What made Gretzky so good?

[The Panther]

He wasn't short. I recall in the Facing Wayne Gretzky book that players (like Craig Conroy) who first encountered him late in his career observed that he was taller than they expected.

However, he was skinny. Often reporters and broadcasters for other teams would see him shirtless in the dressing room after games and were struck by how slight he was, wondering how this guy was ripping the League a new one, so to speak.

Actually that was probably another unique thing about Gretzky: he was such a prodigy at an early age that he was always the smallest and youngest player on pretty much every team he played for from age 6 to age 20. This kind of taught him quickly to be alert for danger and avoid contact if possible.

There's an obvious contrast here with other prodigies like Mario or Lindros, who were likely always the biggest guys on their teams. You'd think those big guys would have an easier time, physically, in the NHL... but we know how that turned out.

 

[ITM]

I think the question is rather whether today's best players would score 200 or even 300 points with that goaltending. Gretzky was the best of his time, but the game has developed quite a lot since.

But that presumes today's players become today's players without Wayne Gretzky's contribution to the way the game is played. Comparing eras is complicated. Suffice it to say, given Gretzky's intangibles, the modern-modern game with it's emphasis on speed of thought, might yield similar margins for a modern era trained Wayne Gretzky.

Recently, there's been debate between Jordan and LeBron and subsequently Brady and Jordan. There's no mention of Gretzky with respect to that distance between the sport's greatest and the rest. And maybe it's because it's largely an American debate and suited to recent sporting events or maybe the reality of the distance between Gretzky in his sport and to his contemporaries isn't fully understood in that market.

What I thought was well understood within hockey talk circles was the distance Wayne Gretzky holds in his sport, but also the distance he holds to other greats in their sports.

 

[The Panther]

Gretzky did not play in the last ice-age, alongside woolly mammoths. Four players who played against him are still playing today, and they weren't 100 point scorers back then.

 

[95Tal]

There might be more written and known about Gretzky than any player in history, so I am not trying to educate by saying that I believe he was fairly well-known throughout Canada as a child prodigy (517 point season as a 10 year-old), and clearly possessed a talent that most of his peers did not. It's therefore short-sighted and dismissive to say that he only scored the way he did because of bad goaltending or a slower game overall. No one was putting up numbers like that until Mario came along (obv. another prodigious talent).

I saw Gretzky play live several times as a King and was in attendance for a six point game--this one, riddled with HOF players: Detroit Red Wings at Los Angeles Kings Box Score — October 9, 1993 | Hockey-Reference.com

Anecdotally, I remember going to an open practice and sitting way up close to the ice at the Great Western Forum (my friend won a Bob Kudelski stick in a drawing that day), and seeing Gretzky out there was surreal. It seemed like the guy should have been resting on a silver cloud somewhere, but there he was in a practice jersey, just one of the guys on the team.

He had soft hands and it almost seemed to me like his lack of physical strength worked in his favor for passing, as every pass of his seemed to be not only perfectly placed but at just the right speed, which was sometimes fairly slow, especially compared with today's game. You didn't see too many guys fan on a one-timer off a Gretzky pass. No blind passes either; always a plan, because he saw the play develop before anyone else. I actually see McDavid do that pretty often now. His shot as others have mentioned was very accurate, and he could adapt himself and work around his deficiencies like lack of strength by hesitating and giving different looks to the goalies, and also holding onto the puck when in close (it must have felt like forever) and out-waiting goalies. He also had great fundamentals, like pushing the puck over the blue-line on the rush to prevent an offside (it drives me crazy that more players don't do this), head up all the time, was a great pick-pocket, etc.

Someone once said or wrote that Lemieux was the best one-on-one and that Gretzky was the best two-on-one of all time. I'd agree with that...

 

[alko]

1) The smartest. Ever. By a longshot.

Nice. But it doesn't help you, when you are between dumb-aces.

 

[psycat]

Although Gretzky did have a fair toolbox, he was not:

1) The fastest
2) The biggest
3) The strongest
4) The flashiest
5) The most raw skilled

So really, by process of elimination he was:

1) The smartest. Ever. By a longshot.

While I kinda agree I will add that Gretzky was infact a tremendously skilled player. Very agile and shifty skating, accurate passes, elite stickerhandler, ungodly endurance+durability and possibly thew most accurate shot ever. It's becoming somewhat of a cliché that he only produced because of his "smarts". Obviously the fact that he dominated in the way he did can be attributed to his hockey IQ but make no mistake he had an elite skill set aswell. Heck he was not even all that small, albeit it wasn't one of his main tolls.

Just to be clear I am not trying to educate you, I am just trying to stop people who didn't see him from getting the idea that his brain was the only tool he had. Infact he was elite and perhaps the best in several categories.

 

[El Kuko]

Lots of talk about Gretzky's IQ, vision and all that good stuff. One thing I think that people are forgetting is that Gretzky was an insane competitor. I've seen comments before about Gretzky running up the score and all that, but this was a man who never took his foot off the gas petal. He didn't care if it was 1-1, 7-0 or whatever score the game was at. When he was on the ice he was trying to score. Today I think people would call that "playing a full 60 minutes".

He worked at hockey, he lived and breathed hockey every day of his life.
“The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.”
“The only way a kid is going to practice is if it's total fun for him… and it was for me.”
“Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”
"I couldn't beat people with my strength; I don't have a hard shot; I'm not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work."

What skills did he have that made him the best? I always enjoyed this Harry Sinden quote as I feel it sums up how most people felt about Gretzky:
"Gretzky sees a picture out there that no one else sees. It’s difficult to describe because I’ve never seen the game he’s looking at."

Justin Bourne has another: "All other hockey skills are secondary to whatever-it-was that Gretzky had."

 

[sharkhawk]

Did you ever see quicksilver in the X-men movies? I imagine Thats how Gretzky saw the game

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Back in the ‘80’s I remember reading a somewhat tongue in cheek article in Maclean’s magazine article that suggested Gretzky was able to stop time at will. It’s still the most plausible argument I’ve seen for wat he could do.

 

[Albatros]

Gretzky did not play in the last ice-age, alongside woolly mammoths. Four players who played against him are still playing today, and they weren't 100 point scorers back then.

I don't think the dead-puck era can be compared to the wild days of the 1980s at all though; although surely aging was a significant factor too, Gretzky himself went from scoring 92 goals to no more than 25 during that transition despite him mastering it fairly well.

 

[Gambitman]

This x 100.

“The highlights don't really capture his greatness actually. Watch a full game, any era.” (Sorry dont know how to insert quote snippet)

When you watch an entire game you’ll think he could have 300 points in a season. He created so many chances.

I remember a game early in his Kings career they were playing Quebec I think. Gretzky had a huge game but the colour guy still made the comment something to the effect of “if his team mates had any finish at all Gretzky would have had 10 tonight.”

He made the hard look so easy. Watch him for 5-6 complete games in the 80’s and you would think you should be able to have a skilled player copy him or least teach him those moves. It’s not like they couldn’t see what he was doing and try to replicate it. Take playing behind the net. That doesn’t seem like a hard thing to copy especially for any reasonably good playmaker. Yet very players can set up successfully there and no one even close to how Gretzky played from there. Still don’t know how he did it. I truly doubt we’ll ever see another player like him.

 

[sr edler]

He knew where the puck was going to be at the end of his shift before he even stepped on the ice.

Where was that?

 

[Cursed Lemon]

While I kinda agree I will add that Gretzky was infact a tremendously skilled player. Very agile and shifty skating, accurate passes, elite stickerhandler, ungodly endurance+durability and possibly thew most accurate shot ever. It's becoming somewhat of a cliché that he only produced because of his "smarts". Obviously the fact that he dominated in the way he did can be attributed to his hockey IQ but make no mistake he had an elite skill set aswell. Heck he was not even all that small, albeit it wasn't one of his main tolls.

Just to be clear I am not trying to educate you, I am just trying to stop people who didn't see him from getting the idea that his brain was the only tool he had. Infact he was elite and perhaps the best in several categories.

Without question he had a high level of skill, you can't put Gretzky's brain into Dany Heatley's body and break records like he did. It's just that when evaluating what singular aspect propelled Gretzky up to the insane heights he reached, his on-ice IQ was the by far the biggest factor.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Where was that?

Back of the net usually.

 

[sr edler]

Back of the net usually.

Who's net? Gretzky was in on many goals that went the other way too. Bure's 1st NHL goal for instance saw #99 a mile away from the play. You also have a generous take on the word usually.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Who's net? Gretzky was in on many goals that went the other way too. Bure's 1st NHL goal for instance saw #99 a mile away from the play. You also have a generous take on the word usually.

Forgive my hyperbole. The puck ended up in the back of his opponent's net 2857 times in the regular season. Happy?

 

[Big Phil]

Uh. How the hell did he know where to pass? Didn't look up once.

I think it was Dave Semenko who said "Don't ever think Gretzky can't see you on the ice." There were times he wasn't even looking where he made those no-look passes. And I mean not even close to looking! He had the awareness of a deer in the middle of the forest.

 

[Asheville]

Gretzky to Pumper to Lucky

What could have been. Dumb Rogie.

Those home Quebec unis contrasted against those road Kings unis was beautiful.

 

[Danny46]

Gretzky had great skills, but I never thought he was the quickest, the best one on one player, the guy with the best shot etc... He was just great in all offensive skills combined with one of the highest IQ in the history of the game, his inteligence is what made him great.

 

[VanIslander]

His decision making was so good, he was so calm and wise, that it looked effortless.

He controlled games with his passing. But he also took advantage of scoring chances when need be.

Here the 36 year old (in his 18th season that year he led the NHL in assists in the regular season, as he would again the following season) scored a playoff hat trick in a close 5-4 win (Rags only victory in the 5-game series).

Notice how he's in the right place at the right time and opportunistic: on the first goal to receive a sudden misdirected puck he waits a beat and backhands; on the second he pinballs the puck off a Flyer from his office; on the third he gains the blueline and pulls up, moves to open ice and lets go an accurate long slapper. All three goals could be described as "lucky" to some degree. But just as Hasek saves were described as "fluke", there is a greatness in the madness.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Wayne Gretzky: MindFreak

That ought to explain some of it.

Gretzky also learned a lot from practicing intensely as a kid.Perhaps he was better at practicing too, even adjusting for his father's help.Some people are good at upgrading themselves through practice..They know "how to learn".If you combine that with natural talent, and an early start, plus a very supporting environment, you get an outlier.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

in terms of physique, being a small but not short guy, and having an ingenious game where that’s not an issue, i’d say elias pettersson today is gretzky-esque.

disclaimer: this is NOT about ability or even playing style. i am talking about size and build and ability to compete at an extremely despite those disadvantages.

EDIt: that said...

 

[mobilus]

Uh. How the hell did he know where to pass? Didn't look up once.

Gretzky was asked this question after the game. He said he was watching Kurri's reflection in the plexiglass.

 

[wetcoast]

There might be more written and known about Gretzky than any player in history, so I am not trying to educate by saying that I believe he was fairly well-known throughout Canada as a child prodigy (517 point season as a 10 year-old), and clearly possessed a talent that most of his peers did not. It's therefore short-sighted and dismissive to say that he only scored the way he did because of bad goaltending or a slower game overall. No one was putting up numbers like that until Mario came along (obv. another prodigious talent).

I saw Gretzky play live several times as a King and was in attendance for a six point game--this one, riddled with HOF players: Detroit Red Wings at Los Angeles Kings Box Score — October 9, 1993 | Hockey-Reference.com

Anecdotally, I remember going to an open practice and sitting way up close to the ice at the Great Western Forum (my friend won a Bob Kudelski stick in a drawing that day), and seeing Gretzky out there was surreal. It seemed like the guy should have been resting on a silver cloud somewhere, but there he was in a practice jersey, just one of the guys on the team.

He had soft hands and it almost seemed to me like his lack of physical strength worked in his favor for passing, as every pass of his seemed to be not only perfectly placed but at just the right speed, which was sometimes fairly slow, especially compared with today's game. You didn't see too many guys fan on a one-timer off a Gretzky pass. No blind passes either; always a plan, because he saw the play develop before anyone else. I actually see McDavid do that pretty often now. His shot as others have mentioned was very accurate, and he could adapt himself and work around his deficiencies like lack of strength by hesitating and giving different looks to the goalies, and also holding onto the puck when in close (it must have felt like forever) and out-waiting goalies. He also had great fundamentals, like pushing the puck over the blue-line on the rush to prevent an offside (it drives me crazy that more players don't do this), head up all the time, was a great pick-pocket, etc.

Someone once said or wrote that Lemieux was the best one-on-one and that Gretzky was the best two-on-one of all time. I'd agree with that...

Great post and very descriptive of what I saw of Gretzky and thought of him as his career developed.

I'll also add that Gretzky's desire to win and be the best always is one of his greatest, and overlooked attributes.

 

[The Panther]

I'll also add that Gretzky's desire to win and be the best always is one of his greatest, and overlooked attributes.

Yes, and I guess that goes for all "fully achieved" elite athletes.

Gretzky is the last player you think of as being cocky or high on himself, but there were moments when you knew he was.

February 1981: Gretzky is in a media dogfight with Mike Liut of Hartford for the probable MVP of the season. When Hartford comes to Edmonton for the Liut-Gretzky showdown, Liut gets pulled and Gretzky puts up 5 goals and 2 assists.

1981 playoffs: Sevigny tells the Montreal papers that "Lafleur will put Gretzky in his back pocket." Gretzky responds with 11 points in the three-game sweep (and went +11 in those three games!). Meanwhile, Sevigny has an .845 and Lafleur one assist for the series.

1981 December 30th: Having scored 4 goals the previous game against L.A., Gretzky now has 45 goals in 38 games for the season. On the way to the game this night, Kevin Lowe asks Gretzky (his roommate) how he feels. Gretzky says, "I think I might do it tonight." Lowe says, "What do you mean?" Gretzky says, "I feel like I can get to 50 goals tonight." Then, he does.

c.1984 to 1994: You're hard-pressed to find any Gretzky vs. Lemieux match-up (not counting the All Star game) when Mario got the upper hand, even in seasons when Mario was superior or had the better team. One was very early in 1986 in a game at Edmonton, when Mario and the Pens surprisingly beat the Oilers and Gretzky got booed by some home 'fans'. (The notable exception here is the game in 1996 when Mario had, I think, five goals, and Gretzky was in his brief blip with St.Louis.) Though he would never admit it, you know Wayne was geared up for those "Gretzky vs. Lemieux" media showdowns, and he almost always got the better end of it, even as late as the 1996-97 season when he was a Ranger.

April 1988: After Gretzky scores the overtime winner in game two against Calgary, he tells the Saddledome staff to instruct the zamboni driver to go home and rest because the Saddledome won't be needing his services anymore this season (they didn't).

May 1993: Bob McKenzie (and others) in the Toronto media are riding Gretzky for "skating like he has a piano on his back." Gretzky responds with a hat-trick and four points in game seven to push L.A. into the Finals.


I think all elite athletes, whether they admit it or not (Gretzky wouldn't... see his colorful exchange with Messier about self-motivation vs. fun in The Boys on the Bus), take any kind of "edge" they can get for motivation. So, if a challenge is presented to be the best, they really go for it.