EA Sports' "NHL 12" might have Steven Stamkos on its cover, but the latest edition of the stellar hockey series is all about the legends.
So if a player on your team does something legen … wait for it … dary during a season — like, say, scoring 50 goals in 39 games — The Great One himself will appear, with Wayne Gretzky dispensing wisdom like he does here about what it takes to be a legend:
Please, follow the Great One's advice if you too wish to one day endorse green tea.
Not to read too much into a video game achievement cut screen, but Gretzky makes a rather succinct delineation between a Hall of Fame player and a really, really good player who just falls short of immortality — the former has the ability to maintain a level of excellence.
Gretzky played 1,487 games in the NHL from 1979-1999. In that span, he posted a seasonal point-per-game average under 1.00 just once — in 1998-99 with the New York Rangers, when he had 62 points in 70 game. And that's when he said goodbye.
The Adam Oates Hall of Fame spirit squad should be nodding in approval here, because their boy passes the consistency test: 1,337 games and a points-per-game average that hovered or cleared 1.00 for the vast majority of his career before the gears rusted at age 40.
We'll be debuting a few more of these EA Sports "NHL 12" Gretzky videos this week, including his thoughts on 50 goals in 39 games and Gordie Howe.