Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player of all time. But even with his countless, unbeatable NHL records, there was one rule during his career that he would have loved to play without: the two-line pass rule.
With 2,857 points, Wayne Gretzky stands alone as the greatest hockey player of all time. One could argue that Mario Lemieux could have scored even more points had he been healthy. But as far as numbers and NHL records go, Gretzky sits at the very top.
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Wayne Gretzky’s NHL records
One of the most impressive records Gretzky holds is his 1,963 assists. Had he scored zero NHL goals, he would still lead the league in total points, ahead of Jaromir Jagr, who recorded 766 goals and 1,155 assists for 1,921 points. Hockey in the 1980s looked very different from today’s game. According to Wayne Gretzky himself, today’s hockey is faster and more complex than it was in the 1980s and 1990s.
Change one rule
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, Gretzky was asked what he thinks about modern hockey and what he sees when watching games today.
“I think about how good these guys are. What a pleasure it would be to play with them and against them. I mostly look at the rules more than I do the individual players. Mario Lemieux helped get rid of hooking and holding in hockey. He basically said, ‘We’ve got to get this out of the game,’” Gretzky said.
Wayne Gretzky then revealed the one rule he would have wanted gone from the game during his playing career.
“They took out the red line. I would have loved to play hockey without the red line. My goodness, how much fun that would have been,” Gretzky said.
The rule Gretzky is referring to is the two-line pass rule. It prevented teams from passing the puck from their defensive zone to a player who was already beyond the opposing team’s blue line. The rule was in effect until 2005, six years after Gretzky retired.
You can watch the video below.
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