post 12

• If you look in the NHL guide today, you'll see that Peter Stastny of the Quebec Nordiques holds the records for mosts assists (70) and most points (109) by a rookie in a single season, set in 1980-81.
• It was December 30, 1981. Wayne was sitting in the Oiler dressing room getting ready to play the Philadelphia Flyers in Edmonton. He was 5 goals short of Maurice Richard's record of 50 in 50 games, the one scoring record set in 1944-45 that had survived expansion and the changing style of hockey, until Mike Bossy of the Islanders had tied it the year before.
• The Flyers had been down 4-1 and had climbed to within one at 6-5. Now there was 1:14 left and they pulled goalie Pete Peeters. The net was empty. The puck came to Wayne at centre. He wheeled, fired - and shot wide. The Oilers were called for icing. Then, with 7 seconds left, Glenn Anderson grabbed a rebound and he and Wayne had a 2-on-1 break on Bill Barber.
• Wayne's third season as a pro and second in the NHL (1980-1981) had been a triumph. He'd scored 55 goals, set NHL records for most assists (109) and points (164) in a season, while winning his second Art Ross and Hart Trophies and making the first All-Star team at centre.
• They'd followed the upset of the Canadiens by losing the quarter-finals 4-2 to the New York Islanders, but they were obviously a team to watch.
• Wayne remembers the 1981-1982 season as starting off innocently enough.
• After 34 games he had 35 goals, so obviously he had a chance at 50 in 50 - but Bossy had done that the year before.
• We could see it that night when he slipped home to spend that night with the family. The next night, with Maple Leaf Gardens jammed and scalpers outside getting $3OO for a pair of seats, the Oilers got thumped 7-1. Wayne got a goal, but he missed an open net and Bunny Larocque stopped hime on a penalty shot.
• Edmonton set NHL records for most goals (417), most assists (706) and most points (1,123).
• IN 1981-82, Wayne had broken his own NHL records for assists (120) and points (212).