Crosby: 1st yr: 102 pts/2nd yr:120 pts/ 3rd year: 23 pts and counting...
Gretzky: 1st yr: 137 pts/2nd yr: 164 pts/3rd yr: 212 pts...and didn't go down to where Sid's been at until his 13th season.
Not saying that Sid won't continue to get better and better, but the longer it takes him to put up 160+ pts/season, the harder it will be to catch Gretzky.
2007-11-08 16:21:17 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Hockey
who knows... Bettman will probably increase the size of nets in a few years... then it'll be this whole argument all over again...
but I'd say No... Sid MAY crack the top 30 all-time list...
2007-11-09 05:06:04 · answer #1 · answered by Virus Type V 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No matter what you think of the era, no one during Gretzky's time ever came up with a sure-fire strategy to stop the guy. In his eighth season he had 215(!) points. And 12 and 13 years after that — in his second and third-last seasons in the league with New York — he was still collecting over 90 points.
By contrast, I think teams have already started to adjust to Sid's style of play and are coming up with strategies to minimize his effectiveness in some situations. He's not off to a bad start, but it doesn't seem like he has as much room out there as he did in his first two seasons. And while he is a great talent, I think Gretzky's bag of tricks allowed him to adapt to anything the other team threw at him. Sid, on the other hand, seems go get thrown off his game when other teams deliberately bug him.
He'll pick up his points but I don't think they'll end up being in the Gretzky category. Remember, Wayne had 92 goals in one season. And he once fired 50 goals in 39 games, less than half a season.
Crosby may end up having as many points as Gretzky had assists.
2007-11-09 13:13:57 · answer #2 · answered by Paul O 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that we can all agree that there is not as much scoring in the league today as therre was in Gretzkys day. Knowing this, It will be virtually impossible for him to match Gretzky's total point total. He may have an outside shot at getting the assist total as long as Malkin and Staal stick around. Unlike The great one, I don't think that he has the same ability to elevate the games of the people around him and that is why I don't believe it will happen. Also, He is not in the same league of goal scorer that Gretzky was.
Gretzky has 2857 points in 1487 games. That is almost 2 points a game (1.92). Crosby is zooming along at about 1.4 per game. He would have to play over 2000 games to get to Mr. Gretzky at that rate. Assuming that Crosby has some spectacular years that would bring his average up to, lets say 1.6 per... that is still almost 1800 games, or about 22 years barring injury.
Crosby is an amazing talent, but looking at pure numbers, the answer is no.
2007-11-09 05:07:16 · answer #3 · answered by Big Pushy 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I wouldn't count on it.
Sid will have a great career but wont surpass Gretzky. Gretzky scored 2857 points in 1487 games. Sid will have to play an extra 1327 games at 1.99 points per game. It's hard enough for him to play an extra 16 FULL 82 GAME NHL SEASONS. But can he achieve continue to achieve 1.99 points per game at age 36? He's played great so far but only at 1.4 points a game.
Yet he will probably recieve the same publicity that the Great One recieved.
2007-11-11 12:26:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gretzky has what, 2850 points? If Crosby gets 150 a year (difficult to do, considering he hasn't done it yet and no player has done it for more than a decade), he would have to play a little more than 19 seasons to pass Gretz. That's if he stays healthy every season, and with him getting hit as much as he does, he probably won't.
2007-11-09 12:31:36 · answer #5 · answered by newfcollins 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Back in the 80's double the amount of points were scored. Offense was emphasized over defence. Now defence is more important. But that could change before the 80's hockey was defensive too. Gretzky once got 215 points in one year with the way the game is played now Crosby could never do that. So unless the game changes no.
2007-11-09 00:30:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
I am not going to state that Crosby will or will not surpass Gretzky's numbers but I will state this.
Gretzky put up 104 points in his first professional season with the Oilers in the WHA so you should adjust your numbers accordingly. Crosby still is not on pace to surpass Gretzky, but he is much closer when you consider it that way. The NHL was still the better league back then, but it was not that drastic of a difference. It is was certainly not the difference between junior hockey and the NHL.
2007-11-09 01:23:05 · answer #7 · answered by Lubers25 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Sid is great, and will have a fantastic career, but he won't surpass Gretzky. Goaltenders are better and he gets hit 100 times more than Gretzky ever did. Plus he doesn't (and may never) have the talent around him that the Great One had with the Oilers.
2007-11-09 00:26:31 · answer #8 · answered by Jay 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
I don't think he will, although if that team somehow stays together(not likely with the salary cap and Free Agency and all) and if Crosby can play as many games as Gretzky then I think he has a chance. It would be tough though.
2007-11-09 10:34:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
If he remains healthy for his entire career, it's possible he can achieve great things. BUT I think it's still very early to assume he will surpass Gretzky.
2007-11-09 11:26:59 · answer #10 · answered by gopats_1 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋