It’s been 25 years since Wayne Gretzky took his rightful place as ‘The Great One’

With the 802nd goal of his illustrious career, on March 23, 1994, Wayne Gretzky officially took his place as “The Great One.”

For a stretch of 11 seasons from 1980-81 to 1990-91, Wayne Gretzky was good for at least 102 assists and 142 points every season. That includes five seasons where he led the NHL in goal (four straight from 1981-82 to 1984-85). Seasons of 92 and 87 goals, in 1981-82 and 1983-84 respectively, stand as the top two goal scoring seasons in league history.

Gretzky would win the last of his 10 Art Ross Trophies, as the NHL’s top point scorer in a season, in 1993-94 with the Los Angeles Kings during his age-33 campaign. His 37th goal of that season, against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23, 1994, was the 802nd goal of Gretzky’s career as he passed Gordie Howe and became the all-time leading goal scorer in NHL history.

So Saturday marks 25 years since Gretzky passed his boyhood idol.

Let’s revisit Gary Thorne’s famous call on ESPN 2.

Thorne induced goosebumps then, and still does now, with this line–“The greatest goal scorer in National Hockey League history, is Wayne Gretzky!”

Gretzky once famously said he didn’t want to be where the puck is, but he wanted to be where it was going. It’s a simple concept, and a core principle of any sport played with a ball or similar implement where an individual uses said object to directly score, but Gretzky’s historic goal put that idea (and instinct) on display.

https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1109455843211264000

Defenseman Marty McSorley, a long-time teammate of Gretzky’s and far better-remembered for his prowess as an enforcer, went in the book with the first assist on the historic goal. Kirk McLean, who would help Vancouver reach the Stanley Cup Final in 1994 and played 16 NHL seasons, is in the record book as the allowing goaltender.

Howe is still second all-time in goals, followed by Jaromir Jagr with 766. Leaving aside Jagr, who will probably never return to the league, the NHL’s leading active goal scorer is Alex Ovechkin with 655 goals.

Gretzky finished his career with 894 goals. Records are made to be broken, and a young gun like Connor McDavid will have a chance to reach Gretzky if he lasts long enough. But “The Great One” took his rightful place as the NHL’s all-time goal scorer 25 years ago, before adding nearly 100 more goals to put the record firmly out of reach for mere mortals.