Well, everyone knows my fav is Wayne Gretzky. He was such an artist, perhaps more so than a hockey player. Such inventiveness, such poetry. When he had a two on one (which was very often), everyone could sense the pass coming -- but it was always a little later, or in a different place, than expected -- and then there was a goal. He played the game differently. Hockey bacame more like Basketball in its refutation of chance when he was on the ice. His vision was uncanny. His dominance, well...let's just say that no one in the history of the game -- no one -- has ever had a 200 point season, except for Gretzky -- and he's had FOUR of them. He has more assists than anyone else has total points -- and he still has the most goals! (I could understand a player concentrating totally on playmaking, and therefore getting more assists than anyone else has points, but it boggles my mind to think of such a player also getting the most goals of all time.) Brett Hull once scored 85 goals in a season, but you could never expect him to have 110 assists in that same year. Likewise, Bobby Orr once had 109 assists (the old record), but you could never expect him, or anyone else, to then go out and score 85 goals, right? Well Gretzky has scored *92* goals and *120* assists in the same year! One year, Gretzky had 163 assists -- more than 2 *assists* per game, and finished the year with 215 points! Crazy. Something like the top 10 assist seasons of all time ALL belong to Gretzky. Remarkable. I could go on, but enough...
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The Tempest
[This message has been edited by Michael Griffiths (edited 03-11-2002).]
