9 Unbreakable Records That Show Why Wayne Gretzky Is The G.O.A.T.

There are certain sports where you can spend all day debating who should be considered the greatest player of all time. Hockey is not one of them, as there’s one man who firmly earned that crown: Wayne Gretzky.

Wayne Gretzky posted some absolutely unreal numbers during the 20 years he spent in the NHL, and there’s a reason he earned the nickname “The Great One.”

As things currently stand, Gretzky holds the top spot in the NHL record book in more than 60 different categories—including more than a few he’ll never have to worry about losing based on how dominant he was.

Career Assists—1,963

Gretzky played 1,487 regular season games and managed to rack up 1,963 assists when everything was said and done. Exactly how impressive is that? Well, he leads the Ron Francis, the second man on that list, by a whopping 714.

However, there arguably isn’t a single stat that highlights just how unreal he was than this one: Jaromír Jágr scored the second-most points in NHL history with 1,921, which means Gretzky still would have ended up being the all-time leader on that front if he hadn’t scored a single goal. 

Career Points—2,857

Speaking of points…

Gretzky did not, in fact, score zero goals during his time in the NHL, as he’s currently the all-time leader with 894 (although all signs point to Alexander Ovechkin surpassing that mark before he hangs up his skates).

That means he retired with 2,857 points under his belt, which is a staggering 936 more than Jagr posted in his 24 NHL seasons.

Most Goals In A Season—92

Gretzky actually holds the first and second spots when it comes to the list of players who’ve scored the most goals in a single season (Brett Hull takes the bronze with 78).

He did pretty well for himself during the 1983-84 campaign where he put the puck in the net 87 times, but he was never able to match the heater he went on during the 1981-82 season while notching 92 of them.

When you consider the 69 goals Auston Matthews scored last year was the most an NHL player has put up since Mario Lemieux hit the same total in the mid-1990s, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where anyone comes close to sniffing Gretzky’s total.

Most Assists In A Season—163

This particular category boasts one of the most laughable stats Gretzky is responsible for, as he occupies nine of the spots in the Top 10 when it comes to the most assists posted in a single season (Lemieux was able to tie him for 8th at the end of the 1980s).

The bulk of those standout performances came during his time with the Oilers, and none of them were more impressive than the 163 assists he dished out during the 1985-86 season.

Most Points In A Season—215

Gretzky supplemented those 163 assists with a relatively paltry 52 goals, but that was enough to break the single-season points record of 212 he’d already set in 1982 by three.

As was the case with assists, Lemieux is the only player not named “Wayne Gretzky” in the Top 10 in this category, as he also tied him for eight with the 168 he had during the 1987-88 season.

Most Hart Trophy Wins—9

The Hart Trophy is the award presented to the Most Valuable Player in the NHL each season based on a vote by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, and Gretzky earned that honor nine times over the course of 10 years in the 1980s.

To put that in perspective, Peyton Manning “only” won five MVP awards for his performance in the regular season during his time in the NFL, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar set the NBA record with six, and Barry Bonds leads all MLB players with seven.

Connor McDavid also leads all active NHL players with three, so this one will probably be safe for a while.

Most Art Ross Trophy Wins—10

The Art Ross Trophy is presented to the NHL player who leads the league in points each year, and Gretzky was pretty good at doing exactly that.

The Great One ultimately took home the award on ten occasions to break the record of six that was previously set by Howe.

McDavid could surpass the mark when you consider he’s already secured five of them (the most of any active player), but he’s facing a fairly steep uphill battle.

Most Consecutive 200-Point Seasons—3

Gretzky wrapped up the second 200-point season of his career in 1984 after finishing with 205, and he extended the streak to two with 208 the following year before adding one more for good measure when he set the aforementioned points record in 1986.

When you consider Gretkzy is also the only player in NHL history to surpass the 200-point total in a single season (a feat he achieved four times), it’s pretty safe to assume no one else is going to be able to do it three times in a row.

Longest Point Streak—51 Games

This is basically the NHL’s equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, and while Gretzky wasn’t able to match that mark, he came pretty close by recording at least one goal or assist in 51 consecutive games during the 1983-84 campaign.

I’m putting this last because Lemieux managed to come pretty close with a 46-game run during the 1989-90 season, but it’s worth noting he, Mats Sundin, and Gretzky are the only players in NHL history who have been able to rattle off a streak of 30 or more.