The Lou Marsh Legacy - Honouring Canada's Top Athletes

Breaking the 200 Barrier!

March 25, 1982, Stampede Corral, Calgary, Alberta.
Wayne Gretzky called his Dad on Wednesday and confidently told him that he was gong to get his 200th point in Calgary. Walter Gretzky jumped on a flight with his wife Phyllis. True to his word, with his proud parents looking on, Wayne shatters the mark with 2 goals and 2 assists, helping his Oilers trounce the Calgary Flames 7-2, to finish the night with 203 points!

The Edmonton Oilers centre launched an assault on the record book during the 1981-1982 season. Wayne Gretzky finished the season with 120 assists to become the first and only player in the NHL to break the 200-point mark with 212. He scored 92 goals shattering Phil Esposito's mark of 76. The first 50 came in 39 games, crushing the 50 goals in 50 games record set by Maurice “Rocket” Richard and tied by Mike Bossy, a record that stood for 35 years. Needless to say he captured the Art Ross Trophy for the second year in a row as scoring champ. He has claimed the Hart Trophy in each of his three years in the NHL and completed the year holding or sharing 27 records.

It all began in Brantford, Ontario at the “Wally Coliseum,” the backyard rink built by his father Walter. Wayne Gretzky had an unquenchable thirst to be on the ice, even taking meals in his skates so he could get back outside faster. Walter's coaching drills were ahead of their time. Wayne endlessly maneuvered around plastic jugs flipping pucks over obstacles and picking them up in full flight. Walter embedded in Wayne what may have been the best advice he ever received, “skate where the puck is going, not where it's been.” Wayne developed such incredible on-ice instincts he was a standout throughout the minors despite consistently playing with kids three and four years older. He made his first national magazine cover at the age of 11, the same year he scored 378 goals in 82 games in novice hockey. The wiry teenager arrived in the NHL already a household name. A few hockey pundits believed he was too small and too slow to be a force in the league. Imagine that!

Gretzky voted top athlete Adobe PDF,