Gretzky trivia...

in 1981-1982,Wayne Gretzky had scored 45 goals,in 38 games,and on December 30,1981,the Edmonton Oilers played the Philadelphia Flyers,and Gretzky scored five goals,in that game,in Edmonton,Alberta... his 50th goal came on an empty net goal... Philadelphia Flyers' player,Bill Barber,said that if he(Gretzky),had gone in alone to score the goal(the 50th),he would have thrown his stick,at the puck,before it went in net... that is the only way to score a goal,without puck going into net(an automatic goal)... fortunately,Gretzky basically slamdunked puck into net,for his 50th goal,in 39 games... this is the 23rd anniversary of the trade of him from the Oilers,to the Los Angeles Kings,in "the" trade that opened up hockey to the United States... four records that will not be broken,is his 894 goals(for his career),his 92 goals,in 1981-1982(his 87 goals,in 1983-1984,is also second on that list),his 2,857 total points(goals,and assists),and his 1,963 assists(714 assists,ahead of Ron Francis,of then the Carolina Hurricanes),and more assists than anyone has points in NHL history... Gretzky scored 61 goals,in first 50 games,on way to 92 goals,that season,and had 212 points,that season... the Oilers scored 426 goals,in 1985-1986,and Gretzky broke his own points record,by having an assist,or goal,in 215 of those goals,scoring 163 assists,that year... he scored 200,or more,points,four times,and almost had a fifth(196 points,in 1982-1983)... he owns the top seven assist totals,in NHL history(also a record)... a side note,in the season that he scored 153 points,in first 51 games,in 1983-1984(averaged three points per game),he would have won NHL scoring title,by 27 points,if he had sat out rest of season,after that game... the 51 game scoring streak came to an end,on Jan 28,1984,when they lost to a team that gave up 376 goals,and missed the playoffs(the Los Angeles Kings),4-2,when a journeyman goaltender(Markus Mattson) stopped Gretzky,that night,in Edmonton's 52nd game... Gretzky scored three,or more,goals,in a game,50 times(37 hat tricks,9 four goal games,and 4 five goal games),in his NHL career... he had 13 100 point seasons,in a row(that streak was broken,in 1992-1993,when he was injured,but led the Kings,to Stanley Cup Finals,against Montreal,in which they lost,in five games),and owned the all-time playoff points record,with 260 points... he had ten hat tricks,in 1981-1982,and 1983-1984(both NHL records)... i could go on,and on,but you get the reason,why his nickname is,"the Great One"...