Howe supported Gretzky, according to Maclean's and called Gretzky "a great kid," and "great for hockey. Such accolades brought Gretzky numerous commercial endorsements for companies as diverse as General Mills and Nike. Consumers found his personality appealing, and he only endorsed products he used. Advertising Age Magazine called him "an ideal athlete to endorse products.
Gretzky continued breaking records and winning awards in the s and in the late season broke another Howe record of career goals, accomplishing this in fewer games than Howe played. Then Gretzky began to get frustrated with the unsuccessful attempts of the Kings. Although in he said his "life is in L. King," he now wanted to be traded. Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated said Gretzky demanded that the Kings "either acquire top-notch talent to make a run at the cup immediately or trade him.
Gretzky was traded to the St. Louis Blues in the season. He received some criticism for what seemed to be his selfishness and lack of loyalty to the Kings, because of his desire for another Stanley Cup. Gretzky defended his actions. He told Sports Illustrated, "I want to win … for people to accept losing in life, that's not right.
Gretzky's career with the Blues was brief. He had not yet officially signed with the team when they lost the first two games in the play-off series with the Detroit Red Wings. Mike Keenan, the coach and general manager of the Blues, blamed Gretzky for the losses.
Keenan later apologized and the Blues won the next three out of four games with Detroit, but Gretzky had already decided not to sign with St. Instead, he signed with the New York Rangers for the season. Gretzky fully intended to sign with St. Louis, but, as he told Sports Illustrated, "you want to play for people who believe in you.
Gretzky by Walter Gretzky, Wayne's father, and Jim Taylor, is an affectionate look at the entire Gretzky family, written before the trade to Los Angeles. Hockey: Twenty Years , an official publication of the National Hockey League, covers the years to His first coach, Dick Martin, remarked that he handled the puck better than the ten-year-olds.
According to Martin, " Wayne was so good that you could have a boy of your own who was a tremendous hockey player, and he'd get overlooked because of what the Gretzky kid was doing.
The sweaters for ten-year-olds were far too large for Wayne, who coped by tucking the sweater into his pants on the right side. He continued doing this throughout his NHL career. By the age of ten, Wayne had scored an astonishing goals and assists in just one season with the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers. His play now attracted media attention beyond his hometown of Brantford, including a profile by John Iaboni in the Toronto Telegram in October By the age of 13, Wayne had scored over 1, goals His play attracted considerable negative attention from other players' parents, including those of his teammates, and he was often booed.
When Wayne was 14 years old, his family arranged for him to move to and play hockey in Toronto, partly to further his career, and partly to remove him from the uncomfortable pressure he faced in his hometown. The Gretzkys had to legally challenge the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to win Wayne the right to play elsewhere, which was disallowed at the time.
The following year, as a year-old, Wayne had 72 points in 32 games with the same team, then known as the Seneca Nationals.
With the third pick, the Sault Ste. Marie, a northern Ontario city that inflicts a heavy traveling schedule on its junior team. The Gretzkys made an arrangement with a local family they knew and Wayne played a season in the Ontario Hockey League at the age of 16 with the Greyhounds. It was with the Greyhounds that Wayne first wore the number 99 on his jersey. Wayne originally wanted to wear number 9—for his hockey hero Gordie Howe—but it was already being worn by teammate Brian Gualazzi.
At coach Muzz MacPherson's suggestion, he settled on Birmingham Bulls owner John F. He scored his first professional goal against Dave Dryden of the Edmonton Oilers in his fifth game, and his second goal four seconds later.
Skalbania opted to have Wayne sign a personal-services contract rather than a standard player contract in part because he knew a deal to take some WHA teams into the NHL was in the works. He also knew that the Racers could not hope to be included among those teams and hoped to keep the Racers alive long enough to collect compensation from the surviving teams when the WHA dissolved, as well as any funds earned from selling the young star. Wayne only played eight games for Indianapolis.
Skalbania told him he would be moved, offering him a choice between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets. On the advice of his agent, he picked the Oilers, but the move was not that simple. On November 2nd, Wayne, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll were put on a private plane, not knowing where they would land and what team they would be joining. While in the air, Skalbania worked on the deal.
Skalbania offered to play a game of backgammon with Winnipeg owner Michael Gobuty, the stakes being if Gobuty won, he would get Gretzky and if he lost, he had to give Skalbania a share of the Jets. Gobuty turned down the proposal and the players landed in Edmonton. The money was not enough to keep the Racers alive; they folded that December. The line did not score in the final game, but the WHA won by a score of 4—3. He captured the Lou Kaplan Trophy as rookie of the year and helped the Oilers to first overall in the league.
Under the merger agreement the Oilers, like the other surviving WHA teams, were to be allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters from being reclaimed by the established NHL teams. Wayne's success in the WHA carried over into the NHL, despite some critics suggesting he would struggle in what was considered the bigger, tougher, and more talented league. Although he played 79 games to Dionne's 80, Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy since he scored more goals 53 vs.
The season still stands as the highest point total by a first year player in NHL history. Wayne became the youngest player to score 50 goals but was not eligible for the Calder Memorial Trophy , given to the top NHL rookie, because of his previous year of WHA experience.
In his second season, Wayne won the Art Ross the first of seven consecutive with a then-record points, breaking both Bobby Orr 's record for assists in a season and Phil Esposito 's record for points in a season He won his second straight Hart Trophy.
In the first game of the playoffs versus the Montreal Canadiens, he had five assists. This was a single game playoff record. During the NHL season , Wayne surpassed a record that had stood for 35 years: 50 goals in 50 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, Wayne broke Esposito's record for most goals in a season 76 on February 24, , scoring three goals to help beat 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 Canadian Press also named him "Newsmaker of the Year" in 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. Regardless of why the trade happened, in the fall of , Gretzky donned a Kings jersey for the first time. Over the next eight seasons, he led the franchise, not quite dominating the league as he once had, but still making his case as the NHL's best player.
In , he even steered the franchise to the Stanley Cup finals, where the club lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games. In , Gretzky left L. Louis Blues. After just one season with the franchise, he was on the move again, this time to the New York Rangers, where he played three more years and finished out his career in By almost every measure, Gretzky is hockey's most dominant scorer and quite possibly its greatest player.
In all, he holds or shares 61 NHL records, including most career goals , most career assists 1, and most career points 2, This is a great game, but it's a hard game. I'm ready. Not long after hanging up his skates, Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In addition, he continued to stay in close contact with the game and the league.
With Gretzky at the helm as the program's executive director, Canada's men's Olympic hockey team ended its year drought and took home the gold medal at the Salt Lake City Games in Shortly after assuming his Olympic duties, Gretzky also came aboard as the managing partner of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes in early Over the course of several seasons, Gretzky served in the front office and as the team's head coach.
Despite the excitement surrounding his association with the club, coach Gretzky was never able to lead the club to the playoffs, much less fill the arena with fans. In September , after four tough seasons, he stepped down as coach. He eventually relinquished his ownership of the team. Gretzky, who's become involved in both the restaurant business and the wine business over the years, lives with his family in California. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
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