By Brandon Zhu
On this day in 1979, NHL’s greatest scorer Wayne Gretzky scored his first NHL goal. Gretzky, nicknamed “The Great One” led an unparalleled 20-year career in the NHL. Gretzky was never the biggest, strongest, or fastest, but his intelligence and feel for the game was unmatched. Gretzky was great at dodging checks and consistently anticipated where the puck was going to be. He executed plays with perfection and his favorite area to set up was behind the opponent’s net, an area nicknamed “Gretzky’s office.” Gretzky currently maintains 60 official records in the NHL even though he retired in 1999. In the regular season, Gretzky records include most career regular-season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857), and hat-tricks (50). In the playoffs, he holds records for most goals (122), assists (260), points (382), hat-tricks (10), and game-winning goals (24). Gretzky has won four Stanley Cups with the Oilers, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.