Welcome back to a much-beloved series on the Nation Network: Throwback Thursday. We&#8217;ve resurrected this weekly piece from the grave in thanks to a fancy website that allows us to take a look at newspaper archives.
So without further ado&#8230;

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86097" src="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Gretzky70Regret.jpg" alt="" width="546" height="890" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Gretzky70Regret.jpg 546w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Gretzky70Regret-184x300.jpg 184w" sizes="(max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px" />On this day in 1982, Wayne Gretzky scored his 70th goal of the season in a 5-3 victory against the Washinton Capitals. As we all know Gretzky was basically a cheat code that broke the NHL, and this was no further example. His 70th goal came at the 9:02 mark in the second frame off an assist from none other than Jari Kurri.
Now look — there&#8217;s only been eight players in the history of the league to put up 70 goals the most recent being Alexander Mogilny scoring 76 in 1992-93. Impressive, right?
Very impressive.
But for Gretzky, who went on to score a league record 92 goals in that 1981-82 season, he wasn&#8217;t happy with only having a one-goal performance.
&#8220;I hit two goal posts and had another chance right at the end of the game,&#8221; Gretzky said after the game. &#8220;Usually when I get five or six golden opportunities like I did, I score more than that&#8230;. I got complacent I guess.
&#8220;I scored on a wrist shot in the all-star game and I thought I&#8217;d give it a try again.&#8221;
Hey, wait! Maybe Gretzky wasn&#8217;t a cheat code after all? He surely showed a little bit of realness by saying he needs to be better after &#8230;. *checks notes* &#8230;. scoring his 70th goal of the year.
Gretzky and teammate Paul Coffey gave a tip of the hat to Capitals goaltender Dave Parro that night, too.
Coffey said: &#8220;Gretzky, [Mark] Messier&#8230; everything we shot at him we stopped&#8230; I think the week had off hurt us. They [Washinton] played last night in Calgary, so they&#8217;d already loosened up.&#8221;
On Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>

Welcome back to a much-beloved series on the Nation Network: Throwback Thursday. We've resurrected this weekly piece from the grave in thanks to a fancy website that allows us to take a look at newspaper archives.

So without further ado...



<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-86097" src="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Gretzky70Regret.jpg" alt="" width="546" height="890" />On this day in 1982, Wayne Gretzky scored his 70th goal of the season in a 5-3 victory against the Washinton Capitals. As we all know Gretzky was basically a cheat code that broke the NHL, and this was no further example. His 70th goal came at the 9:02 mark in the second frame off an assist from none other than Jari Kurri.

Now look — there's only been eight players in the history of the league to put up 70 goals the most recent being Alexander Mogilny scoring 76 in 1992-93. Impressive, right?

Very impressive.

But for Gretzky, who went on to score a league record 92 goals in that 1981-82 season, he wasn't happy with only having a one-goal performance.

"I hit two goal posts and had another chance right at the end of the game," Gretzky said after the game. "Usually when I get five or six golden opportunities like I did, I score more than that.... I got complacent I guess.

"I scored on a wrist shot in the all-star game and I thought I'd give it a try again."

Hey, wait! Maybe Gretzky wasn't a cheat code after all? He surely showed a little bit of realness by saying he needs to be better after .... *checks notes* .... scoring his 70th goal of the year.

Gretzky and teammate Paul Coffey gave a tip of the hat to Capitals goaltender Dave Parro that night, too.

Coffey said: "Gretzky, [Mark] Messier... everything we shot at him we stopped... I think the week had off hurt us. They [Washinton] played last night in Calgary, so they'd already loosened up."

On Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>

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