Winning 4 Stanley Cups, Gretzky set records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857) and
hat-tricks (50). The next closest player in total points for the regular season is
Jaromir Jagr at 1,921,[1] thus Gretzky had more career assists than any other player has total points. Gretzky scored his
first 1,000 points faster (424 games) than any other player in NHL history, and scored the second 1,000 faster (433 games) than any player other than himself. Gretzky's point total including regular season and playoffs stands at an imposing 3,239 (1,016 goals, 2,223 assists).
He still maintains the record for the most career playoff goals (122), assists (260), points (382), hat-tricks (10) and game-winning goals (24). His 47 playoff points in 1985 and 31 assists in 1988 are still the most for a single postseason round.
Below is a list of official records Gretzky held or shared at the time of his retirement.
Most goals, including playoffs: 1,016 in 1,487 regular season games including 122 playoff goals[2]
Most goals, one season: 92 in 1981–82, 80-game schedule[3]
Most goals, one season, including playoffs: 100 in 1983–84, 87 goals in 74 regular season games and 13 goals in 19 playoff games
Most goals, 50 games from start of season: 61 in 1981–82 (7 October 1981 to 22 January 1982, 80-game schedule) and 1983–84 (5 October 1983 to 25 January 1984), 80-game schedule
Most goals, one period: 4 (tied with 10 other players) 18 February 1981
Most 60-or-more goal seasons: 5 (tied with Mike Bossy)
Most consecutive 60-or-more goals seasons: 4 from 1981–82 to 1984–85
Most 100-or-more point seasons: 15
Most consecutive 100-or-more point seasons: 13 from 1979–80 to 1991–92
Most three-or-more goal games, career: 50 -- 37 three-goal (
hat trick) games; nine four-goal games; four five-goal games
Most three goal games, one season: 10 (done twice) in 1981–82 and 1983–84
Longest consecutive assist scoring streak: 23 games in 1990–91, 48 assists
Longest consecutive point-scoring streak: 51 Games in 1983–84 (October 5, 1983 to January 28, 1984, 61 goals, 92 assists for 153 points)
Longest consecutive point-scoring streak from start of season: 51 in 1983–84; 61 goals, 92 assists for 153 points (October 5, 1983 to January 28, 1984)
Most assists, one playoff year: 31 in 1988 (19 games)[18]
Most assists in one series: 14 (tied with
Rick Middleton) in 1985 Conference Finals (six games vs.
Chicago)
Most assists in final series: 10 in 1988 (four games, plus suspended game vs.
Boston)
Most assists, one playoff game: 6 (tied with
Mikko Leinonen) on 9 April 1987[19]
Most assists, one playoff period: 3 -- Three assists by one player in one period of a playoff game has been recorded on 70 occasions, five of them by Gretzky
Most points, career: 382 -- 122 goals and 260 assists[20]
Most points, one playoff year: 47 in 1985 (17 goals and 30 assists in 18 games)
Most points in final series: 13 in 1988 three goals and 10 assists (four games plus suspended game vs. Boston, three goals)
Most points, one playoff period: 4 (tied with nine other players)
Most short-handed goals, one playoff year: 3 (tied with five other players) 1983[21]
Most short-handed goals, one playoff game: 2 (tied with eight other players) 6 April 1983[22]
Most game-winning goals in playoffs, career: 24 (tied with
Brett Hull)[23]
Most three-or-more goals games (hat trick): 10 (eight three-goal games, two four-goal games)
All-Star records (6)
Most All-Star game goals, career: 13 (in 18 games played)
Most All-Star game goals, one game: 4 (tied with three players) 1983 Campbell Conference
Most All-Star game goals, one period: 4 1983 Campbell Conference, third period
Most All-Star game assists, career: 12 (tied with four others)
Most All-Star game points, career: 25 (13 goals, 12 assists in 18 games)
Most All-Star game points, one period: 4 (tied with
Mike Gartner and
Adam Oates) 1983 Campbell Conference, third period (four goals)
Records update
Since Wayne Gretzky's retirement, four of his records have fallen and he has gained one record, leaving him with a new total of 58 official records.
Broken records
Gretzky's record of 15 regular season overtime assists has now been surpassed by over 40 players. Patrick Kane is the current record holder at 26 assists in regular season overtime.
Joe Sakic (16), Mark Messier (14), and
Ray Bourque (13) have passed Gretzky's record (12) for most All-Star game assists.
On March 21, 2023, Alexander Ovechkin broke Gretzky's record for most 40-or-more goal seasons, with his 13th.
New record
Wayne Gretzky finished his career with a 1.921 points per game average.
Mario Lemieux originally held the record with 2.005 points per game when Gretzky retired, but after Lemieux came back to the NHL from 2000 to 2005, his average fell to 1.883, second behind Gretzky's.
Unofficial records
Along with his numerous official records, Wayne Gretzky also has many "unofficial" records. These other records - though not recognized by the NHL Official Guide and Record Book - are still significant records.
NHL scoring records
Youngest player to score 50 goals in a season (19 years, two months)
Most points by an NHL player in his first year: 137. Because of Gretzky's season played in the
WHA, he was not considered a rookie in his first year, so the rookie record belongs to
Teemu Selanne with 132
Most assists by an NHL player in his first year: 86. The rookie record is held jointly by
Peter Stastny and
Joe Juneau with 70 assists. Note that the record book gives Gretzky the record for most assists and points in a game as a first year player, but not the season totals
Most 200-or-more point seasons: 4. Gretzky owns the official record for most 100 point seasons. He is the only player to reach 200 points in a season
Most consecutive 200 point seasons: 3
Most 70-or-more goal seasons: 4. The NHL has a record for most 60 goal seasons, but not 70. Eight players have achieved 70 goals, and Brett Hull did so three times.
Most consecutive 70 goal seasons: 4
Most 80-or-more goal seasons: 2
Most 90-or-more goal seasons: 1. Gretzky is the only player to achieve this
Fastest 50 goals from start of season: 50 goals in 39 games. The mark of
50 goals in 50 games is a rare event, achieved by only five players. The quickest, 50 goals in 39 games, is often labelled as the most difficult one to break of all of Gretzky's records. The NHL has an official record for the most goals in first 50 games, but not the fastest 50 goals
Fastest 100 points: 34 games in 1983–84
Most seasons averaging at least 1 point per game: 19
Most consecutive seasons averaging at least 1 point per game: 19
Most seasons averaging at least 2 points per game: 10
Most consecutive seasons averaging at least 2 points per game: 9
Most game-winning goals in the playoffs: 24 (tied with Brett Hull)
Most game-winning assists in one season: 23
Most game-winning assists in regular season career: 234
Most game-winning points in regular season career: 325
Highest career game-winning points per game average: 0.2185
Most 100-or-more assist seasons: 11
Most consecutive 100-or-more assist seasons: 11
Most seasons leading in even strength goals: 4
Most career even strength goals: 617
Most seasons leading in short-handed goals: 5
Most seasons leading in assists: 16
Most seasons leading in points: 11
Most seasons leading in both goals and assists: 5 (this was only achieved 7 other times in history, with Gordie Howe (2) and Mario Lemieux (2) accounting for 4 of those other occurrences).
Most seasons leading the league in goals, assists and plus/minus: 4 (no other player has done this, although plus/minus was only counted since 1967).
Most seasons leading in goals created: 7
Most seasons leading in assists per game: 12
Most seasons leading in points per game: 11
Most seasons leading in total goals on-ice for: 8
Most short-handed regular season career goals: 73
Most short-handed goals career (regular season & playoffs) : 85
Most 10+ shorthanded goals in a season : 2
Most shorthanded assists career (regular season) : 76
Most shorthanded assists career (playoffs) : 13
Most shorthanded assists career (regular season & playoffs) : 89
Most shorthanded points career (regular season) : 149
Most shorthanded points career (playoffs) : 24
Most shorthanded points career (regular season & playoffs) : 173
Former mark as youngest player to score three or more goals in an All-Star Game was passed by
Dany Heatley in
2003.
Most official NHL records: 61 on retirement, 58 at present (As of September 2022[update], 19 years after
his last game)
Major league scoring records
Most NHL and WHA regular season assists: 2,027 – Gretzky's 1,384th career assist occurred on November 2, 1990, in Washington's 4–3 win over the Kings, breaking the record held by Gordie Howe.
Most NHL and WHA regular season points: 2,967 – Gretzky broke the record held by Gordie Howe on March 9, 1992, with an assist on a first period goal by
Tony Granato to make the game score Los Angeles 2, Toronto 0 (final was 4–1). It was his 2,359th career point on 1,567 assists and 792 goals.
Most NHL and WHA goals, regular season (940) and playoff (132): 1,072 (one more than
Gordie Howe), with Gretzky's final goal on March 29, 1999, being the game-winner with 2:07 remaining in the Rangers' 3–1 win over the New York Islanders
Most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff assists: 2,297
Most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff points: 3,369
He won nine
Hart Trophies, the NHL's most valuable player award, and eight of these were awarded in consecutive years from 1980 to 1987. Gretzky holds the record for most MVP awards of any player in North American professional sports.