EDMONTON, Alberta -- They said he was too small and too slow to make it in professional hockey. So Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky proved them wrong 1,000 times.
Gretzky became the fastest and youngest player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, recording an assist at 1:41 of the first period Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. He went on to added five more points to power the Oilers to a 7-3 victory.
'I'm excited both that I did it and that I did it so quick,' Gretzky said. 'Some people are still skeptical about my talent and my career, that I have to have longevity. I think I've shown myself I can do it night after night.
'People said I wasn't consistent. I remember those people saying those things so this is more personal for me. It was a personal satisfaction more than anything else.'
Recalling comments he was too small and too slow, Gretzky said: 'We heard it all.'
Gretzky reached the 1,000-point plateau in 424 games, almost 300 games faster than the previous record of 720 by Guy Lafleur. The Oilers' center became the 18th player in League history to perform the feat.
Gretzky, who had two goals and four assists against the Kings, has 390 goals and 615 assists.
Gretzky's idol, Detroit's Gordie Howe, was the first to accomplish the feat, scoring his 1,000th point Nov. 27, l960 after 938 games. Gretzky was 9 years old at the time.
Taking the puck from linemate Jari Kurri at center ice, Gretzky spun and burst into the Kings' end toward Darren Eliot.
Gretzky faked Eliot at the slot, worked the puck to the goalie's right and sent a pass that deflected off the goalie's shin and bounced off the left post.
Mike Krushelnyski converted the rebound as 17,500 Northlands Coliseum fans jumped to their feet to salute Gretzky.
The other active players to achieve 1,000 points are the Kings' Marcel Dionne, during his 740th game on Jan. 7, 1981; Gilbert Perreault of Buffalo, in his 871st game on April 3, 1982 and Darryl Sittler of Philadelphia, in his 927th game on Jan. 20, 1983.
The Kings scored at 5:27 when Doug Smith flopped a weak shot behind the short side of Oilers goaltender Andy Moog.
Gretzky scored his 33rd goal, short-handed, at 7:42 and set up the Oilers' third goal of the night, a power-play score by Glenn Anderson at 18:43. Los Angeles' Dave Taylor made the score 3-2 at 8:05 before Paul Coffey scored at 16:20.
Dave Hunter made it 5-2 at 2:13 when he stuffed a point-blank shot past Eliot. Dionne closed the gap at 5:02 with a 20-foot slapshot. Gretzky notched his fifth point of the night at 14:15 when he set up Hunter to make the score 6-3. He sixth point came at 18:12, a wrist shot past Eliot.
