Gretzky’s junior dominance lands him No. 3 on CHL’s all-time list
Photo by Canadian Hockey League (CHL) / Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
CALGARY — Before Wayne Gretzky became “The Great One,” before the four Stanley Cups, nine Hart Trophies and 61 NHL records, he was a teenager in northern Ontario shredding junior hockey at a level the sport had rarely seen.
On Tuesday, the Canadian Hockey League unveiled Gretzky at No. 3 on its Top 50 Players of the Last 50 Years list, placing the former Soo Greyhounds star behind only two remaining names yet to be revealed in the league’s 50th anniversary countdown.
Nearly five decades after his lone full OHL season, Gretzky’s numbers still look absurd.
At 16 years old in 1977-78, Gretzky piled up 70 goals and 112 assists for 182 points in just 64 games with the Greyhounds. He added another 26 points in 13 playoff games and captured OHL Rookie of the Year honours while rewriting parts of the league record book in the process.
His 182-point season still stands as the second-highest single-season total in OHL history. His 112 assists and 182 points remain OHL rookie records almost 50 years later.
The placement also cements Gretzky as the highest-ranked OHL player revealed so far in the CHL rankings, one spot ahead of Connor McDavid at No. 4.
The connection between the two superstars runs deeper than junior hockey history.
Both became defining faces of the Edmonton Oilers franchise. Both entered the NHL carrying impossible expectations. And both left the OHL with offensive résumés that felt detached from reality.
But Gretzky’s dominance ultimately became something different entirely.
After beginning his professional career in the WHA, Gretzky joined Edmonton in 1979 and transformed hockey’s offensive ceiling over the next two decades. He retired as the NHL’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points — records that still stand today.
His résumé remains almost untouchable statistically:
Four Stanley Cups
10 Art Ross Trophies
Nine Hart Trophies
Five Ted Lindsay Awards
Four 200-point seasons
15 career 100-point seasons
No player in NHL history has matched Gretzky’s four 200-point campaigns.
Internationally, the Brantford, Ontario native was just as dominant. Gretzky led the 1987 Canada Cup with 21 points in nine games, including the iconic late-game setup to Mario Lemieux against the Soviet Union in one of hockey’s defining moments.
Long before all of that, though, Gretzky was a skinny teenager producing video-game numbers in junior hockey.
His arrival in the OHL began quietly with the Peterborough Petes as a 15-year-old call-up in 1976-77. Months later, the Greyhounds selected him third overall in the OHL draft, beginning one of the most famous junior careers the sport has ever seen.
The CHL’s Top 50 list was voted on by more than 40 media members, with final rankings determined through a weighted combination of media and fan voting. The evaluation considered junior production, NHL success, championships, awards, international accomplishments and historical impact across the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.
The final two names ahead of Gretzky will be revealed later this week.