50 in 39, do you even know what this is b4 clicking it?

Date : December 30th 1981
Location: Northlands Colosseum


Flyers vs Oilers - Wayne Gretzky scores five goals and eclipses the old record of 50 goals in 50 games previously set by Rocket Richard and later tied by Mike Bossy.


33 Years later, this records still stands. Will it ever fall?

Wayne Gretzky - Above And Beyond




A King's Ransom

A Documentary about The 1988 trade of Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings and the effect it had on Gretzky, the fans in Edmonton, and the popularity of hockey in Southern California.




Lest you ever forget.

Fine, sure, Gretzky was not called "The Great Gretzky" for no reason. Still, my heart belongs to another player, a goalie, who I was priveleged to watch many times, Gump Worsley.

Worsley, who made his National Hockey League debut in 1952, played 21 seasons, most of them when the N.H.L. had only six teams. He spent 10 years with the Rangers, six-plus years with the Canadiens and four-plus years with the Minnesota North Stars.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980 and played in four N.H.L. All-Star Games.

Worsley hated playing with a protective mask. “My face is my mask,” he said. “If goaltenders were afraid of being hurt, they wouldn’t be out there at all.”

He said any goalie who wore a mask was scared, to which the Canadiens’ Jacques Plante, another leading goalie of that era, replied, “If you jumped out of a plane without a parachute, would that make you brave?”

But when Plante was hit in the face by a shot and Worsley was knocked unconscious by a puck to his face, Worsley began experimenting with wearing a mask.

“It was too hot, and I couldn’t see the puck between my legs,” he said. “I wore one for the last six games of my career.”

Worsley, a 5-foot-7, 180-pounder, won the Calder Trophy as the N.H.L.’s rookie of the year with the Rangers in 1952-53 and went on to play nine more seasons with usually bad Ranger teams. When he was traded to the Canadiens in an eight-player deal that sent Plante to the Rangers, Worsley said: “I just got a break. I was liberated.”

In Montreal, he shared the Vezina Trophy in 1966 and 1968 as the N.H.L.’s best goalie.

But all was not well. In the seventh and deciding game of the 1965 playoffs, he had a knee injury so bad that he did not appear able to play. He was injected with a horse serum never before used on a human and went on to shut out the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that included Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita.

Finishing his career with Minnesota, Worsley turned 45 a week after the 1974 playoffs ended. He retired and spent the next 14 years as a scout for the team.

www.nytimes.com...

He was an NHL goalie, playing without a mask at the age of 44. I take off my hat in awe and admiration.

LOL

Good one, old Gump.I will find some pictures and post it, scare the kids on halloween.

But sir, with all due respect, it is not "The Great Gretzky"

He is "The Great One"

When he was traded, he demanded that the man who protected him Marty McSorley was also traded with him.

Kathleen Edwards - I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory

reply to post by charles1952

He was an NHL goalie, playing without a mask at the age of 44. I take off my hat in awe and admiration.

that just sounds like stupidity.... not bravery.. one clean shot could have killed him as well as ruined someone else life with guilt.

I played cricket a while back, I ended up in the nets without pads on batting. a future Australian fast bowler (whom was my mate in high school) was bowling..

the first bowl he did i missed, it snapped the wicket clean in half... if that had of hit my shin bone, id have never walked properly again.

I didnt wear pads because ' I was brave '.. I realized from that moment on that stupidity is worse.

I know it may sound ridiculous and a bit far fetched, but I assure you it was the norm.

Gump catching one in the face


Terry Sawchuk

reply to post by Agit8dChop

Dear Agit8dChop,

Of course you are completely right. And, as the OP points out, Worsley was certainly not "The Great." But, please, set aside his obvious stupidity for a moment.

Think of the soldier wounded seventeen times who goes out of his foxhole to charge the machine gun nest with a pistol. Or, perhaps, the 96 pound weakling without a weapon who attacks the four men assaulting a woman. Or the Texas Rangers, whose motto was "One riot, one Ranger." Or even Evel Knievel. Consider that Jackie Chan, who does all his own stunts, has broken every bone in his body at least once.

Certainly stupidity was involved, but remember also that we are putting children on bicycles with training wheels and helmets. Water wings are required on those using backyard pools. The number of times a story comes from England exposing stupid safety rules under the rubric of Elf 'n' Safety. Firemen refusing to drag a drowning victim from a lake because they didn't have the proper, required, equipment.

Gentlemen, you are correct, but I, defiant to the end, will lift my glass (I understand pubs in England don't allow glass "glasses" any more) to those extreme characters who embrace danger to their bosoms. (Can I say bosoms here?) All praise to their battered bodies holding high the banner of triumph over fear and pain.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952



LOL Charles, please lay off the Guiness.

Wayne Gretzky was NOT called as you put it, The Great Gretzky

He WAS called THE GREAT ONE.

And you call me stupid? lol

reply to post by lnfideI

Dear Infidel,

NO. No, no, no, no, no. I didn't mean to imply you were stupid. I'm so sorry. I was referencing the stupidity displayed by Worsley. I was hoping to use THAT use of the word through my post. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

As far as the flowery language, that was not fueled by Guiness or any other beverage. I was simply swept away by the grand, inspiring, nature of the struggle of Man agaianst the Fates. (Sometimes, I even talk like that, much to the chagrin of those nearby.)

With respect,
Charles1952

Guess I wont have to send the goons out for you then, LOL

Its all good Charles,as I have read many of your posts here on ATS and know you are a proper gentleman.

I was just yanking the chain, dont be sorry, I am actually a bit slow upstairs, to many pops to the head, they do not call it a BOOM for nothing.

Cheers.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by lnfideI

 

Dear Infidel,

NO. No, no, no, no, no. I didn't mean to imply you were stupid. I'm so sorry. I was referencing the stupidity displayed by Worsley. I was hoping to use THAT use of the word through my post. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

As far as the flowery language, that was not fueled by Guiness or any other beverage. I was simply swept away by the grand, inspiring, nature of the struggle of Man agaianst the Fates. (Sometimes, I even talk like that, much to the chagrin of those nearby.)

With respect,
Charles1952

Knew what you were referencing to right away. Most male canadians would.

He only played one season with them, but in my youth I saw Gretzky play junior with Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. I've definitely heard him referred to as the Great Gretzky earlier in his career. By the time he retired he gained the more loftier nickname The Great One. And rightfully so, because you didn't need to say his name anymore. Everyone knew who you were talking about.

I think most of his scoring records will remain untouched. The game has changed so much. There are far fewer goals being scored now as compared to Gretzky's era. Actually, Gretzky and the Oiler scoring machine forced other teams to devise better defensive strategies that dominate the NHL today.

The 50 in 39 might be one that one day might fall or be tied. It is possible that some future great player could go on a streak for half a season. But Gretzky's career totals that take into account longevity; no way that anyone scores at that pace for that long.