| ARTICLES |
| FOR 'THE GREAT ONE', A RECORD FOR THE AGES |
On the evening of Feb. 24, 1982, over 16,000 hockey fans on hand at Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium to watch the
Edmonton Oilers play the Sabres got to see a rarity. Two future Hall of Famers scored hat tricks on that evening
of a quarter century ago.
Sabres center Gilbert Perreault scored his early in the game. And you would have thought it would have made
headlines the next day in the local newspapers. Unfortunately for Perreault, Wayne Gretzky also scored a hat
trick. The first of his three goals scored turned out to be his 77th of the regular season, breaking the old mark
held by another hockey legend, Phil Esposito.
There had been days when scoring a mere 50 goals in a season seemed like a monumental task. But when
Gretzky came along records began to fall in the NHL like dominos.
“There is no doubt that records are made to be broken,” former NHL defenseman and Hall of Famer Harry
Howell said. “But when Gretzky came along he just shattered the record book. And the bench marks he
established are going to be ones that may not be as easy to break. And breaking Esposito’s record of 76 in one
season, well, the way he did it was unbelievable.
“He not only broke it, he shattered it.”
The 1981-82 NHL season was a memorable one for Gretzky. In just his third season of play in the NHL and his
fourth in professional hockey (Gretzky had spent one season playing in the World Hockey Association for the
Indianapolis Racers and Edmonton Oilers), Gretzky was already establishing himself as the greatest player the
game had ever seen.
The first record Gretzky set in 1981-82 came in just the Oilers’ 39th game of the regular season. Going into that
contest "The Great One" had tallied 45 goals. In Game 39 the Brantford, Ontario native scored five goals to give
him 50 for the season. No player in the history of the NHL had ever scored 50 goals in fewer than 50 games. The
late Maurice “The Rocket” Richard was the first to do it. Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders would later equal
the record in 1980-81.
“I don’t know what it was about that night,” Gretzky would recall later. “But before the game I got this strange
feeling that something special was going to happen that night. I had been scoring goals in bunches before that.
“I think I had something like 10 in a stretch of four games. So I knew going into this game against the
(Philadelphia) Flyers, something special might happen. As it turned out, we were ahead, 6-5, with about 10
seconds left in the game. The Flyers pulled goalie Pete Peeters. I took a pass from Glenn Anderson and with a
couple of seconds left put it in the net for number 50.
“The next thing I knew Mark Messier was tackling me in celebration. And what a celebration we had. It was nice
to do it in front of the Edmonton fans.”
Messier remembered the night and what would be ahead for The Great One.
“Wayne had always been the type of player where anything was possible,” Messier recalled. “And Wayne just
had so much talent. We knew that it would just be a matter of time before he set his sights on Espo’s record.”
As the season wore on, Gretzky kept getting closer to the magic mark of 76. On Feb. 24, 1982, Gretzky and the
rest of the Oilers rolled into Buffalo to play the Sabres. Along with them came a posse of media, not to mention a
couple of Hollywood movie stars. Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds were in Western New York shooting a movie.
They had been invited to the game as guests of Sabres owners Seymour III and Northrup Knox. Esposito was
also on hand for the event.
With the Memorial Auditorium filled to a capacity of over 16,000 fans, the stage was set for history to be made.
Interestingly enough, Gretzky’s father, Walter was on hand, but his mother, Phyllis wasn’t. She was en route to
Quebec for a Pee Wee Tournament that Wayne’s younger brother, Brent, was playing in.
“That was the great thing about my mom and dad,” recalled Gretzky. “They treated their children equally. Brent’s
tournament was just as important to them as me breaking an NHL record.”
Gretzky had hoped to score early so he and the rest of his teammates could settle down and play the rest of the
game. But the future Hall of Famer knew that the Sabres weren’t going to just lay down and let him run over
them, even if he only stood a shade under six feet tall and weighed 172-pounds.
“It didn’t take too much to get up for a game like this,” said Sabres goaltender Don Edwards. “The only thing I
didn’t want to do is to get too psyched up for the game. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the rest of the
home town fans, as well as the rest of the hockey world that was watching us that night.”
Following two periods of play, the Sabres had held Gretzky from scoring the record-breaking goal, although he
had recorded two assists. But as would happen again and again throughout The Great One’s career, Gretzky
sensed that something special was going to happen in the third period.
Early in the third, Gretzky scooped up a puck from Sabres forward Steve Patrick at the Buffalo blue line. Skating
full flight and without hesitation, the superstar forward skated around Sabres defenseman Richie Dunn and fired
the puck past Edwards. The shot beat Edwards cleanly and Gretzky had No. 77. Memorial Auditorium exploded
with cheers as the Oilers bench emptied onto the ice to mob the legendary center.
Esposito made his way from his seat to ice level to congratulate Gretzky. After shaking hands and posing for a
photo or two, the game resumed.
In typical Gretzky fashion, he wasn’t finished. He went on to score two more goals in the closing minutes of the
game, leading the Oilers to a 6-3 victory.
“Wayne never ceased to amaze me throughout our playing days together,” remembered former Oilers
defenseman Charlie Huddy, now an assistant coach with Edmonton. “He just seemed to thrive on situations like
the one in Buffalo where he scored his 77th.
“And, of course, he wasn’t just satisfied to score 77. He put two more pucks in the net that night to lead us to
victory.”
Nobody will ever forget the night of Feb. 24, 1982 when Gretzky made hockey history.
“When you look back on it now, it was exciting to be a part of something like that,” Perreault said. “I had many
thrills in my NHL career too. Wayne would have many more. He proved that night why he would become the
greatest player to ever play this game of hockey. I’m proud to have been a part of that night.
“It is something I’ll never forget, nor will anyone else who was there. It was like magic.”
Edmonton Oilers play the Sabres got to see a rarity. Two future Hall of Famers scored hat tricks on that evening
of a quarter century ago.
Sabres center Gilbert Perreault scored his early in the game. And you would have thought it would have made
headlines the next day in the local newspapers. Unfortunately for Perreault, Wayne Gretzky also scored a hat
trick. The first of his three goals scored turned out to be his 77th of the regular season, breaking the old mark
held by another hockey legend, Phil Esposito.
There had been days when scoring a mere 50 goals in a season seemed like a monumental task. But when
Gretzky came along records began to fall in the NHL like dominos.
“There is no doubt that records are made to be broken,” former NHL defenseman and Hall of Famer Harry
Howell said. “But when Gretzky came along he just shattered the record book. And the bench marks he
established are going to be ones that may not be as easy to break. And breaking Esposito’s record of 76 in one
season, well, the way he did it was unbelievable.
“He not only broke it, he shattered it.”
The 1981-82 NHL season was a memorable one for Gretzky. In just his third season of play in the NHL and his
fourth in professional hockey (Gretzky had spent one season playing in the World Hockey Association for the
Indianapolis Racers and Edmonton Oilers), Gretzky was already establishing himself as the greatest player the
game had ever seen.
The first record Gretzky set in 1981-82 came in just the Oilers’ 39th game of the regular season. Going into that
contest "The Great One" had tallied 45 goals. In Game 39 the Brantford, Ontario native scored five goals to give
him 50 for the season. No player in the history of the NHL had ever scored 50 goals in fewer than 50 games. The
late Maurice “The Rocket” Richard was the first to do it. Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders would later equal
the record in 1980-81.
“I don’t know what it was about that night,” Gretzky would recall later. “But before the game I got this strange
feeling that something special was going to happen that night. I had been scoring goals in bunches before that.
“I think I had something like 10 in a stretch of four games. So I knew going into this game against the
(Philadelphia) Flyers, something special might happen. As it turned out, we were ahead, 6-5, with about 10
seconds left in the game. The Flyers pulled goalie Pete Peeters. I took a pass from Glenn Anderson and with a
couple of seconds left put it in the net for number 50.
“The next thing I knew Mark Messier was tackling me in celebration. And what a celebration we had. It was nice
to do it in front of the Edmonton fans.”
Messier remembered the night and what would be ahead for The Great One.
“Wayne had always been the type of player where anything was possible,” Messier recalled. “And Wayne just
had so much talent. We knew that it would just be a matter of time before he set his sights on Espo’s record.”
As the season wore on, Gretzky kept getting closer to the magic mark of 76. On Feb. 24, 1982, Gretzky and the
rest of the Oilers rolled into Buffalo to play the Sabres. Along with them came a posse of media, not to mention a
couple of Hollywood movie stars. Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds were in Western New York shooting a movie.
They had been invited to the game as guests of Sabres owners Seymour III and Northrup Knox. Esposito was
also on hand for the event.
With the Memorial Auditorium filled to a capacity of over 16,000 fans, the stage was set for history to be made.
Interestingly enough, Gretzky’s father, Walter was on hand, but his mother, Phyllis wasn’t. She was en route to
Quebec for a Pee Wee Tournament that Wayne’s younger brother, Brent, was playing in.
“That was the great thing about my mom and dad,” recalled Gretzky. “They treated their children equally. Brent’s
tournament was just as important to them as me breaking an NHL record.”
Gretzky had hoped to score early so he and the rest of his teammates could settle down and play the rest of the
game. But the future Hall of Famer knew that the Sabres weren’t going to just lay down and let him run over
them, even if he only stood a shade under six feet tall and weighed 172-pounds.
“It didn’t take too much to get up for a game like this,” said Sabres goaltender Don Edwards. “The only thing I
didn’t want to do is to get too psyched up for the game. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the rest of the
home town fans, as well as the rest of the hockey world that was watching us that night.”
Following two periods of play, the Sabres had held Gretzky from scoring the record-breaking goal, although he
had recorded two assists. But as would happen again and again throughout The Great One’s career, Gretzky
sensed that something special was going to happen in the third period.
Early in the third, Gretzky scooped up a puck from Sabres forward Steve Patrick at the Buffalo blue line. Skating
full flight and without hesitation, the superstar forward skated around Sabres defenseman Richie Dunn and fired
the puck past Edwards. The shot beat Edwards cleanly and Gretzky had No. 77. Memorial Auditorium exploded
with cheers as the Oilers bench emptied onto the ice to mob the legendary center.
Esposito made his way from his seat to ice level to congratulate Gretzky. After shaking hands and posing for a
photo or two, the game resumed.
In typical Gretzky fashion, he wasn’t finished. He went on to score two more goals in the closing minutes of the
game, leading the Oilers to a 6-3 victory.
“Wayne never ceased to amaze me throughout our playing days together,” remembered former Oilers
defenseman Charlie Huddy, now an assistant coach with Edmonton. “He just seemed to thrive on situations like
the one in Buffalo where he scored his 77th.
“And, of course, he wasn’t just satisfied to score 77. He put two more pucks in the net that night to lead us to
victory.”
Nobody will ever forget the night of Feb. 24, 1982 when Gretzky made hockey history.
“When you look back on it now, it was exciting to be a part of something like that,” Perreault said. “I had many
thrills in my NHL career too. Wayne would have many more. He proved that night why he would become the
greatest player to ever play this game of hockey. I’m proud to have been a part of that night.
“It is something I’ll never forget, nor will anyone else who was there. It was like magic.”
| Wayne Gretzky scored an incredible 92 goals in 1982, breaking Phil Esposito's record for most goals in a season. |
| Gretzky receives a congratulatory hug from Esposito after "The Great One" broke Espo's record on Feb. 24, 1982. |