I was not even 2 years old when Wayne Gretzky gathered the puck in his own end from a Glenn Anderson pass, drove forward into the neutral zone uncontested, cut back on Philadelphia Flyers legend Bill Barber at Philly’s blue line, and with the softest touch, sauced into the open net his 50th goal in 39 games; absolutely laying waste to an NHL record that Islanders sniper Mike Bossy had tied the season previous with three seconds left on the clock.
This is what Azorcan Global’s Paul Almeida had to say about the historic event from a local fan’s perspective,
“Gretzky captured the imagination of Oilers and hockey fans at that time. We all knew that special things were going to happen and with Wayne it was a constant barrage of unbelievable accomplishments that at the time were tough to really comprehend. His 50 in 39 really cemented Wayne as the undisputed greatest player in the game. The whole hockey world was in awe. The people who were detractors to that point were forever silenced.”
The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson remembers the evening like this,
“Still remember that Dec. 30, 1981 night, covering the game which dates me…Gretzky had 5 goals, could have had eight or nine. Pete Peeters was in net for Flyers, didn’t want to get pulled for extra skater in last minute. If Gretzky was getting his 50th, Pete wanted to be on ice.”
After digging about, I found it very interesting that in game 38, a game against the Los Angeles Kings, Gretzky started the game with 41 goals… If you’re doing the math, that means The Great One had to score 9 goals within the time restraints of those two games in order to beat the record.
Unbreakable.
Now watch (or re-watch) the game in its entirety and really immerse yourself in this classic piece of NHL history.
Here’s a full recap from the NY Post for you as well.
At the time, this is what pundits and players were saying about the feat,
“Make no mistake. It wasn’t just another Great Gretzky game last night. It was the greatest hockey game ever played by the greatest player in the history of the game to break the greatest record ever set in the game. Nothing less than that.” – Terry Jones (Edmonton Journal)
“Things like this aren’t supposed to happen,” – Oiler defenceman Paul Coffey
“Mr. Waynederful needed five goals for the fastest 50 in history — and he got them all” – Jim Matheson (Edmonton Journal)
“At least with (Bobby) Orr, you’d see him wind up in his own end and you could try to set up some kind of defence to stop him. Gretzky just comes out of nowhere … it’s scary.” – Flyers Captain Bobby Clarke
Do you think that anybody will ever break this record? Let us know in the comments below!
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