Wayne Gretzky is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 20 seasons in the NHL for 4 teams. Even though Gretzky’s on-ice career ended quite some time ago, he has been recognized for his immense contribution to national and international hockey in the annual list of top 100 NHL players. I believe this deserves a spotlight in this article.
Life
Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario. His father Walter Gretzky was a professional hockey player and his mother Phyllis Gretzky worked at a bank. At the age of four, Gretzky’s family moved to an apartment in Brantford because Walter was traded to a team in Toronto.
From an early age, Wayne showed talent in hockey. He started playing at age five with the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers, which was named after their coach, Mr. Nadrofsky. In his first year on the team, he scored 66 goals and added 74 assists for a total of 140 points—an amazing feat for any child! He also led the league in scoring that year with 88 goals and 122 assists for 210 points total.
At age nine, Gretzky started playing for the Brantford Braves of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA). In his first season with them, he scored 55 goals and added 91 assists for 146 points total—the highest point total ever recorded by any player at that age level!
Career
Now he is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
When Gretzky started playing organised hockey at age six he scored 378 goals in one season for his bantam team. The next year he scored 437 goals in 61 games for his peewee team. In 1973-74 he represented Hamilton’s Minor Peewee A1 squad at the Ontario Hockey Association’s annual all-star game in Toronto—where they beat a team representing Ontario’s Major Peewee A1 squad 8-3.
Gretzky is known as The Great One because he achieved many incredible feats during his time playing hockey. He holds 61 NHL records, including most goals scored by a player in one season (92) and most points scored by a player in one season (163). He also owns the record for most assists in one season (163).
He won seven Hart Trophies as the league’s most valuable player and nine Art Ross Trophies as the league’s scoring champion during his career. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999 and was named Canada’s athlete of the century by The Canadian Press in 2010.
