The Great One turned fifty-eight years old this past Saturday. Gretzky, regarded as the “Mount Rushmore” of professional athletes, played for four separate teams spanning the length of his career. He won four Stanley Cup championships and participated in five.
Gretzky currently holds the NHL record in nearly every statistical category. This includes assists, points, goals, and hat tricks. Gretzky also held the league record in sixty-one different categories by the time he retired from hockey in 1999—including forty regular season records, fifteen playoff records, and six different all-star records.
In 1984, Gretzky won his first Stanley Cup, which was ostensibly the most important win of his career. Gretzky helped not only to establish the Oilers’ long-standing dynasty but also put an end to the New York Islanders’ four-year streak between 1980 and 1983. Gretzky will always be known for demolishing almost every offensive record in the NHL.