The Great Debate Continues: Gretzky vs Lemieux

Gretzky's Impact on NHL Scoring in the Early 1980s

Apr 2, 2009

As the debate continues to rage between Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux fans, there's no arguing the impact Gretzky's era had on his scoring numbers.

Modern NHL fans would hardly recognize the league of the early 1980s. In 2008-09, the NHL is averaging roughly 5.82 goals per game. Between 1981 and 1986, the five most productive years of Wayne Gretzky’s career, the NHL averaged an astounding 7.87 goals per game. Those are five of the six highest-scoring seasons in NHL history. And during that five-year span, Gretzky piled up 375 goals and 1,036 points in 394 games.

When this shocking coincidence is pointed out to Gretzky devotees, they often contend Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers are solely responsible for the league’s offensive explosion. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Edmonton's Place in 1980s NHL

In 1981-82, the NHL averaged 8.03 goals per game, the second-highest total in league history (1943-44: 8.17). The Edmonton Oilers led the NHL with 417 goals scored, but 15 other clubs connected for at least 300 goals. To put that number in perspective, in 2007-08, the Montreal Canadiens led the NHL with 262 goals.

Remove the Edmonton Oilers entirely, and the other 20 teams in 1981-82 still averaged 316 goals. In fact, for the five-year run between 1981 and 1986, which was when Gretzky did most of his damage, the other 20 teams in the NHL averaged 309 goals per season.

In 1985-86, when Gretzky established the NHL scoring record with 215 points, the Oilers led the league with 426 goals. Again, remove the Oilers completely, and the remaining 20 teams still averaged 312 goals.

Lemieux's 1992-93 Season

In 1992-93, Mario Lemieux rang up 69 goals and 160 points in just 60 games. The league averaged 7.25 goals per game, down 8.7 percent from 1985-86. Pittsburgh actually finished second in league scoring that year with 367 goals, falling shy of Detroit’s 369. Of course, Lemieux missing 24 games due to his battle with cancer greatly impacted Pittsburgh’s overall goal total.

Regardless, remove Pittsburgh, and the other 23 teams in 1993-94 averaged 302 goals. While that number is still down from the 1985-86 average, at least it’s in the ballpark. And what did Lemieux do that year? He scored 2.67 points per game, which would have placed him at 214 points over 80 games, right in line with what Gretzky did in the higher-scoring season of 1985-86.

Lemieux's 1995-96 Season

Now consider Lemieux’s 1995-96 campaign. That year, Lemieux posted 69 goals and 161 points in 70 contests. The league scored 6.29 goals per game, down dramatically from the 7.94 goals-per-game standard of Gretzky’s record 215-point season.

In 1995-96, the Pittsburgh Penguins led the NHL with 362 goals. Once more, remove Lemieux and the Penguins from the mix, and the other 25 teams in the league averaged 254 goals.

So, Lemieux and the Penguins scored 108 more goals than the league average. In 1985-86, Gretzky and the Oilers scored 114 more goals than the league average. Those are nearly identical numbers considering Lemieux missed 12 games. Yet the significant difference is it was much harder to score goals in 1995-96 than it was 10 years earlier. League scoring was down 21.8 percent. And while there were 15 teams with at least 300 goals in 1985-86, that number dwindled to only three 300-goal clubs in 1995-96.

Whether one prefers Gretzky or Lemieux remains a matter of opinion. But there’s simply no arguing the fact it was easier to score goals when Gretzky and the Oilers were shattering scoring records.

The copyright of the article The Great Debate Continues: Gretzky vs Lemieux in National Hockey League (NHL) is owned by Michael Dell. Permission to republish The Great Debate Continues: Gretzky vs Lemieux in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.