In Canada and the world of NHL, no one compares to Wayne Gretzky. At least not yet.
After an illustrious career spanning 21 years he boasted 61 league records and over 22 years later, 59 still stand today.
Such dominance is rarely seen in any sport, and the margin by which ‘The Great One’ stands alone begs the question, can any athlete from the world of sport compete with Wayne Gretzky’s Legend?
To find out, BetVictor has analyzed his achievements and created ‘The Gretzky Gap’ – a measure for sporting greatness. This is determined not just by the volume of records, but the distance between himself and those chasing down his seemingly impossible records.
he Gretzky Gap can be used to illustrate whether such dominance exists anywhere else in the world of sport. Is there another sporting GOAT anywhere that lives up to The Great One?
How does The Gretzky Gap make him the GOAT of GOATs?
By looking at the number of elite records held by Gretzky, the feeling of dominance is plain to see.
On average, The Gretzky Gap is over 34.5% - meaning for many current players will have to either play well beyond their expected player life span or hit unbelievable numbers for the remainder of their careers.
For example, Gretzky’s record of 1,963 assists is seconded by Jon Thornton with 1,109, a gap of roughly 43.5%. For this gap to be closed, Thornton would need to play for another 25 seasons, averaging 33.6 assists per season, to catch ‘The Great One’.
That would make Thornton 68 years old.
By using this logic across a range of domestic and intentional sports we can see how the likes of LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Tom Brady, rank against arguably the greatest Goat of all time.
| Type of Record | Name of Record | Record Holder | Record | Next Active Record Holder | Current Record | Percent Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season Record | Most consecutive 60-or-more goals seasons (consequtive seasons) | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | N/A | 0 | 100.00 |
| Season Record | Most 60-or-more goal seasons, career | Wayne Gretzky | 5 | Auston Matthews | 1 | 80.00 |
| Season Record | Most consecutive 100-or-more point seasons | Wayne Gretzky | 13 | Connor McDavid | 3 | 76.92 |
| Playoff Record | Most game-winning goals in playoffs, career | Wayne Gretzky | 24 | Sidney Crosby | 6 | 75.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most three-or-more goals games (hat trick) | Wayne Gretzky | 10 | Sidney Crosby | 3 | 70.00 |
| Season Record | Most 50-or-more goal seasons | Wayne Gretzky | 9 | Alex Ovechkin | 3 | 66.67 |
| Season Record | Most three goal games, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 10 | Alex Ovechkin | 4 | 60.00 |
| Season Record | Most 100-or-more point seasons | Wayne Gretzky | 15 | Sidney Crosby | 6 | 60.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most playoff assists, career | Wayne Gretzky | 260 | Sidney Crosby | 130 | 50.00 |
| Season Record | Longest consecutive point-scoring streak | Wayne Gretzky | 51 | Patrick Kane | 26 | 49.02 |
| Season Record | Longest consecutive point-scoring streak from start of season | Wayne Gretzky | 51 | Patrick Kane | 26 | 49.02 |
| Playoff Record | Most points, career | Wayne Gretzky | 382 | Sidney Crosby | 201 | 47.38 |
| Season Record | Most points | Wayne Gretzky | 2,857 | Jon Thornton | 1,539 | 46.13 |
| Season Record | Most points by a centre, career | Wayne Gretzky | 2,857 | Jon Thornton | 1,539 | 46.13 |
| Season Record | Most assists, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 2,223 | Jon Thornton | 1,211 | 45.52 |
| Season Record | Most three-or-more goal games, career | Wayne Gretzky | 50 | Alex Ovechkin | 28 | 44.00 |
| Season Record | Most assists | Wayne Gretzky | 1,963 | Jon Thornton | 1,109 | 43.50 |
| Season Record | Most assists by a centre, career | Wayne Gretzky | 1,963 | Jon Thornton | 1,109 | 43.50 |
| Season Record | Most goals by a centre, career | Wayne Gretzky | 894 | Sidney Crosby | 517 | 42.17 |
| Season Record | Most points by a centre, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 215 | Jon Thornton | 125 | 41.86 |
| Season Record | Most assists by a centre, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 163 | Jon Thornton | 96 | 41.10 |
| Season Record | Most assists, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 163 | Jon Thornton | 96 | 41.10 |
| Season Record | Most assists, one season, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 174 | Jon Thornton | 103 | 40.80 |
| Season Record | Most points, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 215 | Nikita Kucherov | 128 | 40.47 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game points, career | Wayne Gretzky | 25 | Alex Ovechkin | 15 | 40.00 |
| Season Record | Most goals, 50 games from start of season | Wayne Gretzky | 61 | Alex Ovechkin | 39 | 36.07 |
| Playoff Record | Most playoff goals, career | Wayne Gretzky | 122 | Jaromír Jágr | 78 | 36.07 |
| Season Record | Highest assists-per-game average, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 2.04 | Sidney Crosby | 1.32 | 35.29 |
| Season Record | Most goals by a centre, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 92 | Auston Matthews | 60 | 34.78 |
| Season Record | Most points, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 3,239 | Jaromír Jágr | 2,122 | 34.49 |
| Playoff Record | Most short-handed goals, one playoff year | Wayne Gretzky | 3 | Dustin Brown | 2 | 33.33 |
| Playoff Record | Most assists, one playoff game | Wayne Gretzky | 6 | Eric Staal | 4 | 33.33 |
| Season Record | Highest points-per-game average, one season (among players with 50-or-more points) | Wayne Gretzky | 2.77 | Connor McDavid | 1.88 | 32.13 |
| Season Record | Most goals, one season, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 100 | Alex Ovechkin | 69 | 31.00 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game goals, career | Wayne Gretzky | 13 | Patrick Kane | 9 | 30.77 |
| Season Record | Most points, one season, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 225 | Connor McDavid | 156 | 30.67 |
| Season Record | Highest goals-per-game average, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 1.18 | Auston Matthews | 0.82 | 30.51 |
| Season Record | Most goals, one season | Wayne Gretzky | 92 | Alex Ovechkin | 65 | 29.35 |
| Season Record | Highest assists-per-game average, career (300 min.) | Wayne Gretzky | 1.321 | Connor McDavid | 0.94 | 28.84 |
| Season Record | Most assists, one road game | Wayne Gretzky | 7 | Jon Thornton | 5 | 28.57 |
| Season Record | Longest consecutive assist scoring streak: 23 games in 1990–91, 48 assists | Wayne Gretzky | 23 | Patrick Kane | 17 | 26.09 |
| Season Record | Most goals, one period | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | Alex Ovechkin | 3 | 25.00 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game goals, one game | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | jakub voracek | 3 | 25.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most points, one playoff year | Wayne Gretzky | 47 | Evgeni Malkin | 36 | 23.40 |
| Playoff Record | Most assists in final series | Wayne Gretzky | 10 | Ryan McDonagh | 8 | 20.00 |
| Season Record | Most goals, including playoffs | Wayne Gretzky | 1,016 | Alex Ovechkin | 852 | 16.14 |
| Playoff Record | Most points in final series | Wayne Gretzky | 13 | Jeff Carter | 11 | 15.38 |
| Season Record | Most assists in one game by a player in his first season | Wayne Gretzky | 7 | Leon Draisaitl | 6 | 14.29 |
| Season Record | Most assists, one game | Wayne Gretzky | 7 | Leon Draisaitl | 6 | 14.29 |
| Playoff Record | Most assists, one playoff year | Wayne Gretzky | 31 | Nikita Kucherov | 27 | 12.90 |
| Season Record | Most goals | Wayne Gretzky | 894 | Alex Ovechkin | 780 | 12.75 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game assists, career | Wayne Gretzky | 12 | Brent Burns | 11 | 8.33 |
| Season Record | Most 40-or-more goal seasons | Wayne Gretzky | 12 | Alex Ovechkin | 12 | 0.00 |
| Season Record | Most consecutive 40-or-more goal seasons | Wayne Gretzky | 12 | Alex Ovechkin | 12 | 0.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most short-handed goals, one playoff game | Wayne Gretzky | 2 | Joel Armia | 2 | 0.00 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game goals, one period | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | Sidney Crosby | 4 | 0.00 |
| All Star / Career | Most All-Star game points, one period | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | Sidney Crosby | 4 | 0.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most assists, one playoff period | Wayne Gretzky | 3 | Patrick Kane | 3 | 0.00 |
| Playoff Record | Most points, one playoff period | Wayne Gretzky | 4 | Jeff Carter | 4 | 0.00 |
Wayne Gretzky beat the original point record set by hockey legend Gordie Howe by 7%.
Gretzky is currently 40% ahead of the next-best active player in points. The next-best player is Jaromír Jágr, who returned from retirement at age 50.
Wayne Gretzky beat another record initially set by Howe. Gretzky’s score is 10% more than Howe’s 804 goals.
Gretzky scored 15% more goals than the next-best active goal player, Alex Ovechkin.
In career hat tricks, Wayne Gretzky is 22% ahead of the next-best player, Mario Lemieux. Lemieux retired in 2006.
Alex Ovechkin, the next active player, is 55% behind Gretzky’s record.
How do Gretzky’s accomplishments compare to legendary players from other sports? BetVictor Canada has compared the Great One’s stats to other iconic American Football, Soccer, and Basketball players to illustrate how truly Great Gretzky is.
In Soccer, two players dominate discussions over who is the best: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
While Ronaldo has scored more goals than Messi, he has also played two additional seasons. Messi has more assists and higher goals per game average than Ronaldo (0.79 goals per game).
Both are frequently pitted against each other to determine who the Soccer GOAT is. But how do their accomplishments stack when compared to Gretzky’s?
Wayne Gretzky’s career record for points is 50% ahead of the next-best active player.
To create a 50% lead on Ronaldo, Messi would need to play another 427 games based on his current assists and goals per game average.
Ronaldo would need to play another 620 games to overtake Messi and match Gretzky’s record. Including European, international and league matches, and domestic cup games, Ronaldo would need to play between eight and nine seasons.
In the 1981-82 season, Wayne Gretzky scored 92 goals and set a new NHL record for most goals in a single season. The following year Gretzky took the number two spot and scored 87 goals. The next closest non-Gretzky player to beat the record is Brett Hull’s 1990-91 season, in which Hull scored 86.
Gretzky’s best goal season is still 6.5% more goals than Brett Hull’s best campaign.
In Soccer, Mo Salah scored the most goals in a single season, with 32 strikes in the 2017-2018 season. Ronaldo and Suárez closely follow Salah’s record. For Salah to make his record as impressive as Gretzky’s best season, he would need to score an additional two goals.
Wayne Gretzky is 22% ahead of Mario Lemieux in career hat tricks.
Ronaldo is currently ahead of Messi in terms of hat tricks. For Ronaldo to go 22% ahead of Messi in career hat tricks, based on current stats, Ronaldo would need to play another 188 matches to score another ten hat tricks.
NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been called the greatest player of all time. At the time of his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA’s all-time leader in points, games played, field goals and defensive rebounds.
If anyone could reach Gretzky’s level of greatness, it would be Abdul-Jabbar.
However, the problem is that Gretzky does not just have the most goals in NHL history. Gretzky was also an expert at setting up shots for his teammates and still holds the record for most assists. It therefore seems unlikely to find a single NBA GOAT on par with Gretzky.
Although LeBron James is a close second, Kareem remains the leader in total points scored. The point gap between Abdul-Jabbar and King James is only 3.6%, so LeBron is less than 700 points from beating Abdul-Jabbar’s record.
Gretzky scored 15% more goals than the next-best active goal player, Alex Ovechkin.
To create the percentage gap Gretzky had, Kareem needed to play 188 more games and at least two more seasons to have scored 15% more points than LeBron.
During his time as an active player, Gretzky had 1,963 assists. The next-best Hockey player for assists, Ron Francis, achieved 1,249 career assists, a difference of 44%.
John Stockton was one of the best point guards in the NBA. Stockton is a ten-time NBA All-Star and holds the NBA records for most career assists by wide margins. The next-best player for assists, Jason Kidd, falls short by over 3,000 assists.
Stockton needed to perform an additional 4,000 assists to achieve Gretzky’s assist margin.
Tom Brady is widely considered one of the greatest American Football players of all time. When it comes to NFL records, Brady is undoubtedly in a league of his own. Brady ranks first for games played, total wins, Super Bowl appearances, Super Bowl wins, interceptions and playoff appearances. If anyone can reach Gretzky’s level, you might think it would be Brady.
In terms of touchdowns, Tom Brady is almost as good as Gretzky. Gretzky’s goals are 15% more than the next active player. Brady currently has 14.6% more touchdowns than Peyton Manning. While Brady has come out of retirement, he would need to score three touchdowns to match Gretzky’s lead in the forthcoming season.
One of Brady’s best-known career records is scoring the most touchdowns in playoff matches.
Similarly, Gretzky holds the record for most playoff goals in the NHL. Gretzky scored 122 goals across 208 playoff games. Mark Messier was the next-best player, 11% behind Gretzky, with 109 goals across 236 playoff games.
Brady’s record-breaking 85 touchdowns put him 30% ahead of the next-best player, Aaron Rodgers. Brady’s playoff touchdown record easily surpasses Gretzky’s playoff goal gap. However, it might be less impressive considering Gretzky achieved his feat by playing fewer games than the next-best player.
Brady may have scored almost double Aaron Rodgers’ touchdowns, but he has also played more than double the playoffs.
Barry Bonds holds the all-time career record for home runs, with 762 home runs. Bonds is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame despite outstanding career stats after discovering that he had been using performance-enhancing drugs.
The current active home run King is St Louis Cardinal’s Albert Pujols, with 683 homers on his career record. Bonds would have needed to play an additional three years at the same level to achieve Gretzky’s point gap without the aid of steroids.
The Man of Steel, Ricky Henderson, was one of Baseball’s hardest hitters and had the second-highest power-speed numbers after Barry Bonds. Some of Henderson’s career milestones include ranking first for most stolen bases (1,406), most games led off with a home run (81 games) and most runs scored (2,295) in MLB. For career runs, the next-best active player is Albert Pujols, with 1,883 runs at the time of writing.
While Henderson and Bond’s records seem unbeatable, they do not currently match Gretzky’s point gap. However, it is unlikely Pujols will surpass either record, especially considering Pujols has announced his retirement at the end of the current season.
Upon Pujol’s retirement, the next-best active player for both runs and home runs will be the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera currently has 1,517 runs and 505 home runs. This would make Henderson’s run record 40.8% more than Cabrera’s and Bond’s home run record 40.5% more than Cabrera’s.
Player data was collected from the NHL, NBA, StatsF1 and Transfermarkt. NHL career gaps between Gretzky and the next-best players were calculated and applied to GOATs and record-holders from other sporting bodies.