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Wayne Gretzky seemed to break records at every turn. One of them was so mind-boggling that no less than four of the greats he surpassed commented to the Edmonton Journal afterwards. On December 19, 1984, Gretzky notched his 1,000th point in only 424 games. The previous record-holder for the fastest to 1,000, Guy Lafleur, had needed 720 games. This occurred one year and one day after Gretzky had set a record for the fastest to 100 points in one season on December 18, 1983.

During his time with the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky never failed to produce over 100 points each season. For the 1983-84 season, he had tallied his 100th sooner than anyone had before. At just 34 games into the season, the “Great One” had a hand in all but one goal as the Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-5. Gretzky’s previous record was when he reached 100 points in 39 games during the 1981-82 season.

A crowd of 15,107 came out to Winnipeg Arena to watch the Edmonton crew take a 5-1 lead before the first five minutes of the second period had ended. On a power play at 7:43 of the first period, Gretzky “fed a perfect pass on to the stick of Mark Messier, who was parked unmolested” by goalie Brian Hayward for the first goal of the night. Less than three minutes later, Gretzky scored his own power-play goal. He tallied another assist as the first period ended. Although he only had three shifts in the second period, he scored an unassisted goal at 4:12. He merely said, “We’re winning as a team and it makes individuals look good.” Gretzky went on to finish the season with 205 points, which he would top each of the next two seasons.

A year and a day later, Edmonton hosted the Los Angeles Kings and a crowd of 17,498, including Gretzky’s parents and younger brother Brent. The Kings had brought rookie goalie Darren Eliot, formerly of the Canadian Olympic team. The Oilers showed him no mercy as they won 7-3. 

It took only 101 seconds for Gretzky to reach his 1,000th point. According to the recap, “The record-setting play was started by Jari Kurri, who had four assists. Gretzky broke in on Darren Eliot after taking the Kurri-to-Krushelnyski breakaway relay, but hit the post. The goal was a gimme for Krushelnyski.” Gretzky received credit for the assist. Teammate Krushelnyski commented, “I thought he’d score. I was just there to congratulate him. One of their guys wasn’t paying any attention to me … and the puck went off the post and off my skate.” Gretzky demurred, “I didn’t have a good warmup … coming back from the East on Tuesday was a long trip. I felt weak. But usually when I get a point early I get a little jump.”

Gretzky went on to score two goals, a shortie at 7:42 of the first period and the last goal of the game with less than two minutes remaining. He also received credit for three more assists, for Glenn Anderson at 18:43 of the first period, for Paul Coffey at 16:20 of the second, and for Dave Hunter at 14:15 of the third. That meant he had a hand in all but one goal of the seven scored by the Oilers.

Only 17 players had reached 1,000 points before Gretzky came along. Having collected 1,000 points in 424 games, Gretzky beat Lafleur’s 1981 record by nearly 300 games or four seasons. Just three weeks earlier, Lafleur had retired to take a public relations job. Gretzky remarked, “I remember what some high-profile people said when I first broke in – that I was too small, too slow … I felt if I kept playing the way I did, then over a period of time I would prove them wrong.”

The next-speediest after Lafleur had been Marcel Dionne, who was there playing for the Kings. “The game was anticlimactic to the wonderful achievement,” said Dionne. “What Gordie Howe said about him is just the way it is. He’s a marvel to watch.” In 1981, Dionne had reached 1,000 points in 740 games. About Gretzky surpassing them all, Dionne praised, “I think they’ll have to have an NHL yearbook just for Wayne. He’s a real scoring machine. Outside Wayne, most of the guys with 1,000 points took 15-16 years. Wayne will pass everybody.”

After Dionne, Phil Esposito needed 745 games to score his 1,000th point in 1974. Esposito said of Gretzky, “He’s the greatest offensive machine I’ve ever seen. How many points can he get? He’ll be the first player, if he plays long enough and doesn’t get hurt, who’ll get 2,000 points.” He was not wrong. Gretzky scored his 2,000th point (in 857 games) on October 26, 1990.

Bobby Hull notched his 1,000th in his 909th game in 1970. “I’ve said it before – and I’ll say it again – Wayne has had the biggest impact in my lifetime. He came along when we needed a change and he accepted the challenge. He has a fantastic style and is about four steps ahead of everybody,” complimented Hull. “He comes to play every night. He knows that the people have paid good money to watch him perform. He always gets physically and mentally prepared.”

Back in 1960, three months before Gretzky was born, Gordie Howe tallied 1,000 in game 938. “Wayne is just somebody who fights for excellence. That goes for everything.” Howe continued, “He’s already got one NHL milestone award (600 assists) I don’t know if there’s a way to stop him unless he gets locked in the dressing room.”

By the Edmonton Journal’s reckoning, Gretzky already held 36 records by that point. He remains the fastest to reach 1,000 points, and as one might guess, he was also the youngest to do so (at 23 years and 328 days).

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