Wayne Gretzky is known as "The Great One" for a reason. The NHL legend holds dozens of league records, including the most Hart Trophy wins in history with nine.

He earned it the first time with the Edmonton Oilers, then again with the Los Angeles Kings, across his 20-season NHL career.

Gretzky won the award in eight seasons straight, from 1979-80 through 1986-87. However, Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux broke that streak in 1987-88.

But still, Gretzky got back the very next year to claim his ninth Hart Trophy as per a resurfaced article from the Los Angeles Times. This was in 1989, his first season with the Kings.

Even though Lemieux led the league in scoring that season and not Gretzky, the voters still went for Gretzky. This was because he had pushed the struggling Kings team into a Stanley Cup contender.

Gretzky later explained why voters looked past the numbers. He even referred to the two other Los Angeles stars who had also won MVP honors that decade.

"I think Kirk Gibson paved the way for this award," Gretzky said. "People realized you didn't just need the most points. Gibson won; Magic (Johnson) won. I didn't want to be the guy to lose it."

No one across the four major North American men's pro sports leagues has come close to matching Gretzky's record of nine MVP awards. Baseball's Barry Bonds sits second, right below Gretzky, with seven National League MVP trophies. 

That gap explains why Gretzky's Hart Trophy record still looks unbreakable, nearly three decades after his final NHL season, even when compared to different sports.

Let's Take A Look At Gretzky's Untouchable Records

Beyond the Hart Trophy, Gretzky closed his NHL career holding 61 league records. Many of those records still stand today.

According to Sporting News, He holds 2,857 career points, which remain the highest total in NHL history. Gretzky's total assists are another story; they total 1,963 career assists. That number alone would still rank him as the NHL's all-time leading scorer. 

Gretzky also scored 50 goals in just 39 games during that 1981-82 season. The following year, he held a 51-game point streak, which only a few players have ever touched.

Gretzky won the Art Ross Trophy 10 times as the league's top scorer. Gordie Howe ranks second on that list, trailing by four points. He also marked three straight 200-point seasons, from 1983-84 through 1985-86. 

He retired in 1999, yet most of these numbers were untouched for more than 25 years. This is why Gretzky's name still headlines in the sport.

Read more at NHL Fan Central!

Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi