What most impressed you about Wayne Gretzky?

[Psycho Papa Joe]

1) His playmaking ability
2) His ability to raise the level of play of those around him
3) His on-ice vision
4) His ability to avoid the big hit (personally I never bought the notion that there was an unwritten rule to not hit Gretzky. Do you really think a team going for the cup won't do everything in their power to stop him?)
5) I don't ever recall seeing him lay blame on a teammate. He always gave them the upmost credit.

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[Wild Thing]

The vision and the playmaking ability. To me, they sort of went hand in hand. One of the reasons so many of his passes just appeared out of nowhere right on Kurri's stickblade was because Gretzky was the only person on the ice - hell, the only person on the planet - who knew that was where Kurri's stickblade was going to be (including Kurri), and the only person who saw how the flow of the play was going to develop in such a way as to make that pass the proper play. It was like the rest of the world was on some perpetual tape delay, and Gretzky lived his whole life 4 seconds farther into the future than everyone else.

 

[KariyaIsGod*]

His vision, his playmaking, his slapshot, his backhander, his ability to elevate his teammates to the next level, everything. The fact that such an unlikely candidate became the greatest player ever to grace the ice...

 

[monkey_00*]

...................His nose.................for the Net.

 

[revolverjgw]

The fact that such an unlikely candidate became the greatest player ever to grace the ice...

Yeah, that. Michael Jordan is well known for his athleticism, Jim Brown was an all-around athlete, as was Hank Aaron, Mario Lemieux is huge, Gordie Howe was a beast... but Wayne...

 

[Bulldog fan]

The pictures of his house on another thread :lol .He's having a new one built, guess the family outgrow that one :lol .

 

[God Bless Canada]

Finally, someone around here gets it. Instead of trying to pick apart the greatness of the all-time greats, sit back, reminisce and marvel at how great they truly were.

What most impressed me about Gretzky? Everything.

 

[JCD]

What impressed me most is how dominant he was despite not having any defining characteristics. He wasn't physical, he didn't have blazing speed, didn't have Hull's slap-shot. He was this pint-sized guy with a chip on his shoulder. Only he didn't take it out on you, he took it out on your goalie. Nobody, in any sport, has done so much with so little. I don't mean that as a slight, quite the opposite actually. IMO, he was the best player in the game and did it without any exceptional tools to work with. He was just that much better than everybody else.

 

[Lou is God]

That he was able to play hockey in that build, I don't think he really had any muscle, not saying he was weak, just frail looking. Also his pregame meal that was like three or four hot dogs. All I'd would want to do is sit on the coach burping.

 

[monkey_00*]

That he was able to play hockey in that build, I don't think he really had any muscle, not saying he was weak, just frail looking. Also his pregame meal that was like three or four hot dogs. All I'd would want to do is sit on the coach burping.

He wasn't exactly the biggest hockey player around yes but that's why they've always surrounded him with the likes of Dave Semenko and the Marty McSorley.....PLUS League officials (especially during his prime) always looked after his best interests.

 

[Macman]

1. His career numbers. They will never be broken.
2. His consistency. He played every shift like it was his last.
3. The way he handled the media and fans. Has any athlete ever done more interviews or signed more autographs?

 

[kmad]

His wife

 

[chooch*]

He wasn't exactly the biggest hockey player around yes but that's why they've always surrounded him with the likes of Dave Semenko and the Marty McSorley.....PLUS League officials (especially during his prime) always looked after his best interests.

easy buddy - i think youse gots the wrong thread.

 

[Habsfan 32]

His vision.

 

[KOVALEV10*]

What impressed me about Gretz is that even though he was never the most talented player, nor was we the best stickhandler or the best goal scorer, he wasnt physical or big yet he still managed to become one of the greatest of all time due to his vision and knowing where to be/where his teammate will be ahead of time.

 

[Big Phil]

Hmmm........... a lot of things impressed me about him. I think what is overlooked about him is the fact that he would disapear and you wouldnt see him but then all of the sudden he's at the side of the net putting the puck in. Good example is the '87 CC when he fed Lemieux in Game 3. All the sudden Lemieux gets by a pinching defenseman and then there's Gretzky all of the sudden forming a three on one. You just always knew he'd feather a perfect pass at that time.

Also the way he played behind the net. There was always a deer-in-the-headlights look form opposing defensman and goalies when he had the puck behind there.

 

[Tb0ne]

As someone who missed the bulk of the Great Ones career it's very interesting to read all this.

I always had this idea he was "the best at everything" because those are the memories from my childhood, where I would think is simple black and white terms. I really missed out as a fan not getting to watch him in his prime.

 

[dunwoody_joe]

Vision, creativity, ability to create flow, ability to know where everyone on the ice was, and would be.

I sat by the ice in Buffalo and would delight in watching Gretz play. He controlled the ice, saw everything, made perfect passes while looking the other way. He slowed down the play to set things up, or speeded them up to take advantage of a situation. He had incredible presence and seemed to play as though the game, in his mind, was slower (if that makes sense).

But most incredible was his anticipation of where everybody would be an instant before it happened. It was beautiful to watch! I always wondered what it must have been like to play on his wing. I'm pretty sure I could have scored too!

 

[chooch*]

Vision, creativity, ability to create flow, ability to know where everyone on the ice was, and would be.

I sat by the ice in Buffalo and would delight in watching Gretz play. He controlled the ice, saw everything, made perfect passes while looking the other way. He slowed down the play to set things up, or speeded them up to take advantage of a situation. He had incredible presence and seemed to play as though the game, in his mind, was slower (if that makes sense).

But most incredible was his anticipation of where everybody would be an instant before it happened. It was beautiful to watch! I always wondered what it must have been like to play on his wing. I'm pretty sure I could have scored too!

He was a great skater - I never bought the "they dont hit him "argument fully; they couldnt hit him. He was relatively fast and could cut either direction.

Secondly, when his stick hit the puck the goalie -and anyone else - had no idea if it was going left or right.

Thirdly he could touch pass like nobody.

I thought he was greatly overplayed when he went to LA and NY and it really affected his foot speed. He should NEVER have been on the penalty kill. NEVER!!
N-E-V-E-R!!!. I always thought that was one of the most shortsighted and stupid things in hockey.