had the better career, but up until 1998 I'd rather have Richter (though Joseph in STL is one of the most underrated goalies in my lifetime).
Honestly? In his prime, he'd be hitting 150 EASILY. Gretzky as a 37 year old, in the dead puck era, with a destroyed back, and his best offensive teammates being a broken down Adam Graves and past-his-prime John Maclean, managed to score 90 points and was pacing with Forsberg, Kariya, Selanne in their primes.
There is no doubt in my mind that Gretz in his prime is scoring 150, 160, 170 points a season - even in the modern game.
Up until 98? Even if Richter made the ASG with horrid D?
Didja miss his performance in the 2002 Olympics?
**** I dont take anyone but Hank over him in the clutch.
...though, it is a MF crime that Cujo aint in the Hall yet. Richter and Beezer too.
I remember the first time I saw him play at MSG for the Oilers early in his career. Nothing much had happened, Rangers led 3-0 in the middle of the second period. I thought "what's all the fuss about this Gretzky?". Ten minutes three goals and two assists later, I knew.
For the Rangers, he was certainly well past his prime, but he was still a great player.
i dunno..when i re-watch the 94 series all I could think of was how much holding, hooking, etc there was...it was obscene the amount of obstruction that went on.
i think there was more scoring then because goalies sucked more then. there are only a handful of teams with crap goalies now...for the most part every team has at least 1 goalie better than any goalie on 80% of the teams back then.
I forgot to mention the table cloth like jerseys the goalies wore. Gretzky was quoted as saying that some these guys are wearing jerseys so big it was like shooting in to a curtain.
Defensemen in general weren't very mobile. Guys like Buke, Samuleson, Pilon weren't great skaters or passers. They were stay at home savage defensemen that would maul anyone who crossed the blue line or dared stay in front of the net. I miss that part of the era.
Yup. 100%.
But it's an impossible question really. It's almost paradoxical, because you would never have Sidney Crosby or Patrick Kane without Gretzky coming before them.
Where do you think he would be in points if he played today? I don´t think his stats would be possible in today´s hockey (not taking anything away from him, he is for sure the greatest of all time)
Man could you guys imagine if we got Bure a couple years earlier??? I woulda bet my nuts he wouldve gotten Bure to hit triple digits in the G column.
Hell, just goin down to watch the warmups in 96-97 was unreal. All the names...Kovy dont go down, we might not have either.
Cujo isn't? Wtf?
He absolutely should be.
Richter is close, but my homer ass would vote yes.
Beezer is close also. Did he ever win a Cup? I don't think he did. He took a Panthers (the year of the rat) team with Mellanby to the SCF finals but they lost to COL in 4 games (still remember Uwe Krupp's point shot that snuck by to win The Cup).
CUJO should absolutely be in already though.