Would Gretzky Have Been Great In The Original Six Era?

Would Gretzky Have Been Great In The Original Six Era?

Hey, welcome back to the blog where yesterday and tomorrow collide over questionable life choices and hockey hypotheticals.

Four of the highest-scoring seasons ever? All his. A casual 215 points in one year? Yep. And the gap between him and second place on the all-time list isn’t a typo—936 points.

Now take away the curved stick, yank off the helmet, shrink the league to six angry clubs, and swap those graceful ’80s skaters for 210-pound defensemen who treat high-sticking like a friendly handshake. Still the Great One?

If you’re new, I spend far too much time asking questions like, “What if Bobby Orr had played forward?” or “Was the glowing puck actually ahead of its time?” Today, we’re diving into the big one: could Wayne Gretzky have torn up the Original Six? The glowing NHL puck, called FoxTrax, used infrared tech to help TV viewers track the puck, but it was mainly mocked and quickly dropped.

THE WORLD HE NEVER MET

From 1942 to ’67, the NHL was basically a half-dozen bullies sharing one sandbox. Only 120 roster spots existed, so stars like Gordie Howe logged half the game without blinking. Padding was a joke—think leather gloves with a felt mustache for protection. No red-line pass rule, no butterfly goalies, just five-ish goals a game and nightly train rides from Detroit to Chicago to Boston, often on the same breath. You either learned to duck the elbows or you disappeared to the minors, forever.

THE BODY VS. THE ERA

Mid-80s Gretzky: 150 pounds if he’d just stepped out of a pool. Maurice Richard had 25 more on him and still got pummelled. Ted Lindsay didn’t just score—he carved space with knuckles first, stick second. Drop 99 into that blender, and the first hip check from Leo Boivin would’ve sent popcorn flying in the stands. No Instigator rule, no “but he’s a star” whistle—just consequences. Gretzky himself told Sports Illustrated back in ’89 he’d “need a running start” to survive the opening shift. Before we even discuss straight-bladed lumber and heavier pucks, the nightly toll already erases points from the ledger.

THAT IMPOSSIBLE BRAIN

But here’s the fun part: Gretzky’s superpower wasn’t skating or strength—it was living three seconds ahead of everyone else. He saw lanes open before they existed, and his shot was placement over power. Original Six defenses parked in the slot; Gretzky’s office was behind the net, a piece of real estate that era basically ignored. Bobby Orr—who saw every elite passer from ’66 on—called 99’s vision “the best I’ve ever seen.” If he could thread saucers through ’80s shot-blocking, imagine the carnage when a six-foot-one defender needed three strides to pivot. Give him one season to recalibrate, and centers like Béliveau and Delvecchio would be spinning in circles looking for their jockstraps.

LET’S TALK NUMBERS (BECAUSE YOU DEMAND THEM)

Gretzky’s 215-point monster came in a 7.9-goal-per-game league. Shrink that to the Original Six average of 5.2, and a straight proration knocks him to roughly 141 points—still first, just not from outer space. Era-adjusted metrics are kinder: Hockey Reference puts him at an all-time best 2,475 “adjusted” points, nearly 300 clear of Howe’s 2,190. Translation: Regardless of whether it’s a lower-scoring environment or not, he’s the outlier. Catch? He’d never lace up for 80 games—70 was the max, and those train rides plus daily bruises probably chop another 10 percent off the totals—bottom line: a 120-point season in ’65 terms—still historic, just not cartoonish.

CULTURE CRASH

Beyond ice size and blunt-force trauma, Gretzky would’ve had to win over a room that worshipped toughness like a religion. You didn’t just score; you answered the bell. Dave Semenko didn’t show up until ’79, so in this timeline, 99 either learns to drop ’em or rents a bodyguard. Picture a line with Gretzky between Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay—Howe’s elbows clear the runway, Lindsay agitates, and Gretzky delivers the dagger pass. They might rattle off four straight Cups and rewrite the record book by 1968. Or maybe the lack of a power-play umbrella at the blue line caps his one-timer setups, and the league grinds him down to a point-per-game scorer. Either story lands on the same paradox: the talent travels, but the era draws the ceiling.

BUTTERFLY EFFECTS

Drop 99 onto the ’63-’64 Maple Leafs—already champs—and suddenly Punch Imlach has a center who can hit Frank Mahovlich in stride better than anyone alive. Toronto might go back-to-back-to-back. Or slot him between Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita in Chicago, and the Hawks end their 23-year famine a decade early. His arrival fast-forwards the stretch pass, nudges the league toward the two-line pass tweak, maybe even triggers expansion five years sooner. Flip side: if he’s excellent, legends like Henri Richard might finish with three Cups instead of ten, and the Canadiens’ mystique shrinks. History gets messy when the timeline sneezes.

Do you think Gretzky still cracks 100 points, or tell me in the comments why I’m underselling the era’s brutality. Sub for next week’s rabbit hole: what if Mario Lemieux had debuted in 1955? Spoiler—it gets weird.

So, would Gretzky have been great in the Original Six era? Absolutely—just a different flavor of greatness. The 200-point seasons vanish, but a genius dropping 120 era-adjusted points while collecting fresh bruises nightly is still the best player on the ice. Greatness isn’t raw dominance; it’s brilliance that bends the rules of its time. And Gretzky? He’d have bent them until they snapped.

Would Gretzky Have Been Great In The Original Six Era?

KEEP YOUR STICK on the Ice.

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