the wha folded in 1979, and the oilers team joined the nhl. at the age of 19, gretzky won his first hart trophy as the nhl's most valuable player (mvp). he won this trophy nine times. in 1981, he won his first of ten art ross trophies as nhl scoring champion. he set many records in the 1980s, including most goals (92), assists (163), and points (215) in a season. in the 1981-82 season, he scored 50 goals in 39 games, when the record had been 50 games. he was named as sports illustrated athlete of the year in 1982. he was also called "the greatest player of all time" in "total hockey: the official encyclopedia of the nhl".