Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

10-26-90 Wayne Gretzky, known throughout the hockey world as “The Great One” and sometimes referred to as “the human scoring machine”, scored his 2000th National Hockey League (NHL) point tonight. He’s the first NHL player to reach that plateau. As of today, Gretzky has 1316 assists (267 more than the legendary Gordie Howe, who is second on the all-time list) and 684 goals (this ranks fourth, behind Howe’s 801, Marcel Dionne’s 731, and Phil Esposito’s 717). It’s only a matter of time before Gretzky breaks Howe’s goal-scoring record; it could come as early as next season. The most amazing thing about Gretzky is that he’s only twenty-nine years old and in the first two weeks of his twelfth season. He’s still a kid! Gretzky’s 2000 points came in 780 games. Howe, in contrast, needed twenty-six seasons and 1767 games to score 1850 points. If Gretzky stays healthy and plays eight more seasons (I have no idea whether he wants to), he could end up with 3000 points. That would give him an average of 150 points per year for twenty years. Amazing. [Gretzky played 20 seasons in the NHL. He finished with 894 goals and 1,963 assists, for a total of 2,857 points.]