Los Angeles Kings’ Wayne Gretzky had established himself as one of the greatest ever NHL players by the time his team took on the Detroit Red Wings on this day back in 1988. Eight minutes and 22 seconds into the second period, Gretzky – who was already the all-time assists leader – scored to become the fifth player to total 600 career goals.
Gretzky reached the milestone with his 17th goal of the season that was scored against Greg Stefan, his childhood team-mate. It capped an incredible month for Gretzky as he had scored his 1,700th career point three weeks earlier. And he did all of this in his 10th season in the NHL.
Other memorable events on this day:
1991: Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in the seventh round for the heavyweight boxing title.
1991: Sacramento Kings end NBA’s longest road losing streak at 43 games.
2014: Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to the top of the podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to win the F1 driver’s championship.
2014: Switzerland beat France 3-1 in Lille to lift the Davis Cup for the first time.
