Gretzky passed Howe for 1st on NHL goal list 30 years ago 

History was scored into a yawning cage March 23, 1994, Wayne Gretzky snapping his 802nd regular-season goal into a virtually empty net.

And just like that, 30 years ago, on a Los Angeles Kings power play 14:47 into the second period, The Great One was the NHL all-time goal-scoring leader.

Converting a pass from Marty McSorley, Gretzky pulled ahead of the legendary Gordie Howe by a single goal, on his way to the 894 he took into retirement in 1999.

Gretzky was destined, even laser-focused, to score No. 802 on home ice against the Vancouver Canucks.

The superstar’s mother, Phyllis, nailed her prediction that Gretzky would score twice March 20 against the Sharks in San Jose (a 6-6 tie) to equal Howe’s NHL record.

The morning of historic No. 802, she told her son that he needed to score that night; his dad, Walter, recovering from a brain aneurysm, was low on medication and The Great One’s parents soon needed to return home.

Whether Phyllis Gretzky was simply lighting a gentle fire under her son remains unclear.

“No problem,” Gretzky replied, then scored the Kings’ second goal in a 6-3 loss, setting off a wild celebration at Great Western Forum.

Wayne Gretzky with his wife, Janet, on the ice at Great Western Forum in Los Angeles on March 23, 1994 after becoming the NHL all-time goals leader.

Phyllis and Walter Gretzky were ushered onto the ice for a 15-minute salute, the ceremony also attended by Gretzky’s wife, Janet, Kings owner Bruce McNall, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

The milestone goal was classic Gretzky, unspectacular but lethal.

Kings forward Luc Robitaille dropped a pass to Gretzky, who fed McSorley on the right side. With Canucks goalie Kirk McLean coming out, gambling on a shot, McSorley returned the puck to Gretzky, who made no mistake with the Canucks net vacated.

It was the second sports earthquake to shake the city that day. Hours earlier, in a news conference at the arena, Los Angeles Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson formally was introduced as coach of the NBA team he led to five championships as a player.

The gloves and helmet Wayne Gretzky wore when he scored his NHL-leading 802nd regular-season goal, with the puck and stick he used to score his milestone goal March 23, 1994.

McLean is near the top of Gretzky’s favorite goaltending victims, surrendering 21 goals in the 44 games they faced each other. Only Richard Brodeur (29 goals in 37 games) and Mike Liut (23 in 26) rank higher.

“As I’ve said many times, this is the greatest game in the world,” Gretzky told the sellout Kings crowd of 16,005. “Six years ago, when I came to L.A. (from Edmonton), they said California wasn’t a great hockey area.

“Mr. McNall brought me down here six years ago and we showed North America that they were wrong.”

It was fitting that Gretzky’s record-setting goal came against the Canucks. As a member of the Edmonton Oilers, he scored his first NHL goal at home against Vancouver on Oct. 14, 1979, in a 4-4 tie; that same night on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks, playing his final NHL season for the Hartford Whalers, Howe scored his 788th NHL goal, and second of the season, in a 3-3 tie, 13 more to come by season’s end.

Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe hold pucks representing their career regular-season points totals. Gretzky broke Howe’s NHL record at Edmonton’s Northlands Coliseum on Oct. 15, 1989.

There was a span of 5,274 days between goals No. 1 and No. 802 for Gretzky, who would play 20 NHL seasons. Howe, whose durability and stamina made him a remarkable force of nature, scored his 801st goal 12,226 days after his first, his last regular-season goal scored during his fifth decade of pro hockey and the last regular-season game of his NHL career, against the Detroit Red Wings, on April 6, 1980.

Gretzky’s vault into top spot was the third time in not quite 42 years that the NHL all-time goal-scoring lead had changed hands:

Nov. 8, 1952: Maurice “Rocket” Richard scored his 325th regular-season goal, one more than Nels Stewart, who had held the record for 12 years following his 1940 retirement.

Nov. 10, 1963: Howe scored No. 545, one more than the final total of Richard, who was ranked first for 11 years since passing Stewart.

March 23, 1994: Gretzky’s 802nd passed his boyhood idol by one, Howe having held the record for 30-plus years since he had passed the retired Richard, his great Montreal Canadiens rival of the 1940s and '50s.

Gordie Howe in a 1946 rookie-season portrait and as a member of the Hartford Whalers during 1979-80, Mr. Hockey’s final NHL season.

Howe wasn’t in Los Angeles the night Gretzky made scoring history, though he had followed The Great One for a time five years earlier as the ice grew thinner beneath Mr. Hockey’s all-time points record, that mark finally broken in Edmonton on Oct. 15, 1989.

In his 2014 autobiography, Howe recalled the “classy gesture” of Canadiens center Henri Richard, who made a Nov. 10, 1963, post-game visit to the Red Wings' Olympia Stadium dressing room to extend congratulations on Howe having broken the goals record of Richard’s brother.

Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau also paid a visit after the game to present Howe with a painting of himself; the visitors clearly expected the record-breaking goal, coming to Detroit with a gift.

Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky on Oct. 16, 1989 with a souvenir T-shirt commemorating Gretzky having passed Howe for the all-time NHL points lead.

When the ageless, richly decorated Howe finally hung up his skates, the four-time Stanley Cup winner had scored 801 goals and 68 more in the playoffs, with 174 and 28, respectively, scored during his time in the World Hockey Association.

“As much as I enjoyed holding down top spot, I knew it wouldn’t last forever,” Howe wrote of his NHL goals record. “It took until 1994 for mine to fall.

“You don’t get called The Great One unless you’re something special and Wayne, it goes without saying, was a once-in-a-generation talent. Watching his artistry on the ice was a treat for everyone who loves the game of hockey.

“If someone had to bump me down the ladder, I’m happy that it was him. As I’ve always said since then, the way I see it, the record is in good hands.”

Los Angeles Kings captain Wayne Gretzky in 1993 action against the Lightning in Tampa Bay.

Nearly 25 years after his final game, Gretzky’s League-leading 2,857 points surely is one of the NHL’s untouchable records. Ranked second is the 1,921 points of Jaromir Jagr; Gretzky’s closest active pursuer is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby, in 12th place with 1,570.

Washington Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin has made a spirited run at Gretzky’s 894-goal summit, his 23 goals this season having him 49 behind at 845.

One of the incredible statistics in NHL history is that had Gretzky never scored a goal, he still would be the League’s top point-scorer, his 1,963 assists 42 points ahead of Jagr’s combined 766 goals and 1,155 assists.

Across multiple categories, Gretzky still holds 46 regular-season and 18 Stanley Cup Playoff records for his offense. Howe, who died June 10, 2016 at age 88, today ranks second in all-time regular-season games played with 1,767, trailing only Patrick Marleau’s 1,779; third in goals (801); 10th in assists (1,049); and fourth in points (1,850).

At the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, 802 pucks representing Wayne Gretzky’s goals total to become the NHL all-time leading scorer, are displayed in the net into which he scored his historic 802nd, with his milestone puck, gloves, helmet and stick hanging above.

The veteran hockey legend and his adoring fan had met for the first time in 1972 when Howe visited the 10-year-old Gretzky’s hometown of Brantford, Ontario.

Wearing his first suit, bought for him by his mother for the occasion, young Wayne, a hockey phenom, famously was hooked around the neck by Howe with a stick; Gretzky said the photo is among the most famous and popular of him ever taken.

Gretzky had been a Howe fan for a few years by then, saying he probably saw Mr. Hockey on TV when he was 5 or 6, "and he probably scored a hat trick and I thought, 'I like this guy.'

"I was 7 or 8 years old and I'd go to the barber shop … and I'd say, 'I want a Gordie Howe haircut,'" Gretzky said in 2016, paying his respects to the late Howe during the latter’s public visitation at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. "I was enamored by him at a young age.

"Two things separated Gordie from everyday players. One, Gordie never thought he was bigger or better than anybody else. He always wanted to prove that he was. He never said to anybody, 'I'm the best player, I'm the No. 1 guy.'

Wayne Gretzky, second from left, is among the pallbearers moving the casket of Gordie Howe into position at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on June 14, 2016.

"And he always had a need to perform each and every game and practice. That's what separated Gordie Howe from the rest and that's why he was Gordie Howe. He had a definite ambition that he was going to be the best player every night and every year. That's how he lived. He never changed."

Future Hall of Famer Mark Howe recalls his father’s funeral, looking around the church as his brother Murray offered a eulogy.

“Wayne and Janet were to my right,” he said. “And I’m thinking, ‘My God, this might be hurting him more than it’s hurting me,’ and I know it flat-out devastated me.”

Marty Howe recalls the dramatic visitation for his father in 2016 and the heartbreak of Gretzky, who was among the pallbearers for Mr. Hockey’s final passage through Joe Louis Arena out onto the arena floor to prepare for a public visitation.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Mark Howe covers the Edmonton Oilers’ Wayne Gretzky during a 1982 game; Gretzky and Marty Howe chat at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena on June 14, 2016 before public visitation for the late Gordie Howe.

A nine-hour visitation that began at 9 a.m., each symbolic of Howe’s No. 9, extended well beyond that with a huge crowd in line outside, Marty Howe extending the time to accommodate the estimated 15,000 who had come to pay their last respects.

“Wayne was there the whole 13 hours that day,” Howe said. “He arrived two hours early, so he was probably there 15 hours.”

Mark Howe was a member of the Detroit Red Wings when Gretzky scored No. 802, a late start on the West Coast, learning about it on the morning news.

“I knew it was coming,” he said. “You just kind of expect it and go with the flow. Some people bear grudges when their records are beaten, but there was zero evidence of that with Gordie. That’s not who he was.

“He was pretty excited and happy for Wayne. Their relationship was great to see. Both had so much respect for each other and what they did. I was like everybody else: I sat back from afar and admired it.”

Wayne Gretzky attends the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park on Jan. 2, 2023 in Boston.

Though Gretzky’s offensive totals stand alone, The Great One looks elsewhere in the “best-ever” discussion.

"Gordie is the greatest player ever," he said. "I say this all the time. Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe, pick who you think is better. I happen to be a little biased. I was a forward, so I'll take Gordie. But more importantly he was the nicest man I ever met.”

Gretzky will be in Montreal’s historic Notre Dame Basilica on the 30th anniversary of his date with goal-scoring destiny, speaking as a eulogist at the nationally televised state funeral of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

The late Maurice Richard’s service was held here May 31, 2000, Gordie Howe among those in attendance that day.

With Gretzky and Howe forever linked by their friendship and prowess as players, Marty Howe is looking ahead to what might be a reunion of sorts: the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, spanning the Detroit River, is tentatively scheduled to open in the autumn of 2025.

“I’m going to invite Wayne to the opening, and I hope he can make it,” Howe said. “I’ll try to get him there.”

Then, with a laugh: “I’ll tell him he can hit a golf ball off it while he’s up there.”

Top photo: Wayne Gretzky in the Los Angeles Kings dressing room March 23, 1994 with the puck he used to score career regular-season goal No. 802, making him the NHL all-time leading scorer.