Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Its a weird question to debate
I don't think that Gretzky was physicallly gifted.
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but he had a peerless vision of the ice and a idiot savants ability to understand where the open spots on the ice were and where the puck and players were going. His vision was like one of us playing a hockey video game where your viewing the whole ice surface from the press box.
I believe he would be a 100 to 110 point player in this era, the coaches are too good and the players can all for the most part skate, and they play a system and play it well.
Realistically there are no open spaces for the type of hockey that Gretzky needed to score 200 points + a year.
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This is why Gretzky would probably still be able to dominate in today's game though. His play was all built on his Hockey IQ and skill, not any "physical attributes". He wasn't just faster and in better shape than a bunch of slower/smaller guys but just was that much smarter than everyone else.
He was smart enough to find open space and control play no matter the era. It probably wouldn't be 200 point seasons anymore just because the goaltending / coaching is so much better, but I wouldn't be shocked if he put up 150 points in the current era.
In 97/98, in the heart of the dead puck era, with improved goaltending and coaching, he put up 90 points as a 37/38 year old which was good enough for 3rd in league scoring.
IMO he would still be head and shoulders above the rest of the league right now. Same thing with Mario.