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Born
Wayne Gretzky was born on January 26/1961 in Brantford, Ontario to Mr. Walter Gretzky and Mrs. Phyllis Gretzky -
"Wally's Collesium"
At the age of three, Wayne's father, Walter, had build a backyard rink that he named "Wally's Collesium". Wayne was on that rink for the vast majority of his childhood. -
Goals Scored at a Young Age
By the age of 13, Gretzky had already scored over 1000 goals for his team, the Brandford Nadrofsky Steelers. His superior play had gained him a lot of resentment from some of his teammates, and their mothers. He was often booed at games, simply for being better than any other player in his league. -
Toronto
At the age of 14, Walter Gretzky arranged to move to Toronto. This was both to further Wayne's career, and to get him away from the unnessicary resentment he had cultivated in Brantford. Gretzky then began playing for the Toronto Nationals, with whom he eventually earned the Rookie of the Year award. -
Greyhounds
In the 1977 OMJL draft of 16 year olds, Gretzky was drafted to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. It was with the greyhounds that Gretzky first wore the infamous number 99 on his jersey. He originally wanted number 9, but after one of his teamates had already teken it, he settled on 99. -
Racers
The WHA's Indionapolis Racers signed a 17-year-old Gretzky on a seven year contract worth 1.75 million dollars. -
Oilers
In 1979, The WHA merged with the NHL, and Gretzky began playing for the Edmonton Oilers. -
Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy.
After his first NHL season, Gretzky recieved the prestigious "Hart Memorial Trophy" as the leagues MVP (the first of 8 in a row) and the Art Ross Trophy (the first of 7 in a row). -
Records Broken
During his second season, Gretzky broke two NHL records. These included Bobby Orr's record for most assists in a season, and Phil Esposito's record for points in a season, -
50 goals in 50 games.
During the 1981-1982 season, Gretzky beat a record that had stood for 35 years, and had been set by "Rocket" Richard. This was the "50 goals in 50 games" record. However, Gretzky did not achieve this feat in 50 games, he did it in 39. -
"- of the Year"
In 1982, Gretzky was named "Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year", "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illistrated, and "Newsmaker of the Year" by the Canadian Press. -
Stanley Cup
In 1984, the Edmonton Oilers faced the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals, and won. This was his first of 4 Stanley Cups in his career. -
Order of Canada
On June 25th, 1984 Gretzky was names an officer for the Order of Canada due to his outstanding controbution to the sport of Hockey. -
Kings
In 1988, Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. -
Effect on LA
Gretzky had a major impact on Los Angeles. When Gretzky began playing for the Kings, there was a major increase in fan interest across the city, which was previously unheard of for LA. The Kings had numerous sellouts during Gretzkys time with the Kings. Also, during Gretzky's tenture with the Kings, California recieved two new Hockey franchises; the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and the San Jose Sharks. Many people credit this to Gretzky's influence on Los Angelas. -
Man of the Decade
in 1990, the Associated Press named Gretzky the "Man of the Decade" -
Sidelined
During much of the 92-93 season, Gretzky was sidelined due to back injury. -
Howe's Record
Following his sidelined season, Gretzky came back and broke his hero Gordie Howe's record for goals scored in a career. -
Traded
Gretzky was traded from the LA Kings at his own request in1996. -
Blues
Gretzky was picked up by the St. Louis Blues, and was immediately named captain. -
Rangers
His stint with the Blues did not last long, and Gretzky soon signed with the New York Rangers. -
#1
In 1997, "The Hockey News" compiled a list of the 50 greatest players of all time. Gretzky was ranked #1. Gretzky insisted that he would have chosen Bobby Orr, or Gordie Howe as #1. -
Final Season
The 1998-1999 season was Gretzky's last. -
Final Game
Gretzky's final game was held in New York, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although two American teams were competing, the Canadian national anthem was sung before the game. However, the lyrics were adjusted for Gretzky's departure. The lyric, "We stand on guard for the" was changed to "We're going to miss you, Wayne Gretzky". The American national anthem was also changed, and included "The land of Wayne Gretzky". Gretzky recounts this game as his greatest day in Hockey. -
99
As a sign of great respect from the league, Gretzky's trademark number 99 was retired from the NHL as a whole, never to be worn again by any player. It is common practice for a team to retire a number, but this is the first and only time for the entire league to retire a number.