[Forksref]

Originally posted by JugglingReferee

Gordie was good. No arguement here. Gretzky even modelled his # 99 after Howe's # 9. He's even said that Gordie was his hockey player idol. There's a famous pic with a young Gretzky (I'd guess at about age 12) with Howe in his Red Wings jersey.

However, the NHL of today is not like the NHL of the late 70s and 80s, which was Gretzky's dominate years.

Not sure if you get ESPN Classic Canada (why would you), but when they show olde school Edmonton games - I can remember watching some of those games live and seeing Gretzky play those games again makes me laugh. It some cases, it seems like a man playing with boys.

When I was an undergrad at Bowling Green, Gordie came down from Detroit to make a training film. He did it in our ice arena at night when it was not being used. I'd go in and watch what was going on. He had his sons Mark and Marty with him on the ice, I'd guess about ages 10 and 12. He also had Roger Crozier, the Red Wings goalie. Roger was a show in himself. Gordie was amazing. He'd stand at the boards right next to the goal line and flick shots into the upper corner of the net. He had forearms like Rod Laver. I know I'd never want to go into the corner with him. Gretzky was amazing too. He had glue on his stick. The best defenseman I'd ever seen was Bobby Orr. No one since him has been as good. The Montreal-Boston series of the early 70's were classics. Just some personal observations from an old-timer.