Wayne Gretzky, known by hockey fans simply as "The Great One," became the first player to win the Hart Trophy for eight years in a row and beat hockey legend Gordie Howe's — all-time point record of 1, He was the first of five children born to Walter and Phyllis Gretzky.
His father had hoped himself to become a hockey player but was discouraged because of his size. Gretzky received his first pair of skates when he was three years old Wayne Gretzky. He learned to skate on the Ninth River near his grandfather's farm in Canning, Ontario, Canada, and at public rinks on weekends. But it was the rink his father built for him behind the little house on Varadi Avenue in Brantford that became known as the birthplace of his skating skills.
Gretzky was only six years old when he saw his first year in organized hockey. He scored one goal, the lowest yearly total of his career. Already Gretzky had mastered a unique skating stride. His dad's advice to "skate to where the puck's going to be" helped him score goals in seventy-six games at the age of nine. Gretzky's father pushed his son to succeed and told him that the years of hard work would pay off when he became a successful hockey player.
As a sixteen-year-old in the Junior "A" league, Gretzky continued his high scoring and packed the arenas with fans eager to witness his skills. He wore number 99, because number 9 was still being worn by his idol, Gordie Howe. His slight build led one junior coach to suggest he pick an offensive position, where he could avoid body contact. This was the beginning of Gretzky's trademark spot: behind the opponent's net.
In Gretzky moved to Toronto to play for the Young Nats, where he won the league's rookie of the year award. Two years later the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds drafted him, and he again won rookie of the year honors. Gretzky had gone to school in Brantford and continued high school classes in Sault Ste. Marie but left before graduating. Less than two months later the Edmonton Oilers of the same league purchased his contract, signing Gretzky to a twenty-one-year contract.
He won his first Hart Trophy for most valuable player, and he won the Lady Byng Trophy for his sportsmanship and skating ability. Taking the public by storm, Gretzky's polite charm was the perfect foil to the traditional rough-edged hockey player. He went on to become the first player to win the Hart Trophy for eight years in a row, from the —80 season through the —87 season. Despite Gretzky's talents, the struggling Oilers remained at the bottom of the league.
In his second year he led the league in assists and points, made the first All-Star team, and won his second most valuable player trophy award, but the Oilers lost in the quarter-finals to the New York Islanders.
During the —82 season he continued to break records, including some of his own. He scored fifty goals in thirty-eight games, breaking Maurice Richard's — record. The following seasons saw Wayne break his own assists record three more times in —83, in —85, and in —86 ; he also bettered that mark assists in —87 with and —91 with , and his point record one more time , in — By the time he finished playing in Edmonton, he held or shared 49 NHL records, which in itself was a record.
The same success was not immediate when they joined the NHL, but within four seasons, the Oilers were competing for the Stanley Cup.
He was the team captain from — In , they made it to the Stanley Cup Final, only to be swept by the three-time defending champion New York Islanders. The following season, the Oilers met the Islanders in the Final again, this time winning the Stanley Cup, their first of five in seven years. On June 25, , Wayne was named an officer of the Order of Canada on June 25, , for outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey. Since the Order ceremonies are always held during the hockey season, it took 13 years and 7 months—and two Governors General—before he could accept the honour.
He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in "for his continued contributions to the world of hockey, notably as one of the best players of all time, as well as for his social engagement as a philanthropist, volunteer and role model for countless young people".
Amid growing concern around the league that a financial institution might be able to lay claim to Wayne's rights in the event the heavily leveraged Pocklington were to declare bankruptcy as well as growing dissatisfaction on the part of Wayne and his advisers in , Wayne and Pocklington agreed to replace the personal services contract with a standard NHL contract. In June of as part of a package of five rule changes to be implemented for the —86 season , the NHL Board of Governors made a decision to introduce offsetting penalties, where neither team lost a man when coincidental penalties were called.
The effect of calling offsetting penalties was felt immediately in the NHL because during the early s when the Gretzky-era Oilers entered a four-on-four or three-on-three situation with an opponent, they frequently used the space on the ice to score one or more goals.
Wayne held a press conference one day after being awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy, criticizing the NHL for punishing teams and players who previously benefited. The rule change became known as the Gretzky rule.
The rule was changed back for the —93 season. Wayne had a major influence on the style of play of the Edmonton Oilers and in the NHL as a whole, helping to inspire a more team-based strategy. Using this approach, the Oilers led by Wayne became the highest scoring team in league history. The focus of the game prior to Wayne's arrival, he said, especially among the Canadian teams, was on the player with the puck—in getting the puck to a star player who would make the big play.
He knew he wasn't big enough, strong enough, or even fast enough to do what he wanted to do if others focused on him. Like a magician, he had to direct attention elsewhere, to his four teammates on the ice with him, to create the momentary distraction in order to move unnoticed into the open ice where size and strength didn't matter.
Gretzky made his opponents compete with five players, not one, and he made his teammates full partners to the game. He made them skate to his level and pass and finish up to his level or they would be embarrassed. Between and , the Edmonton Oilers averaged goals a season, when no previous team had scored and Wayne on his own had averaged points, when no player before had scored more than in one year.
Without the puck, that was interference. But now, if players without the puck skated just as hard, but faster, dodged and darted to open ice just as determinedly, but more effectively, as those with the puck, how do you shut them down? In this, Wayne added his considerable influence as the preeminent NHL star of his day to that of the Soviets, who had also developed a more team-style of play and had successfully used it against the best NHL teams, beginning in the Summit Series.
No Canadian kid wanted to play like Makarov or Larionov. They all wanted to play like Gretzky. At the same time, Wayne recognizes the contributions of their coach in the success of the Oilers: " Under the guidance of Glen Sather, our Oiler teams became adept at generating speed, developing finesse, and learning a transition game with strong European influences.
Let the puck do all the moving and you get yourself in the right place. I don't care if you're Carl Lewis, you can't outskate that little black thing. Just move the puck: give it up, get it back, give it up. It's like Larry Bird. The hardest work he does is getting open. The jumpshot is cake. That's all hockey is: open ice. That's my whole strategy: Find Open Ice. Chicago coach Mike Keenan said it best: "There's a spot on the ice that's no-man's land, and all the good goal scorers find it.
Two hours after the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in , Wayne learned from his father that the Oilers were planning to deal him to another team. Walter Gretzky had known for months after having been tipped off by Skalbania, but kept the news from Wayne so as not to upset him. According to Walter, Wayne was being "shopped" to Los Angeles, Detroit, and Vancouver, and Pocklington needed money as his other business ventures were not doing well.
At first, Wayne did not want to leave Edmonton, but he later received a call while on his honeymoon from Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall asking permission to meet and discuss the deal. Both McNall and Pocklington quickly agreed. After the details of the trade were finalized by the two owners, one final condition had to be met: Wayne had to call Pocklington and request a trade. The Kings refused and offered Jimmy Carson instead.
Wayne himself was considered a " traitor " by some Canadians for turning his back on his adopted hometown, and his home country; his motivation was widely rumoured to be the furtherance of his wife's acting career. In Wayne's first appearance in Edmonton after the trade a game that was nationally televised in Canada , he received a four-minute standing ovation. The arena was sold out and the attendance of 17, was the Oilers' biggest crowd ever to that date. Large cheers erupted for his first shift, his first touch of the puck, his two assists, and for Mark Messier's body check of Wayne into the boards.
After the game, Wayne took the opportunity to confirm his patriotism: " I'm still proud to be a Canadian. I didn't desert my country. I moved because I was traded and that's where my job is. But I'm Canadian to the core. I hope Canadians understand that. After the —89 season, a life-sized bronze statue of Wayne was erected outside the Northlands Coliseum, holding the Stanley Cup over his head.
The Kings named Wayne their alternate captain. He made an immediate impact on the ice, scoring on his first shot on goal in the first regular-season game. The Kings got off to their best start ever, winning four straight on their way to qualifying for the playoffs. Despite being underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division semifinals, he led the Kings to a shocking upset of his old squad, spearheading the Kings' return from a 3—1 series deficit to win the series 4—3.
He was nervous that Edmonton would greet him with boos, but they were eagerly waiting for him. Gretzky's first season in Los Angeles saw a marked increase in attendance and fan interest in a city not previously known for following hockey. The Kings now boasted of numerous sellouts. Many credit Wayne's arrival with putting non-traditional U. Sun Belt. Wayne was sidelined for much of the —93 regular season with a back injury, and his point output ended a record year streak in which he recorded at least points each season.
However, he performed very well in the playoffs, notably when he scored a hat trick in game seven of the Campbell Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This victory propelled the Kings into the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they faced the Montreal Canadiens. After winning the first game of the series by a score of 4—1, the team lost the next three games in overtime, and then fell 4—1 in the deciding fifth game where Gretzky failed to get a shot on net.
The next season, Wayne broke Gordie Howe's career goal-scoring record and won the scoring title, but the team began a long slide, and despite numerous player and coaching moves, they failed to qualify for the playoffs again until After the financially troubled McNall was forced to sell the Kings in , Wayne's relationship with the Kings' new owners grew strained.
Finally, in early , he requested a trade. On February 27, , Wayne joined the St. He partially orchestrated the trade after reports surfaced that he was unhappy in Los Angeles. At the time of the trade, the Blues and New York Rangers emerged as front-runners, but the Blues met his salary demands. Wayne was immediately named the team's captain. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in the regular season and the playoffs and the Blues came within one game of the Conference Finals.
However, the chemistry that everyone expected with winger Brett Hull never developed and coach Mike Keenan publicly criticized him. Wayne ended his professional playing career with the New York Rangers where he played his final three seasons and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in The Rangers were defeated in the Conference Finals in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers, despite Wayne leading the Rangers in the playoffs with 10 goals and 10 assists.
For the first time in his NHL career, he was not named captain, although he briefly wore the captain's 'C' in when captain Brian Leetch was injured and out of the lineup. After the —97 season, Mark Messier signed a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, ending the brief reunion of Messier and Gretzky after just one season. The Rangers did not return to the playoffs until , well after Wayne retired. In , prior to his retirement, The Hockey News named a committee of 50 hockey experts former NHL players, past and present writers, broadcasters, coaches and hockey executives to select and rank the 50 greatest players in NHL history.
The experts voted Wayne number one. Wayne said that he would have voted Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe as the best of all time. He reached one milestone in this last season, breaking the professional total regular season and playoffs goal-scoring record of 1,, which had been held by Gordie Howe.
As the season wound down, there was media speculation that Wayne would retire, but he refused to announce his retirement. Following the contest, in a departure from the usual three stars announcement, he was awarded all three stars. Upon returning to New York, he announced he would retire after the Rangers' last game of the season.
Although the game involved two American teams, both national anthems were played with the lyrics slightly adjusted to accommodate Wayne's departure. Wayne ended his career with a final point, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by Brian Leetch. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-to-last WHA player still active in professional hockey. Mark Messier, who attended the game along with other representatives of the Edmonton dynasty, was the last.
Wayne told journalist Scott Morrison that the final game of his career was his greatest day. He recounted:. He accomplished the feat in only 39 games.
His 50th goal of the season came on December 30, , in the final seconds of a 7—5 win against the Philadelphia Flyers and was his fifth of the game. Later that season, Gretzky broke Esposito's record for most goals in a season 76 on February 24, , scoring three to help defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6—3. He ended the —82 season with records of 92 goals, assists, and points in 80 games, becoming the only player in NHL history to break the two hundred-point mark.
He was also named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. The following seasons saw Gretzky break his own assists record three more times in —83, in —85 and in —86 ; he also bettered that mark assists in —87 with and —91 with , and his point record one more time , in — The same success was not immediate when they joined the NHL, but within four seasons, the Oilers were competing for the Stanley Cup.
Gretzky was its captain from to In , they made it to the Stanley Cup Final, only to be swept by the three-time defending champion New York Islanders. The following season, the Oilers met the Islanders in the Final again, this time winning the Stanley Cup, their first of five in seven years. He was named an officer of the Order of Canada on June 25, , for outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey.
Since the Order ceremonies are always held during the hockey season, it took 13 years and 7 months and two Governors General before he could accept the honour. Gretzky was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in "for his continued contributions to the world of hockey, notably as one of the best players of all time, as well as for his social engagement as a philanthropist, volunteer and role model for countless young people. Amid growing concern around the NHL that a financial institution might be able to lay claim to Gretzky's rights in the event the heavily leveraged Pocklington were to declare bankruptcy, as well as growing dissatisfaction on the part of Gretzky and his advisers, in , Gretzky and Pocklington agreed to replace the personal services contract with a standard NHL contract.
In June of , as part of a package of five rule changes to be implemented for the —86 season, the NHL Board of Governors decided to introduce offsetting penalties, where neither team lost a man when coincidental penalties were called.
The effect of calling offsetting penalties was felt immediately in the NHL, because during the early s, when the Gretzky-era Oilers entered a four-on-four or three-on-three situation with an opponent, they frequently used the space on the ice to score one or more goals.
Gretzky held a press conference one day after being awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy, criticizing the NHL for punishing teams and players who previously benefited. The rule change became known as the "Gretzky rule. Gretzky had a major influence on the style of play of the Edmonton Oilers and in the NHL as a whole, helping to inspire a more team-based strategy.
The focus of the game prior to Gretzky's arrival, he said, especially among the Canadian teams, was on the player with the puck—in getting the puck to a star player who would make the big play. Gretzky reversed that. He knew he wasn't big enough, strong enough, or even fast enough to do what he wanted to do if others focused on him.
Like a magician, he had to direct attention elsewhere, to his four teammates on the ice with him, to create the momentary distraction in order to move unnoticed into the open ice where size and strength didn't matter. Gretzky made his opponents compete with five players, not one, and he made his teammates full partners to the game. He made them skate to his level and pass and finish up to his level or they would be embarrassed.
Between and , the Edmonton Oilers averaged goals a season, when no previous team had scored , and Gretzky on his own had averaged points, when no player before had scored more than in one year.
Dryden wrote in his book "The Game", "In the past, defenders and teams had learned to devise strategies to stop opponents with the puck. To stop them without it, that was interference. But now, if players without the puck skated just as hard as those with it, but faster, and dodged and darted to open ice just as determinedly, but more effectively, how did you shut them down?
In this, Gretzky added his considerable influence as the preeminent NHL star of his day to that of the Soviets, who had also developed a more team-style of play, and had successfully used it against the best NHL teams, beginning in the Summit Series. Gretzky, the kid from Brantford with the Belarusian name, was the acceptable face of Soviet hockey. No Canadian kid wanted to play like Makarov or Larionov. They all wanted to play like Gretzky. At the same time, Gretzky recognized the contributions of their coach in the success of the Oilers: "Under the guidance of Glen Sather, our Oiler teams became adept at generating speed, developing finesse, and learning a transition game with strong European influences.
Let the puck do all the moving and you get yourself in the right place. I don't care if you're Carl Lewis, you can't outskate that little black thing. Just move the puck: give it up, get it back, give it up. It's like Larry Bird. The hardest work he does is getting open. The jumpshot is cake. That's all hockey is: open ice. That's my whole strategy: Find Open Ice. Chicago coach Mike Keenan said it best: "There's a spot on the ice that's no-man's land, and all the good goal scorers find it.
Two hours after the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in , Gretzky learned from his father that the Oilers were planning to deal him to another team. Walter Gretzky had known for months after having been tipped off by Skalbania, but kept the news from Wayne so as not to upset him. According to Walter, Wayne was being "shopped" to Los Angeles, Detroit, and Vancouver, and Pocklington needed money as his other business ventures were not doing well. At first, Wayne did not want to leave Edmonton, but he later received a call while on his honeymoon from Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall asking permission to meet and discuss the deal.
Both McNall and Pocklington quickly agreed. After the details of the trade were finalized by the two owners, one final condition had to be met: Gretzky had to call Pocklington and request a trade. When Pocklington told Oilers general manager and head coach Sather about his plans to trade Gretzky to Los Angeles, Sather tried to stop the deal, but when he found out Gretzky had been involved in the negotiations, he changed his attitude and requested Luc Robitaille in exchange.
The Kings refused, instead offering Jimmy Carson. Gretzky himself was considered a "traitor" by some Canadians for turning his back on his adopted hometown, and his home country; his motivation was widely rumoured to be the furtherance of his wife's acting career.
In Gretzky's first appearance in Edmonton after the trade, a game nationally televised in Canada, he received a four-minute standing ovation. The arena was sold out and the attendance of 17, was the Oilers' biggest crowd ever to that date.
Large cheers erupted for his first shift, his first touch of the puck, his two assists, and for Mark Messier's body check of Gretzky into the boards. After the game, Gretzky took the opportunity to confirm his patriotism, saying: "I'm still proud to be a Canadian. I didn't desert my country. I moved because I was traded and that's where my job is. But I'm Canadian to the core.
I hope Canadians understand that. After the —89 season, a life-sized bronze statue of Gretzky was erected outside Northlands Coliseum, holding the Stanley Cup over his head. The Kings named Gretzky their alternate captain. He made an immediate impact on the ice, scoring on his first shot on goal in the first regular season game.
The Kings got off to their best start ever, winning four straight en route to qualifying for the playoffs. Despite being underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division semifinals, Gretzky led the Kings to a shocking upset of his old squad, spearheading the Kings' return from a 3—1 series deficit to win the series 4—3.
He was nervous Edmonton would greet him with boos, but they were eagerly waiting for him. Gretzky's first season in Los Angeles saw a marked increase in attendance and fan interest in a city that was not previously known for following hockey. The Kings now boasted of numerous sellouts. Gretzky was sidelined for much of the —93 regular season with a back injury, and his point output ended a record year streak in which he recorded at least points each season.
However, he performed well in the playoffs, notably when he scored a hat trick in game seven of the Campbell Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs; this victory propelled the Kings into the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they faced the Montreal Canadiens. After winning the first game of the series by a score of 4—1, the team lost the next three games in overtime, and then fell 4—1 in the deciding fifth game where Gretzky failed to get a shot on net.
The next season, Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's career goal-scoring record and won the scoring title, but the team began a long slide, and despite numerous player and coaching moves, they failed to qualify for the playoffs again until After the financially troubled McNall was forced to sell the Kings in , Gretzky's relationship with the Kings' new owners grew strained.
Under both McNall and the new ownership group, the team was fiscally unstable, to the point that paychecks to players bounced. Finally, in early , Gretzky requested a trade. On February 27, , Gretzky joined the St. He partially orchestrated the trade after reports surfaced that he was unhappy in Los Angeles At the time of the trade, the Blues and New York Rangers emerged as front-runners, but the Blues met Gretzky's salary demands. Gretzky was immediately named the team's captain. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in the regular season and the playoffs and the Blues came within one game of the Conference Finals.
However, the chemistry everyone expected with winger Brett Hull never developed, and head coach Mike Keenan publicly criticized him. Gretzky ended his professional playing career with the New York Rangers, where he played his final three seasons and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in The Rangers were defeated in the Conference Finals in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers, despite Gretzky leading the Rangers in the playoffs with 10 goals and 10 assists.
For the first time in his NHL career, Gretzky was not named captain although he briefly wore the captain's "C" in when captain Brian Leetch was injured and out of the line-up.
After the —97 season, Mark Messier signed a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, ending the brief reunion of Messier and Gretzky after just one season. The Rangers did not return to the playoffs until , well after Gretzky retired. In , prior to his retirement, The Hockey News named a committee of 50 hockey experts former NHL players, past and present writers, broadcasters, coaches and hockey executives to select and rank the 50 greatest players in NHL history.
The experts voted Gretzky number one. He said he would have voted Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe as the best of all time. The —99 season was Gretzky's last as a professional player. He reached one milestone in this last season, breaking the professional total regular season and playoffs goal-scoring record of 1,, which had been held by Gordie Howe.
As the season wound down, there was media speculation that Gretzky would retire, but he refused to announce his retirement. Following the contest, in a departure from the usual three stars announcement, he was awarded all three stars. Upon returning to New York, Gretzky announced he would retire after the Rangers' last game of the season.
The final game of his career was a 2—1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 18, , in Madison Square Garden.
Although the game involved two American teams, both national anthems were played, with the lyrics slightly adjusted to accommodate Gretzky's departure. Gretzky ended his career with a final point, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by Brian Leetch. At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last WHA player still active in professional hockey. Mark Messier, who attended the game along with other representatives of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty, was the last.
He recounted: "My last game in New York was my greatest day in hockey Everything you enjoy about the sport of hockey as a kid, driving to practice with mom [Phyllis] and dad [Walter], driving to the game with mom and dad, looking in the stands and seeing your mom and dad and your friends, that all came together in that last game in New York.
On November 22, , Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, becoming the tenth player to bypass the three-year waiting period. The Hall of Fame then announced that he would be the last player to do so.
Also in Edmonton, the local transit authority assigned a rush-hour bus route numbered No. In , the Kings held a jersey retirement ceremony and erected a life-sized statue of Gretzky outside the Staples Center; the ceremony was delayed until then so that Bruce McNall, who had recently finished a prison sentence, could attend.
Brantford further inducted Gretzky into its "Walk of Fame" in Almost immediately after retirement, several NHL teams approached Gretzky about an ownership role. The Coyotes were in the process of being sold and Ellman convinced him to come on board, averting a potential move to Portland, Oregon. The sale was not completed until the following year, on February 15, , after two missed deadlines while securing financing and partners before Ellman and Gretzky could take over.
Trucking magnate and Arizona Diamondbacks part-owner Jerry Moyes was added to the partnership. Gretzky convinced his long-time agent Michael Barnett to join the team as its General Manager.
In , rumours began circulating that Gretzky was about to name himself head coach of the Coyotes, but were denied by Gretzky and the team. Ultimately, Gretzky agreed to become head coach on August 8, He made his coaching debut on October 5 and won his first game on October 8 against the Minnesota Wild. He took an indefinite leave of absence on December 17 to be with his ill mother.
Phyllis Gretzky died of lung cancer on December Gretzky resumed his head-coaching duties on December The Coyotes' record at the end of the —06 season was 38—39—5, a win improvement over —04; they were 36—36—5 in games Gretzky coached.
In , Moyes became majority owner of the team. There was uncertainty about Gretzky's role until it was announced on May 31, that he had agreed to a five-year contract to remain head coach. The Coyotes' performance declined in —07, as the team ended the season 15th in their conference.
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