Passing Into History

As of Monday, New York Rangers center and alltime NHL point leader Wayne Gretzky had 1,849 assists. With two more he will surpass, with assists alone, Gordie Howe's career point total of 1,850, which Howe achieved with 1,049 assists and 801 goals. That means that even if Gretzky never scored a single goal (he had 865 as of Monday), he would still have more points than anyone else in history. Here's a look at some of the Great One's assist statistics through last week. All numbers are NHL records

? Gretzky got his first assist on Oct. 10, 1979, against the Chicago Blackhawks, when he helped set up Kevin Lowe for the first goal in Edmonton Oilers history.

? Gretzky assisted 132 players, including three—Jari Kurri, Luc Robitaille and Glenn Anderson—on more than 100 goals, and his current coach, Colin Campbell, on one.

?Of the 598 goals Kurri scored in his career, 364 (61%) were set up by Gretzky.

?In 1985-86 Gretzky averaged 2.04 assists a game for the Oilers, well above the next-best single-season average—Gretzky's 1.70 in 1987-88.

?In three seasons during the '80s Gretzky had more assists than any other player had points.

? Gretzky had 260 playoff assists. Only one player, Mark Messier, with 295, had more playoff points.

? Gretzky had 783 more assists than Paul Coffey, who was second on the list; only 22 players have had 783 assists in league history.

?Against the Vancouver Canucks, where Messier, his former Oilers and Rangers teammate, now plays, Gretzky had 161 assists, more than against any other team.