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I saw that game. Since then, the Great Gretzky and so many giants of the hockey world have played, and none equalled it. The line of Sittler, McDonald and Ellis is one of the best in hocky history, as is the defensive pair of Salming and Turnbull.

Let us hope that the Leafs have a date with Lord Stanley's cup in a few weeks.

It's amazing that some records stand the test of time like this. At least Sittler was a great player himself, so it's not one of these wacky records by someone who never had any other noteworthy accomplishments in sports. You see a few of those in a sport like baseball. Some guy named Bill Fischer, for example, set a pitching record back in 1962 (84+ consecutive innings without a walk) that still stands today.

One relatively obscure NHL player with an interesting record is Patrik Sundstrom -- who played for Vancouver and New Jersey in a career that lasted about ten years through the 1980s. In 1988 he set a similar record to Sittler's -- most points in a playoff game, with eight. Mario Lemiux tied it a few years later, but it still stands today.

One of the most remarkable things about Wayne Gretzky isn't just the number of records he set during his career, but the durability of those records. He retired with 61 NHL records and holds 60 today -- 15 years later.

The Flyers and Leafs had a great rivalry back in those days. And so did the Islanders and Leafs. The Habs and Bruins were fun to watch, every time, and even the Sabres had their moments, as well as the Blues, Red Wings, and Blackhawks. Hockey was much different back then. It was simply a far better product than what's going on today.

Some of it is because of the helmet rule, and some of it is because of the anti-fighting political correctness. A lot of it, though, is because the league expanded too fast and spread the talent too thin - - to cities that don't even get natural ice in the winter? (/facepalm) But mainly, the league just doesn't seem to have the character it once had - - the names flow like water from my memory: Guy Lafluer, Mike Bossy, Borje Salming (who drove teams nuts with that high pop flip thing he used to do to clear the puck), Brian Trottier, Tim Kerr, Bobby Clarke, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Denis Potvin, Ken Dryden... on and on and on. You knew all the players, all the stars back then.

One of my favorite memories from back in the olden days was going down to the Spectrum to see the Flyers take on the Whalers. There were Gordie, Marty, and Mark Howe, all playing hockey, live, right before my eyes. It was a cool thing.

Wayne skated his whole life with a goon on the ice to protect him.

Gordie Howe did his own checking and fighting.

We will never know how many points “The Great One” would have scored if he was goonless, but I suggest he would not have matched the records of Howe, Hull, Orr, etc.