After the World
Hockey Association folded in 1979, the Edmonton Oilers and three
other teams joined the NHL. Gretzky's success in the WHA carried over
into the NHL, despite some critics suggesting he would flounder in
what was considered the bigger, tougher, and more talented league.
The Oilers, like the other surviving WHA teams, were allowed to
protect two goaltenders and two skaters from being reclaimed by the
established NHL teams. Under normal circumstances, Gretzky would have
been removed from the Oilers and placed in the pool for the
1979
NHL Entry Draft, but his personal services contract prevented
this. In his first NHL season, 1979–80,
Gretzky was awarded the Hart
Memorial Trophy as
the League's Most
Valuable Player (the
first of eight in a row) and tied for the scoring lead with
Marcel
Dionne with
137 points. Although Gretzky played 79 games to Dionne's
80, Dionne was awarded the Art
Ross Trophy since
he scored more goals (53 vs. 51). The season still stands as the
highest point total by a first year player in NHL history. Gretzky
became the youngest player to score 50 goals but was not
eligible for the Calder
Memorial Trophy, given to the top NHL rookie, because of his
previous year of WHA experience. The Calder was awarded to
Boston
Bruins defenseman
Ray
Bourque.
In
his second season, Gretzky won the Art Ross (the first of seven
consecutive) with a then-record 164 points, breaking both
Bobby
Orr's record for assists in a season (102) and
Phil
Esposito's record for points in a season (152). He won his second
straight Hart Trophy. In the first game of the 1981 playoffs
versus the Montreal Canadiens, Gretzky had five assists. This was a
single game playoff record. During the
1981–82
season, he
surpassed a record that had stood for 35 years:
50
goals in 50 games. Set by Maurice
"Rocket" Richard during
the 1944–45
NHL season and
tied by Mike
Bossy during
the 1980–81
NHL season, Gretzky accomplished the feat in only 39 games.
His 50th goal of the season came on December 30,
1981
in the final
seconds of a 7–5 win against the Philadelphia
Flyers and
was his fifth of the game. Later that season, Gretzky broke
Esposito's record for most goals in a season (76) on February 24,
1982, scoring three goals to help beat the
Buffalo
Sabres 6–3.
He ended the 1981–82 season with records of 92 goals,
120 assists, and 212 points
in 80 games,
becoming the only player in NHL history to break the two
hundred-point mark. That year, Gretzky became the first hockey player
and first Canadian to be named Associated
Press Male Athlete of the Year. He was also named 1982 "Sportsman
of the Year" by Sports
Illustrated.
The
Canadian Press also
named Gretzky Newsmaker
of the Year in
1982.
The
following seasons saw Gretzky break his own assists record three more
times (125 in 1982–83,
135 in 1984–85,
and 163 in 1985–86);
he also bettered that mark (120 assists) in
1986–87
with 121 and
1990–91
with 122, and his
point record one more time (215, in 1985–86). By the time he
finished playing in Edmonton, he held or shared 49 NHL records,
which in itself was a record. The Edmonton Oilers finished first
overall in their last WHA regular season. The same success was not
immediate when they joined the NHL, but within four seasons, the
Oilers were competing for the Stanley
Cup. The Oilers were a young, strong team featuring, in
addition to Gretzky, future Hall
of Famers including
forwards Mark
Messier, Glenn
Anderson and
Jari
Kurri, defenseman
Paul
Coffey, and goaltender Grant
Fuhr. Gretzky was its captain
from 1983–88. In
1983, they made it to the Stanley
Cup Final, only to be swept by the three-time defending champion
New
York Islanders. The following season, the Oilers met the
Islanders in the Final
again, this time
winning the Stanley Cup, their first of five in seven years. Gretzky
was named an officer of the Order
of Canada on
June 25, 1984, for outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey.
Since the Order ceremonies are always held during the hockey season,
it took 13 years and 7 months, and two
Governors
General, before
he could accept the honour. He was promoted to Companion of the Order
of Canada in 2009 "for his continued contributions to the world
of hockey, notably as one of the best players of all time, as well as
for his social engagement as a philanthropist, volunteer and role
model for countless young people". The Oilers also won the Cup
with Gretzky in 1985,
1987
and
1988.
In
June 1985, as part of a package of five rule changes to be
implemented for the 1985–86 season, the NHL Board of Governors made
a decision to introduce offsetting penalties, where neither team lost
a man when coincidental penalties were called. The effect of calling
offsetting penalties was felt immediately in the NHL, because prior
to the rule change, when better teams like the Islanders and Oilers
had a man advantage, they would often entice the other team into
quickly taking coincidental roughing penalties. Four on three, the
stronger teams frequently scored a goal. Gretzky held a press
conference just one day after being awarded the Hart Trophy
condemning the NHL for punishing teams and players who previously
benefited. The rule change became known as the Gretzky rule.
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