The Great One: Andrew, are you okay? Are you okay, Andrew?

There are days when I really wonder if people just write things to be different or if they truly believe them.

This staggering comment was posted by Andrew yesterday in JW’s article on Sam Gagner.

Having an opinion is great, but when you are so far off in your assessment it needs to be pointed out.

How can you suggest Gretzky’s point totals were inflated? Didn’t every other player who played in that era have the same chance to score? Of course they did, but shockingly enough they couldn’t produce as well as Gretzky. Yes the 1980’s were the supposed open era, but was it really that much more open than the 1970s?

Gretzky dominated the game like no one else had before, except maybe Bobby Orr, but Orr never did it for as long.

The fairest way to compare players from era-to-era is to compare how they fared against the other players in their respective seasons.

Now let’s look at the ~over-rated~ Wayne Gretzky.

His rookie season he tied Marcel Dionne in scoring with 137 points, but lost due to fewer goals. For the next seven years he dominated the game like no other has before, or ever will again.

So please, dear Andrew, explain to me how Gretzky’s points were inflated? Maybe take a second and re-read the previous bullet points, and notice how much better he was than anyone else on the ice when he played.

Before he entered the league here are the scoring leaders from the previous ten years and how many games each team played.

So clearly the game somehow changed overnight in the 1980s, and they must have stopped playing 1970s type of defence.

Anyone who suggest Gretzky’s totals were inflated wasn’t paying attention, or isn’t smart enough to realize how much better he was than anyone else. Look at the point totals of the second place finishers in his first eight seasons, 137, 135, 147, 124, 126, 135, 141 and 108. Do any of those numbers look that much better than the leaders in 1970?

Gretzky dominated his era more than any player in the history of the game, and to suggest he isn’t the greatest of all-time is so ignorant and uninformed I couldn’t ignore it.

We can argue and debate the merits of Hall/Seguin or Ovechkin/Crosby and both sides will have valid points, but, outside of Bobby Orr, there is nothing that proves why Gretzky wasn’t the greatest. The only player who you can even consider is Bobby Orr when you compare his numbers to other D-men in his era.

And your point that Gretzky’s last three seasons were “okay” once again doesn’t do him justice. In this 18th season he scored 97 points, only Teemu Selanne (109) and Mario Lemieux (122) had over a hundred. In his 19th season he scored 90 points, tied for third in the league with Pavel Bure, one behind Peter Forsberg and only 12 back of Jaromir Jagr. Even in his late 30’s he kept up with guys 10 to 12 years his junior.

And stating that Gretzky didn’t lose a step would suggest he was one of the most fine-tuned specimens the game has ever seen, because I don’t know any professional player who is as quick or as strong in his late 30s as he was in his early 20s.

Andrew also added this startling piece:

Yes Andrew, he had an average shot that somehow allowed him to score 894 goals, and he was such a bad skater, that he rarely got caught from behind when he smelled an opening.

And the ’80s weren’t physical at all. There weren’t line brawls, or head shots or errant elbows. In fact, no one hit Gretzky because John Ziegler sent out a memo to all teams not to touch him for fear of a lifetime ban from the game.

And the league wanted him to dominate more than anyone else, because Edmonton, one of the smallest markets in the league needed to be the most popular. The NHL wanted one of the WHA castoffs to come in and dominate their league. Yes, the league’s grand plan was to put Edmonton on the map.

And you are correct that he would only be a 70-80 point player, even though he only dipped that low once, when he wasn’t injured, in his 20-year career.

Thanks for the astute and accurate points.