Not that Gretzky wasn’t great. He indisputably was and his title as the GOAT of hockey is totally fair.
However, these records are incredibly influenced by the era he played in. Look at a list of the highest scoring seasons for teams ever and it’s either far pre expansion or the late 70s and 80s - Gretzky’s era.
Messi’s records are astounding for the reason that soccer scoring trends have remained far more stable (imo)
Referees are nicer to attackers nowadays, plus there's several rule tweaks done in recent decades to make attacking more worthwhile. Goals scored at WC bottomed in 1990 iirc.
If you don't count his goals, he still has more points than the next guy. Points are goals plus assists.
Something like 15 of the best 20 seasons in history by points are him.
Player of the year every year for a decade.
The only thing that makes it look less spectacular is that ice hockey is not the world's favourite sport.
Messi is the goat of a game that is massively popular on every continent, that you can find people playing in a park in almost every city.