Wayne Gretzky

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CanadaCanada  Wayne Gretzky Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1999
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2000
Wayne Gretzky
Date of birth January 26, 1961
place of birth Brantford , Ontario , Canada
Nickname The great one
size 183 cm
Weight 84 kg
position center
number # 99
Shot hand Left
Career stations
1967-1972 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers
1972-1974 Brantford Turkstra Lumber
1974-1975 Brantford Charcon Chargers
1975-1976 Vaughan Nationals
1976-1977 Seneca Nationals
1977-1988 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
1978 Indianapolis Racers
1978-1988 Edmonton Oilers
1988-1996 Los Angeles Kings
1996 St. Louis Blues
1996-1999 New York Rangers

Wayne Douglas Gretzky , CC (born January 26, 1961 in Brantford , Ontario ) is a former Canadian ice hockey player at the center who worked for the Edmonton Oilers , Los Angeles Kings , St. Louis, among others, during his active career from 1979 to 1999 Blues and New York Rangers was active in the National Hockey League . Considered the greatest ice hockey player of all time by the majority of ice hockey fans and experts, hence his nickname The Great One .

Over the course of his career, Gretzky set numerous NHL records , of which he held 61 in the regular season , play-offs and All-Star Games at the time of his retirement. His 894 goals and 2857 points scorer in the regular season are unmatched. Overall, Gretzky was awarded the Art Ross Trophy ten times as the best scorer of the regular season (1981-1987, 1990, 1991 and 1994), seven times in a row, which is another record. With the Edmonton Oilers he won the prestigious Stanley Cup four times and during his time with the Oilers he reached both the record of 92 goals in a regular season and the record number of 215 points. As the only player in the history of the NHL, he scored over 200 points scorer in the regular season, he succeeded four times. With his transfer to Los Angeles in August 1988 , Gretzky changed the hockey landscape in the United States and, due to his popularity, made a significant contribution to the NHL expansion of the 1990s in the southern part of the United States, which until then had largely been neglected by professional ice hockey . After his career ended in the summer of 1999, Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame that same year without the usual waiting period of three years . In addition, since February 2000 he has been the only player in the history of the NHL whose shirt number - the 99 - has been banned throughout the league and is therefore no longer given to any NHL player.

The center represented the Canadian national team in international tournaments at both junior and senior level. As a junior player, he won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the 1978 World Junior Championship ; he did the same at the men's world championship in 1982 . The attacker, who finished six of his eight tournaments in the national jersey as the top scorer of the entire competition, won a total of three gold medals with the Canadians in the course of his career at the Canada Cup .

He later became a co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes and was also hired as their head coach from 2005 to 2009 with moderate success. Gretzky also acted as managing director of the umbrella organization Hockey Canada and won the gold medal in this position with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey .

Player career

First steps, "The Great Gretzky"

Gretzky's first own ice skates, exhibited in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was on 26 January 1961 at the Canadian Brantford in the province of Ontario was the first of five children of Walter born and Phyllis Gretzky. As a child he was considered shy and taciturn. He presented himself differently when he participated in sports activities. He played baseball and lacrosse , among others, and calls baseball his favorite sport, although he focused on ice hockey early on . At the age of two, he learned to skate on the Nith River. During his childhood he spent many hours every day skating and playing ice hockey. His father, who had set up an ice rink in the family backyard so that he could watch his son training from the kitchen, recorded his first skating steps on film. These recordings are now in the Hockey Hall of Fame . At the age of five he joined his first ice hockey team and from then on played for the Nadrofsky Steelers in his native Brantford. With the team, Gretzky took part in the game operations of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association and met opponents who were already nine and ten years old. Gretzky was physically inferior to his opponents in the league due to his age-related, smaller size, but he quickly convinced with his extraordinary talent and technical skills. The left-shot scored his first goal at the age of six, which was his only goal in his first season. The following season ended the attacker with 27 goals and won the Wally Bauer Trophy for the player who improved the most compared to the previous season. In the following years he increased his goal scoring significantly and scored 104 goals as a seven-year-old, the following year he scored 196 goals.

Officially, Gretzky was only nine years old enough to play in the league, but in the 1971/72 season he set an unprecedented record in the Brantford Atom League (Ontario Student League) and scored 378 in 85 games Hits and 139 assists. During that season he had scored 50 goals in six games. In a Steelers game, he came on the ice in the last third when the team was 5-0 down. Gretzky scored six hits within a short period of time and shot the team single-handedly to victory. During this time ice hockey fans began asking for autographs , it attracted the interest of some television stations and was invited to interviews by renowned magazines such as Sports Illustrated . As a result, the newspapers dubbed him as the successor to Bobby Orr , one of the best players in NHL history, and he was credited with a similarly successful career. Gretzky stated that he was “Mr. Hockey “ I see Gordie Howe as his only role model and want to follow in his footsteps. Because Gretzky was so technically superior to the other players in ice hockey at the Nadrofsky Steelers , he was always under pressure both on and off the ice. A former teammate described that Gretzky had to carry the burden of the team and was beaten by opponents with their ice hockey sticks. He was often booed by the crowd after scoring a goal. There was applause when the striker was knocked over by the opposing team. In addition, he had to endure some mockery. Regardless of this, he always proved to be a team player and often staged his teammates. In 1972 he moved to the Turkstra Lumber in his hometown of Brantford , where he was active for the following two years. After finishing his first season in the Lumber's jersey with a record of 105 hits, the left-handed shooter managed to almost double his number of hits in the following season. In April 1974 he took part with the team in an international tournament in the Colisée de Québec in Québec . In his first encounter, Gretzky contributed eleven points before the team was eliminated in the semifinals. Gretzky completed an excellent tournament and scored his 1000th career goal. The 1974/75 season he played in the dress of the Brantford Chargon Chargers , for which he scored 90 goals.

Murray MacPherson and the number 99 on his back

At the age of 14, Gretzky expressed a desire to leave his hometown as he had been feeling too much pressure in Brantford for a long time and was unhappy about the jealousy of some players and their parents. He was drawn to Toronto to join the Vaughan Nationals , a junior junior B team . Before moving to Toronto, Wayne's parents had made an agreement with a teammate's legal guardians, with whom the striker lived from then on and attended school in the city on the side. There the 14-year-old played with opponents who were up to six years older. During the 1976/77 season, which Gretzky had started with the same team, which now took part in the game operations of the Metro Junior A Hockey League under the name Seneca Nationals , he had his first assignments with the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League . The 15-year-old was used as a "stopgap" for three games and made three assists. For the following season, the attacker was eligible to be drafted by a team from Canada's top junior leagues . His father resisted this, wanting to prevent his son from straying further from his hometown, and he corresponded with numerous teams. He announced that his son would refuse to play for a team should he be drafted. At the event, Wayne Gretzky was third overall from Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with whom Walter had not had any correspondence. At first both refused to consent to the Greyhound engagement. Only after head coach Murray MacPherson had promised the striker plenty of working time and in the event of an injury or resignation from the squad also approved the financial security of an education, they finally agreed on a contractual relationship with the Gretzkys. His son received Gus Badali as a player's agent and agreed with him and his father that he would henceforth be resident in Sault Ste. Marie is embarrassed.

In the 1977/78 season, the attacker, who scored six goals in his first game, became a regular at Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and finished the 1977/78 regular season with 182 points from 63 encounters. This meant second place in the OMJHL behind top scorer Bobby Smith . At the end of the season he received the William Hanley Trophy as the fairest athletic player of the year and the Emms Family Award as the best rookie of the season. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds Gretzky wanted to wear the number 9, as his role model Gordie Howe had accrued with this number during his playing career. However, his teammate Brian Gualazzi was already wearing this , so Gretzky started the season with the shirt number 19. During the season he switched to number 14 before Greyhound head coach Murray MacPherson suggested he wear the number 99 from now on. Gretzky accepted and always wore the same shirt number until the end of his career.

Entry into the World Hockey Association and transfer to Edmonton

Since players under the age of 20 were not allowed to play in the National Hockey League , the Indianapolis Racers from the World Hockey Association took the opportunity to get the striker to sign the contract. In contrast to the National Hockey League, there was no age limit in the rules of the World Hockey Association, which is why Gretzky was signed by the Indianapolis Racers at the age of 17 for the 1978/79 season . He signed a four-year contract for a total of $ 875,000. Experts speculated that he would face an overload in the WHA, as the Canadian would not keep up with other players, especially physically. At the Indianapolis Racers, Gretzky played in an attack series together with Angelo Moretto and Kevin Nugent ; here the center forward scored his first goal in the World Hockey Association on October 20, 1978 against the Edmonton Oilers . His involvement with the Indianapolis Racers ended after eight encounters in which the striker contributed three hits and three assists. In November 1978 Nelson Skalbania , the owner of the financially troubled franchise, decided to sell Gretzky together with Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll for $ 850,000 to the Edmonton Oilers. A day after his transfer to Edmonton , the offensive player under head coach Glen Sather completed his first game in the WHA for the Oilers and scored in this one hit against the Winnipeg Jets . The fact that Gretzky quickly found his way around the Oilers, convinced by constant performance and the striker was seen as a worthwhile investment, led to a significant increase in audience response in Edmonton that same season. During the same season he was one of the participants in the WHA All-Star Game and ran in this in a row with Gordie Howe, the idol of his childhood, on the ice. Gretzky finished his rookie season in the World Hockey Association with a record of 46 goals, 64 assists and 110 points. As the best newcomer of the year, he was awarded the Lou Kaplan Trophy and voted into the league's Second All-Star Team . In the playoffs for the Avco World Trophy , Gretzky was the best scorer with 20 points and reached the final series with the Oilers, which were lost in six matches against the Winnipeg Jets.

The National Hockey League tried tenaciously to lure Gretzky into their league, as they would benefit from an increasing audience response through his commitment. Although in the NHL the usually more financially strong teams spent significantly more on wages than the majority of the WHA teams, the Edmonton Oilers were financially relatively stable. On his 18th birthday, the striker signed a new contract with the Oilers for a period of ten years with the option to extend for another ten years. The NHL responded to this event and decided that after the dissolution of the WHA for the 1979/80 season , the franchise would be included in the National Hockey League.

NHL years in the Edmonton Oilers jersey

Gretzky giving a speech during the 2001 World Athletics Championships

Before the start of the 1979/80 season, the Edmonton Oilers had secured the rights to players such as Kevin Lowe and Mark Messier in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft . The trio Gretzky, Lowe and Messier quickly harmonized both on and off the ice and formed the core of the successful Oilers team of the 80s. In his NHL debut on October 10, 1979 in the away game with the Chicago Black Hawks , Gretzky posted his first assist when his teammate Kevin Lowe exploited the pass of the attacker for the first NHL goal in the history of the Edmonton Oilers. Four days later, Gretzky scored his first goal in the National Hockey League when he defeated Glen Hanlon in goal for the Vancouver Canucks during an outnumbered situation . During the same season, on February 15, 1980, the offensive player scored seven assists in an NHL game against the Montréal Canadiens, a new league record in this category. He ended his debut season with 51 goals in the regular season, becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score at least 50 goals this season at the age of 19 years and two months. Since he had played in the World Hockey Association during the previous season, the NHL decided that the Canadian could not be considered a new professional and he was accordingly denied winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best newcomer in the league. In the playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers failed in the first round in three games against the Philadelphia Flyers .

His 137 points scored in the regular season were together with Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings most of the season. However, since Dionne had scored 53 goals and thus two more goals than Gretzky, the Los Angeles Kings center forward secured the Art Ross Trophy for best scorer. Regardless of this, at the end of the season at the NHL Awards , the league's annual award ceremony , Gretzky received the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player as well as the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy , which was presented to him for his high sporting standard and exemplary behavior on and off the ice . Before the beginning of the 1980/81 season , head coach Glen Sather strengthened the team with the addition of Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri , who made it possible for Gretzky to increasingly play off his playmaking qualities in the Oilers' jersey. The regular 1980/81 season ended the striker as the top scorer in the league with 164 points, for which he had laid the foundation with his 109 assists. Both were new league records and Gretzky replaced the previous leaders Bobby Orr (102 assists) and Phil Esposito (152 points) in these statistics.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers met the favored Montréal Canadiens. The first encounter in the series was decided by the Oilers, with Gretzky contributing to the success with five assists. With two more Oilers wins, the team managed a sweep over the Habs , which was considered one of the biggest surprises in NHL history at the time. The second round duel against the New York Islanders , the team with the highest points of the regular season, was lost with 2: 4 wins. At the annual award ceremony, the NHL Awards, in 1981 Gretzky was honored as the most valuable actor with the Hart Memorial Trophy for the first time in his career with the Art Ross Trophy as the most successful points collector of the season; he should do the same in the following six seasons. Before the start of the 1981/82 season , only two players had reached the milestone of 50 goals in 50 games in NHL history : Maurice "Rocket" Richard in the 1944/45 season and Mike Bossy in the 1980/81 season. However, so far no player has managed to reach the 50 goal mark before the 50th game of the season. After 38 games, Gretzky had already scored 45 goals. In the 39th game of the season, against the Philadelphia Flyers on December 30, 1981 , the striker scored five goals in a 7-5 win over the Flyers and hit the empty Philadelphia goal shortly before the end of the game (an empty net goal ) to the record-breaking 50th goal of the season.

In the same season, the Canadian reached other personal milestones. Among other things, he was the only player in NHL history to score the 200th scorer point in a season, scored a record 92 goals in the regular season and finished the season with 212 points as the best points collector in the league. In the first round of the playoffs, Gretzky's team met the Los Angeles Kings as clear favorites. Due to insufficient defensive performance by the Oilers - the team had lost the first encounter 8:10 in Edmonton - the series was lost with 2: 3 wins. After the end of the 1981/82 season, the attacker again won several individual trophies and it was also the first time he was awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award by the players 'union of the National Hockey League Players' Association for most valuable player of the season. After the early failure in the playoffs, head coach Glen Sather reacted to the 1982/83 season to the increasing criticism of the way the Oilers played, which was directly related to Wayne Gretzky. Its scorer qualities played a decisive role in the fact that the team scored the most goals in the league, but also led to regular mistakes in the defensive game, which often led to relatively high-scoring NHL games. Sather then decided to reduce the attacker's time per game by several minutes in order to ensure a more balanced offensive and defensive game. At the end of 1982, his achievements were recognized by the Associated Press with the award Associated Press Athlete of the Year and the US sports magazine Sports Illustrated named him athlete of the year . At the 35th NHL All-Star Game in February 1983 - the fourth in a row in which Gretzky had participated - he scored four goals for the Campbell Conference team against the Prince of Wales Conference in the last third of the encounter and then became the most valuable for the first time NHL All-Star Games Actor elected.

In the playoffs of the 1982/83 season, the Edmonton Oilers met in the final series of the Stanley Cup on the more experienced New York Islanders and were subject to these in four games. For the season 1983/84 the previous team captain of the Oilers, defender Lee Fogolin , removed the "C" from his jersey and handed it to Wayne Gretzky. Fogolin explained that Gretzky deserved to wear the "C" on his chest and to lead the team on the ice as a leading player because of his outstanding performance in the Edmonton Oilers' dress. During his first season in the role of team captain, the striker reached other records and milestones in his career and scored at least one scorer point in 51 NHL games in a row. During this record series, the Canadian posted a total of 61 goals and 92 assists. In addition, he also impressed in shorthanded play the Oilers with effectiveness and realized twelve shorthanded goals in the regular season. Once again, he finished the regular season with a clear lead as the best point collector in the league and exceeded the 200-point mark for the second time in his career with 205 points. As in the previous season, the Edmonton Oilers reached the final series of the Stanley Cup and met the New York Islanders again. After four games, the Oilers led 3-1 wins and needed one more success to secure the trophy for the first time. The decisive fifth encounter in Edmonton won the hosts 5-2, with Gretzky having laid the foundation for this success with the first two goals. As team captain, he was entitled to be the first to lift the trophy presented by NHL President John Ziegler , and was also the first person to be engraved on the 1984 trophy. The striker later described winning the first Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers as the "greatest moment" of his career.

The Edmonton Oilers were again the favorites to win the Stanley Cup the following season , and it was prophesied that the team would begin a new dynasty after breaking the dominance of the New York Islanders, which had previously risen four times in Result had secured the trophy. Gretzky underlined his still untouched playful dominance on the ice and scored six points in a game against the Los Angeles Kings in December 1984. With an assist in the first third, which teammate Mike Krushelnyski exploited, Gretzky reached the mark of 1000 points as the 18th player in NHL history . For this milestone, the striker only needed 424 NHL games, the previous record holder Guy Lafleur had completed 720 games to achieve the same number of points. The striker ended the regular 1984/85 season with a record 135 assists and was again top scorer with 208 points. The Edmonton Oilers made it into the Stanley Cup Finals again and met the Philadelphia Flyers, who shaped a physically dominating style of play. After losing their first game in the series, the Oilers won the Stanley Cup for the second time with four straight wins. With 17 hits and 30 assists in the playoffs, the attacker was instrumental in this success and was subsequently awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the finals for the first time in his career .

In the following season , the Canadian set his career record with 215 points in the regular season as the best points collector to date, whereby his 163 templates alone would have been enough for the title of top scorer. For the seventh time in a row, he was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as best player of the regular season - more often than any other player in NHL history. In the playoffs, the team failed in the second round with 3: 4 wins in the series against the Calgary Flames. In November 1986, the attacker scored his 500th NHL regular season goal with a hit against the Vancouver Canucks and became the 13th player in league history to reach that milestone. At the same time, with 575 completed games, he was the player who needed the fewest number of games to reach the milestone. In 1987 and 1988 he won the Stanley Cup two more times with the Edmonton Oilers and was also honored as the most valuable player in the playoffs with the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Transfer to Los Angeles, impact on the National Hockey League and further career

Even before the Edmonton Oilers won the fourth Stanley Cup in five years in May 1988, team owner Peter Pocklington started negotiations with interested NHL teams to discuss a possible Gretzky barter. Despite their great sporting successes, the Oilers had financial difficulties and Pocklington tried to stabilize the economic situation in this way. On August 9, 1988, a so-called " blockbuster deal" was finally announced with the Los Angeles Kings , which is considered to be one of the largest transfer deals in sports history. The Oilers, along with Gretzky, also gave his teammates Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Los Angeles Kings, while Jimmy Carson , Martin Gélinas , 15 million US dollars and the first-round voting rights in the NHL Entry Draft of the Kings from 1989 , 1991 and transferred to Edmonton in 1993 . Shortly after the transfer was announced, it was rumored that Gretzky had asked for a barter at his own request and had refused to sign a new working paper in Edmonton. This assumption was reinforced by the fact that his wife, Janet Jones, wanted a move to Los Angeles to benefit her acting career in Hollywood . Gretzky always denied that his wife was involved in the transfer to Los Angeles in any way.

The barter had a lasting effect on Los Angeles and the entire National Hockey League. The Kings, who had previously stood in the shadow of the Los Angeles Lakers from the National Basketball Association and the Los Angeles Dodgers major league baseball team , benefited from increasing audience numbers thanks to Gretzky's commitment. While the number of season tickets sold tripled within two years, attendance at the Great Western Forum increased from an average of 12,000 visitors by around 3,000 spectators per home game. At the beginning of the 1990s, the audience interest was so great that the 16,000-seat Great Western Forum was fully occupied in almost every home game of the Los Angeles Kings. The National Hockey League also tried to capitalize on Gretzky's popularity and planned to expand the league by several teams and to settle these primarily in the southern United States , which traditionally were not ice hockey markets and where the interest in professional ice hockey had to date was considered modest. In California, the Los Angeles Kings received competition with the San Jose Sharks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim during this time . The Tampa Bay Lightning , Florida Panthers , Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes emerged from the southern expansion during this time . The Gretzky barter also had a significant influence on the internationalization of the league. The number of US and European players in the National Hockey League increased sharply within a few years, with the vast majority of professional players still coming from the motherland of ice hockey Canada. By 1998, the number of Americans in the league had risen to 16 percent, while Canadians remained a clear majority at 61 percent. Russian actors accounted for around six percent, while the Czechs and Swedes each accounted for around five percent.

During his first season in the Los Angeles Kings jersey, Gretzky acted in the role of assistant captain. In his debut season, Gretzky temporarily acted together with Bernie Nicholls in a series of attacks, who then completed the statistically best season of his career. Gretzky's usual strike partners in his first season in the Los Angeles Kings jersey were Mike Allison and Mike Krushelnyski, with whom he had previously played successfully in Edmonton. The striker made his NHL debut in "Hockeywood" in the 1988/89 season in a game against the Detroit Red Wings and contributed one goal and three assists to the win. With four wins at the start of the season, the Los Angeles Kings had the best start to the season in team history to date. About two weeks after the start of the season, the striker returned to Edmonton for the first time since his “blockbuster deal”, this time in the dress of the Los Angeles Kings. When the attacker stepped onto the ice at the Oilers' home stadium, he was greeted with a standing ovation. The Edmonton Oilers won this encounter 8-6 against the Los Angeles Kings. Led by Wayne Gretzky, the team stood out due to their productive offensive play and led the league-wide goal statistics with the most goals scored this season. Gretzky, who set new team records with 114 assists and 168 points in the regular season, received the Hart Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player for the ninth time in his career, although Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins had an outstanding season with 85 goals and 114 assists and only failed by one point at the 200-point mark. In the playoffs, the Kings lost in the second round in four games to the eventual Stanley Cup winner Calgary Flames.

For the 1989/90 season Gretzky replaced the previous team captain Dave Taylor as the leader of the Los Angeles Kings. In the course of this season he achieved another milestone in his career and on October 15, 1989 in the away game with the Edmonton Oilers surpassed the previous leader of the all-time NHL scorer list - his childhood idol Gordie Howe  - as the striker in the last third of the encounter with a backhand shot into the goal of the Oilers, thereby posting his 1851st career point during the regular season. Gordie Howe had completed 1767 NHL regular season games during his career; However, Gretzky managed to surpass his point mark in just 780 games. Howe, who was present as one of the visitors to Northlands Coliseum along with Gretzky's father and Wayne's wife, Janet Jones , described it as "a real honor to have broken my record with a man like Wayne Gretzky". In the same game, the striker increased his points account to 1,852 points with a goal in overtime.

802 goals honored in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Gretzky finished his first four seasons in the Los Angeles Kings jersey as the team's best-scoring player, even though the Canadian was already showing signs of severe physical wear and tear before he was 30 years old. During his time with the Kings he also won the Art Ross Trophy three times as best scorer. In the course of the 1992/93 season , in which he was the second highest paid player in the NHL after Eric Lindros (3.5 million) with a salary of around three million US dollars , the striker completed only 45 games in the regular season due to injury he had meanwhile been unable to play for 39 matches due to a herniated disc . In the playoffs, he seamlessly continued his previous performances and with a total of 40 points in 24 games - the fourth-best value in NHL history - played a key role in the Los Angeles Kings reaching the Stanley Cup final series for the first time. After a victory in the first encounter, the team was defeated in the following four games to the Montreal Canadiens , so that Gretzky was denied a possible fifth Stanley Cup victory. This failure led to the fact that he then considered retiring from active ice hockey for the first time, but rejected these plans a short time later.

In the following season, 1993/94 , Gretzky aimed for the last major NHL record in his career to surpass Gordie Howe's record of 801 goals in the regular season. A difficult start to the season followed, as numerous private matters prevented the attacker from acting at the highest level. After his home was damaged by an earthquake in January 1994, his friend and business partner John Candy died of a heart attack a short time later . In the meantime, the Canadian had only scored one point in seven NHL games. Finally he succeeded on March 23, 1994 in a game against the Vancouver Canucks to break Howes record and to book his 802. NHL hit. As in his last big record game, the match was interrupted by the officials and his family followed him onto the ice to celebrate the record. Fans cheered and celebrated together with him. Although the Los Angeles Kings finally missed the playoffs this season, Gretzky was once again the best point collector in the league with 130 points scorer - 92 of them assists.

In a payroll published in early July 1994, Gretzky was a top earner in the NHL with an annual salary of $ 8.366 million, second and third place went to Mario Lemieux (6 million) and Pawel Bure (5 million). The 1994/95 season began with a 103-day lockout , as the team owners and the National Hockey League Players' Association could not agree on the renewal of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement . All 38 interconference games were canceled as a result and the regular season was shortened to 48 games. Gretzky used the time and organized his own team, which he called Ninety-Nine All-Stars , to play friendly matches against teams from other countries. The tour was not only a great way to stay in shape. It also gained great popularity in Europe. The lockout season was unsuccessful for the Los Angeles Kings, however, the team won only 16 out of 48 games and just missed qualifying for the finals. Gretzky completed the worst NHL season of his career with 48 points scored in as many games.

The following season 1995/96 went a little better for the Canadian, but the Los Angeles Kings threatened to miss the playoffs again. At the end of the season the striker would have been available as a free agent and as his career was drawing to a close, he wished to be transferred again to a team that should have realistic chances of winning the Stanley Cup. Since the Los Angeles Kings realized that Gretzky would hardly agree to a contract extension, they decided to give him in a barter deal.

Transfer to St. Louis and engagement with the New York Rangers

Wayne Gretzky in the jersey of the NY Rangers

On February 27, 1996, the Kings transferred him to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for strikers Craig Johnson , Roman Vopat , Patrice Tardif and a first-round suffrage in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and a fifth-round suffrage in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft . This transfer was rated as relatively surprising, as it was generally assumed that Gretzky would be transferred to the New York Rangers to play on a team there with his former teammate Mark Messier. In St. Louis, as in Edmonton and Los Angeles, he was promoted to team captain. In NHL history, only center forward Terry Ruskowski , who was team captain for the Chicago Blackhawks , Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins , had previously held the captaincy of three different NHL teams. In the jersey of the Blues, Gretzky formed an attack line with Brett Hull and Shayne Corson . In his second game for the St. Louis Blues, he was hit by Kelly Buchberger in the head with an elbow blow, causing him a slight concussion. In the end, in the dress of the St. Louis Blues, they qualified for the playoffs, in which the team defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and lost to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the conference semifinals . After the decisive seventh match ended with a 0-1 defeat due to a goal in the second extra time, Gretzky was heavily criticized by the media for leaving the final round. Then the offensive player, who became available as a free player, decided to leave the team at the end of the season.

For the St. Louis Blues, Gretzky completed only 31 NHL games before he signed a two-year contract with the New York Rangers as a free agent on July 22, 1996. The prospect of playing for the Stanley Cup again and acting with his former teammate Mark Messier had ultimately tipped the balance for Gretzky to sign the contract with the New York Rangers. Glen Sather , former head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, described the two as "brothers who had not seen each other in a very long time". In his first season with the Rangers in 1996/97 , Gretzky was one of the leading players of the Blueshirts together with Messier , whereby Gretzky appeared in particular as a template provider and with 72 templates, on par with Pittsburgh striker Mario Lemieux , prepared most of the league's goals. In the playoffs, the team failed in the Conference Finals on the Philadelphia Flyers .

After the season ended, Mark Messier left the New York Rangers as a free agent and signed a contract with the Vancouver Canucks. Messier had been one of the main reasons Gretzky moved to the New York Rangers. This had taken some of the attention from him after Gretzky had not been the successful scorer as he was in the 1980s. Although he was not the New York Rangers 'team captain, he continued to be seen as the driving force behind the Rangers' success or failure. Two inconspicuous seasons followed, so that both the team and Gretzky came under fire and were considered too old. His problem on the ice was the lack of support from his teammates and the fact that he could no longer rely on his speed, while the Canadian's passing game was still considered flawless. During this time there were more and more rumors about the end of the career of the exceptional talent. On April 15, 1999, he played his last game on Canadian ice, an away game with the Ottawa Senators . On the following day, Gretzky finally announced the end of his sports career. It was a tearful press conference that commemorated the announcement of the Los Angeles Kings transfer in 1988. He played his last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which the Rangers lost with a goal in extra time. After the end of the game, Gretzky took the opportunity to underline once again that Mark Messier was the best player with whom he had acted in a team. He described Mario Lemieux, known as Le Magnifique , the long-time team captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins and one of the best scorers ever, as the best opponent of his career .

In his NHL career he scored 894 goals, 1963 assists and thus 2857 points scorer. This puts him in first place in the National Hockey League in all of these categories. Wayne Gretzky has won almost everything that can be won in ice hockey at club level, but was never able to become Olympic or world champions with the national team. He has been recognized ten times with the Art Ross Trophy as top scorer of the season, nine times with the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player, twice with the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player in the play-offs and five times with the Lady Byng Trophy as most exemplary player. He appeared in an all-star game 18 times in a row. At that point, he held 61 NHL records (40 in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs, and six in All-Star Games).

In his career, Gretzky was most often against the Atlanta Flames or Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks on the ice, against which he completed 117 encounters in the regular season. While he scored most often against the Winnipeg Jets and Phoenix Coyotes with 79 hits, the Canadian scored both the most assists (163) and the most points (239) against the Vancouver Canucks. Only against the Florida Panthers did he average less than one scorer point in the course of his career, with 17 points in 20 games.

Gretzky, who, despite his numerous goals, stood out as a preparer, remained in 849 of 1487 games of the regular season without a goal. He scored once in 449 games, while the left-shooter scored two goals in 139 games. In four games he scored five goals. In 423 NHL games, the Canadian made no assists. Most of the time he scored either one assist (489 games) or two assists (351 games). He scored six assists in one game and seven assists in three games. Only in 266 NHL games he was not involved in any goal success. As a rule, he scored either one (397 games), two (365 games) or three (242 games) scorer points. Gretzky, who scored five points in 67 matches, ended seven games with seven points scorer.

Gretzky's most frequent players were Jari Kurri (858 games), Mark Messier (698 games), Charlie Huddy (664 games), Kevin Lowe (661 games) and Dave Hunter (613 games).

In his 1487 NHL regular season games, Gretzky had a total of 5089 shots fired at the opposing goal, his 894 hits result in a success rate of 17.6 percent.

International

Gretzky represented his home country Canada at both junior and senior level and took part in a total of eight tournaments with the maple leaves . For Team Canada he was on the ice for the first time at the Junior World Championship in 1978 . As a 16-year-old - and thus the youngest participant in the competition - the striker completed an individually successful tournament with eight hits and nine assists in six matches, but missed the tournament win with the team after a sovereign preliminary round with three clear wins. Canada lost to the USSR and Sweden in the final round, and victory against Czechoslovakia ultimately led to the bronze medal being won. As the top scorer of the Junior World Championship, Gretzky was named the best attacker of the tournament in addition to being appointed to the All-Star Team.

During the off-season , Gretzky received permission from the Oilers' management to take part in the second edition of the Canada Cup in September 1981 . Then the striker made his senior debut for the Canadians at the Canada Cup 1981, in which the team suffered the only tournament defeat after a successful preliminary round in the final against the USSR . As a result, top scorer Gretzky, who had scored twelve points in seven games, was awarded the silver medal. After the tournament, he spoke of one of the most shameful defeats of his career and agreed that he had personally failed in the final. At the World Cup the following year, he represented his home country for the only time at senior level in the world championships. After an unsatisfactory preliminary round, in which Team Canada only barely managed to qualify for the championship round, it was finally enough to win the bronze medal with a win in the last game against Sweden . Gretzky had contributed two hits and templates for this. The attacker finished the tournament with 14 points as the most successful points collector and was appointed to the all-star team of the competition. For the Canada Cup 1984 he was again appointed to Team Canada . For the first time Gretzky led his home country as a team captain , but this position he shared with Larry Robinson . Once again the offensive player secured the title of top scorer and won the gold medal with the team for the first time in his career in an international competition.

The 1987 Canada Cup , which is considered to be one of the best and highest quality international tournaments, marked the high point in Gretzky's international career, when he temporarily acted together with Pittsburgh's star striker Mario Lemieux and was also the sole team captain. He had only accepted the invitation to the tournament late, but was at the height of his athletic performance. In the final series, which was played in the best-of-three format, the Canadians faced the second tournament favorite, the USSR. After a narrow defeat in the first encounter with a goal in extra time, the Canadians won the following two games and took the tournament victory. The winning goal by Mario Lemieux fell in the penultimate minute of regular time after a pass by Gretzky. In the second encounter Lemieux had already scored the winning goal on presentation of Gretzky. The duo played a decisive role in the triumph of the maple leaves ; Lemieux was the competition's top scorer and Gretzky finished as top scorer with 18 assists. After the tournament, he spoke of the highest quality ice hockey and the best performance the striker had ever called. The 1996 World Cup of Hockey was a novelty in Gretzky's career in the national jersey, as he did not end an international tournament with the Canadian selection as the best point collector for the first time. Team Canada lost to the United States in the best-of-three finals series and had to be content with second place.

The left-shooter was also called up for the 1991 Canada Cup , but in contrast to the tournament four years earlier, he could not count on his strike partner Mario Lemieux, who was prevented from doing so due to an injury. The Canadians defeated the United States in two games in the final series and Gretzky again secured himself not only the award for the best scorer but also a nomination for the competition's All-Star team, although he played the last game of the tournament due to a back injury - caused by Gary Suters Crosscheck - had missed. With a total of 57 points in 31 Canada Cup games, the striker is also the most successful points collector in the history of the competition. For the participation in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano NHL professionals were approved for the first time and the Canadian was accepted into the final squad of Team Canada . The tournament, which was accompanied by great media interest from the Canadian homeland, started optimally for the team with three wins in the group stage, but in the semifinals Canada failed against the Czech Republic in the shootout due to an outstanding Dominik Hašek . The highly-traded Canadians, who were considered tournament favorites alongside Russia, also failed to meet expectations in the game for third place against Finland. After another defeat, Gretzky finally finished his last competition in the national jersey with four assists, but without scoring and winning a medal.

Overall, Gretzky represented his colors four times in a row at a senior-level tournament as team captain (Canada Cup 1984, 1987 and 1991 + World Cup of Hockey 1996). Only Ryan Smyth , who represented the maple leaves at all world championships from 2001 to 2005, was more successful in this regard.

On the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 2008, his international appearances wearing the maple leaves were honored with his election to the Centennial All-Star Team of the International Ice Hockey Federation .

After the resignation

CanadaCanada  Wayne Gretzky
Coaching stations
2000-2006 Hockey Canada (Executive Director)
2005-2009 Phoenix Coyotes
A statue of Wayne Gretzky in front of the ice rink in Edmonton

Just seven months after his career ended, Wayne Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 22, 1999 - without the usual three-year waiting period . In addition, the NHL honored its greatest player to date by banning his jersey number 99 across the league. Wayne Gretzky was the last player to wear this number on his back in the NHL. On June 5, 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta .

When the US sports television broadcaster ESPN selected the 100 most important North American athletes of the past ten decades at the end of the 20th century, the Canadian was voted fifth. Only the Americans Michael Jordan , Babe Ruth , Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown were rated higher.

Wayne Gretzky has been a co-owner since February 15, 2001 and was the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes from August 8, 2005 to September 24, 2009 . His NHL debut as head coach he made on October 5, 2005 against the Vancouver Canucks, the first win was realized in the third game of the season against the Minnesota Wild . In December 2005, he left the team at short notice because his mother Phyllis Gretzky had lung cancer. The Canadian returned to Phoenix after she died in a hospital in Brantford, Ontario. In all of his four seasons as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, Gretzky failed to reach the playoffs with the Phoenix Coyotes.

He is also the owner of a sports bar "Wayne Gretzky's" in Toronto , Canada (99, Blue Jays Way). He founded the Wayne Gretzky Foundation, which aims to give disadvantaged children the opportunity to learn to play ice hockey.

Gretzky also acted as managing director of the umbrella organization Hockey Canada and won the gold medal in this position with Team Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey . Wayne Gretzky lit the Olympic flame with Nancy Greene , Steve Nash and Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver .

In his honor, Capilano Drive , one of the main thoroughfares in Edmonton, was named Wayne Gretzky Drive in October 1999 . In his hometown of Brantford, Park Road North was renamed Wayne Gretzky Parkway and the North Park Recreation Center was renamed The Wayne Gretzky Sports Center .

Achievements and Awards

Ontario Major Junior Hockey League

World Hockey Association

National Hockey League

Others

“The Great One” at the HHOF

International

  • World Junior Championship All-Star Team: 1978
  • Bronze medal at the Junior World Championship: 1978
  • Best striker of the Junior World Championship: 1978
  • Best assists in the Junior World Championship (together with Bobby Crawford ) : 1978
  • Top scorer of the Junior World Championship: 1978
  • Gold medal at the Canada Cup (3): 1984 , 1987 , 1991
  • Silver medal at the Canada Cup: 1981
  • Canada Cup top scorer (4): 1981, 1984, 1987, 1991
  • Most Valuable Player of the Canada Cup: 1987
  • Best Assists in Canada Cup (2): 1987, 1991
  • Bronze medal at the world championship: 1982
  • World Championship top scorer: 1982
  • World Championship All-Star Team: 1982
  • Top scorer of Rendez-vous '87 : 1987
  • Best template for Rendez-vous '87: 1987
  • Second place at the World Cup of Hockey: 1996
  • Induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame : 2000
  • IIHF Centennial All-Star Team : 2008

Career statistics

As a player

National competitions

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp T V Point SM +/- Sp T V Point SM +/-
1967/68 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers OMHA 1
1968/69 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers OMHA 27
1969/70 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers OMHA 62 104 63 167
1970/71 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers OMHA 76 196 120 316
1971/72 Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers OMHA 85 378 139 517
1972/73 Brantford Turkstra Lumber OMHA 105
1973/74 Brantford Turkstra Lumber OMHA 192
1974/75 Brantford Charcon Chargers OMHA 90
1975/76 Vaughan Nationals OHA-B 28 27 33 60 7th
1976/77 Seneca Nationals OHA-B 32 36 36 72 35 23 40 35 75
1976/77 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 3 0 3 3 0 - - - - - -
1977/78 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OMJHL 63 70 112 182 14th 13 6th 20th 26th 0
1978/79 Indianapolis Racers WHA 8th 3 3 6th 0 −3 - - - - - -
1978/79 Edmonton Oilers WHA 72 43 61 104 19th +23 13 10 10 20th 2 +6
1979/80 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 51 86 137 21st +15 3 2 1 3 0
1980/81 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 55 109 164 28 +41 9 7th 14th 21st 4th
1981/82 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 92 120 212 26th +81 5 5 7th 12 8th
1982/83 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 71 125 196 59 +60 16 12 26th 38 4th
1983/84 Edmonton Oilers NHL 74 87 118 205 39 +76 19th 13 22nd 35 12 +18
1984/85 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 73 135 208 52 +98 18th 17th 30th 47 4th +28
1985/86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 52 163 215 46 +71 10 8th 11 19th 2 ± 0
1986/87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 62 121 183 28 +70 21st 5 29 34 6th +10
1987/88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 64 40 109 149 24 +39 19th 12 31 43 16 +9
1988/89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 78 54 114 168 26th +15 11 5 17th 22nd 0 −4
1989/90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 73 40 102 142 42 +8 7th 3 7th 10 0 −4
1990/91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 78 41 122 163 16 +30 12 4th 11 15th 2 ± 0
1991/92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 74 31 90 121 34 −12 6th 2 5 7th 2 −3
1992/93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 45 16 49 65 6th +6 24 15th 25th 40 4th +6
1993/94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 81 38 92 130 20th −25 - - - - - -
1994/95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 48 11 37 48 6th −20 - - - - - -
1995/96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 62 15th 66 81 32 −7 - - - - - -
1995/96 St. Louis Blues NHL 18th 8th 13 21st 2 −6 13 2 14th 16 0 +2
1996/97 New York Rangers NHL 82 25th 72 97 28 +12 15th 10 10 20th 2 +5
1997/98 New York Rangers NHL 82 23 67 90 28 −11 - - - - - -
1998/99 New York Rangers NHL 70 9 53 62 14th −23 - - - - - -
OHA-B total 60 63 69 132 42 23 40 35 75
OMJHL overall 66 70 115 185 14th 13 6th 20th 26th 0
WHA total 80 46 64 110 19th +20 13 10 10 20th 2 +6
NHL overall 1487 894 1963 2857 577 +518 208 122 260 382 66
NHL All Star Game
year team Venue Sp T V Point SM
1980 Campbell Conference All-Stars Detroit 1 0 0 0 0
1981 Campbell Conference All-Stars los Angeles 1 0 1 1 0
1982 Campbell Conference All-Stars Washington, DC 1 1 0 1 0
1983 Campbell Conference All-Stars new York 1 4th 0 4th 0
1984 Campbell Conference All-Stars New Jersey 1 1 0 1 0
1985 Campbell Conference All-Stars Calgary 1 1 0 1 0
1986 Campbell Conference All-Stars Hartford 1 1 0 1 0
1988 Campbell Conference All-Stars St. Louis 1 1 0 1 0
1989 Campbell Conference All-Stars Edmonton 1 1 2 3 0
1990 Campbell Conference All-Stars Pittsburgh 1 0 0 0 0
1991 Campbell Conference All-Stars Chicago 1 1 0 1 0
1992 Campbell Conference All-Stars Philadelphia 1 1 2 3 0
1993 Campbell Conference All-Stars Montréal 1 0 0 0 0
1994 Western Conference All-Stars new York 1 0 2 2 0
1996 Western Conference All-Stars Boston 1 0 0 0 0
1997 Western Conference All-Stars San Jose 1 0 1 1 0
1998 North American All-Stars Vancouver 1 0 2 2 0
1999 North American All-Stars Tampa 1 1 2 3 0
All-star game total 18th 13 12 25th 0

NHL records

At the end of his career in 1999, Gretzky held the following NHL records (40 in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs and six in the NHL All-Star Games):

Regular season
  • Most goals: 894 (in 1487 games; 0.601 goals per game)
  • Most goals, including playoffs: 1,016 (894 in the regular season and 122 playoff goals)
  • Most goals in a regular season: 92 (1981/82 season, in 80 games)
  • Most goals in one season, including playoffs: 100 (1983/84 season, 87 goals in 74 regular season games and 13 goals in 19 playoff games)
  • Most goals in the first 50 games of the season: 61 (1981/82 and 1983/84 seasons)
  • Most goals in a third: 4 (along with ten other players)
  • Most assists: 1963 (in 1487 games; 1,320 assists per game)
  • Most assists, including playoffs: 2223 (1963 in the regular season and 260 in the playoffs)
  • Most assists in a regular season: 163 (1985/86 season)
  • Most assists in one season, including playoffs: 174 (1985/86 season; 163 assists in 80 regular season games and 11 assists in ten playoff games)
  • Most assists in one game: 7 (shared with Billy Taylor )
  • Most assists in an away game: 7 (shared with Billy Taylor)
  • Most points: 2857 (in 1487 regular season games; 1,921 points per game)
  • Most points, including playoffs: 3239 (2857 regular season points and 382 playoff points)
  • Most points in one season: 215 (1985/86 season)
  • Most points in one season, including playoffs: 255 (1984/85 season; 208 points in 80 regular season games and 47 points in 18 playoff games)
  • Most career assists in extra time: 15
  • Most career goals by a center: 894
  • Most goals this season by a center: 92 (1981/82 season in 80 regular season games)
  • Most center career assists: 1963
  • Most season assists by a center: 163 (1985/86 season in 80 regular season games)
  • Most center career points: 2857
  • Most season points of a center: 215 (1985/86 season in 80 regular season games)
  • Most assists in a game by an actor in the first NHL season: 7 (on February 15, 1980 in an 8-2 win over Washington Capitals)
  • Best goal rate in a season: 1.18 (1983/84 season; 87 goals in 74 regular season games)
  • Best assists career rate: 1,321 (1963 assists in 1,487 regular season games)
  • Best assists rate in a season: 2.04 (1985/86 season; 163 assists in 80 regular season games)
  • Best points rate in a season: 2.77 (1983/84 season; 205 points in 74 regular season games)
  • Most seasons with at least 40 goals: 12 (out of 20 seasons)
  • Most consecutive seasons with at least 40 goals: 12 (seasons 1979/80 to 1990/91)
  • Most seasons with at least 50 goals: 9 (shared with Mike Bossy )
  • Most seasons with at least 60 goals: 5 (shared with Mike Bossy)
  • Most consecutive seasons with at least 60 goals: 4 (seasons 1981/82 to 1984/85)
  • Most seasons with at least 100 points: 15
  • Most seasons in a row with at least 100 points: 13 (seasons 1979/80 to 1991/92)
  • Most career games with at least three goals: 50 (37 games with three goals, nine games with four goals and four games with five goals)
  • Most games of the season with at least three goals: 10 (1981/82 season; six games with three goals, three games with four goals and one game with five goals. 1983/84 season; six games with three goals and four games with four goals )
  • Longest assists streak: 23 games (1990/91 season; 48 assists)
  • Longest series of points: 51 games (1983/84 season; October 5, 1983 to January 28, 1984, 61 goals and 92 assists)
  • Longest series of points from the start of the season: 51 games (1983/84 season; from October 5, 1983 to January 28, 1984, 61 goals and 92 assists)
Playoffs
  • Most career goals: 122
  • Most career assists: 260
  • Most assists in one year: 31 (1988; in 19 games)
  • Most assists in a series (excluding the final series): 14 (together with Rick Middleton ; 1985 in the conference final against the Chicago Blackhawks)
  • Most assists in a final series: 10 (1988; in four games against the Boston Bruins)
  • Most assists in one game: 6 (with Mikko Leinonen ; on April 9, 1987 with the Edmonton Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings)
  • Most assists in a third: 3 (five times; this record was achieved in a total of 70 cases)
  • Most career points: 382 (122 goals and 260 assists)
  • Most points in one year: 47 (1985; 17 goals and 30 assists in 18 games)
  • Most points in a final series: 13 (1988; three goals and ten assists in four games against the Boston Bruins)
  • Most points in a third: 4 (together with nine other players; on April 12, 1987 with the Edmonton Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period; one goal and three assists)
  • Most underpaid goals in one year: 3 (along with five other players; 1983, two goals against the Winnipeg Jets in the division semi-finals, one goal against the Calgary Flames in the division final)
  • Most underpaid goals in one game: 2 (shared with eight other players; April 6, 1983 with the Edmonton Oilers against the Winnipeg Jets)
  • Most career winning goals: 24
  • Most games with at least three goals: 10 (eight games with three goals, two games with four goals)
NHL All-Star Game
  • Most goals: 13 (in 17 games)
  • Most goals in one game: 4 (together with three other players; 1983 for the Campbell Conference)
  • Most goals in a third: 4 (1983; third period for the Campbell Conference)
  • Most career assists: 12 (shared with four other players)
  • Most career points: 25 (13 goals and twelve assists in 17 games)
  • Most points in a third: 4 (together with Mike Gartner and Adam Oates ; 1983 in the third third with four goals for the Campbell Conference)
Gretzky's national shirt from the 1998 Winter Olympics

International competitions

Represented Canada to:

Represented the World Hockey Association at:

Represented the National Hockey League at:

year team event result Sp T V Point SM +/-
1978 Canada June World Cup 3rd place, bronze 6th 8th 9 17th 2
1978 WHA test - 1 0 1 1 0
1979 WHA All-Stars All-star game - 3 3 2 5 0
1981 Canada Canada Cup 2nd place 7th 5 7th 12 2
1982 Edmonton Oilers Super Series - 1 2 0 2 0
1982 Canada WM 3rd place, bronze 10 6th 8th 14th 0
1984 Canada Canada Cup 1st place, gold 8th 5 7th 12 2
1987 NHL All-Stars Date - 2 0 4th 4th 0
1987 Canada Canada Cup 1st place, gold 9 3 18th 21st 2 −2
1991 Canada Canada Cup 1st place, gold 7th 4th 8th 12 2 +7
1996 Canada World cup 2nd place 8th 3 4th 7th 2
1998 Canada Olympia 4th Place 6th 0 4th 4th 2 +3
Juniors overall 6th 8th 9 17th 2
Men overall 55 26th 56 82 12
NHL / WHA total 7th 5 7th 12 0

( Legend for player statistics: Sp or GP = games played; T or G = goals scored; V or A = assists scored ; Pkt or Pts = scorer points scored ; SM or PIM = penalty minutes received ; +/− = plus / minus balance; PP = overpaid goals scored ; SH = underpaid goals scored ; GW = winning goals scored; 1  play-downs / relegation )

As a trainer

Regular season Play-offs
season team league Sp S. N OTN Point Victory-% Sp S. N result
2005/06 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 38 39 5 81 0.494 - - - not qualified
2006/07 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 31 46 5 67 0.409 - - - not qualified
2007/08 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 38 37 7th 83 0.506 - - - not qualified
2008/09 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 82 36 39 7th 79 0.482 - - - not qualified
NHL overall 328 143 161 24 310 0.472 - - - 0 participations

( Legend to coach statistics: Sp or GC = total games; W or S = wins scored; L or N = losses scored; T or U = draws scored; OTL or OTN = losses scored after overtime or shootout ; Pts or Pkt = points scored ; Pts% or Pkt% = point rate; Win% = win rate; result = round reached in the play-offs )

Play style and personality

In addition to his precise shots and excellent skating skills, Gretzky's impressive anticipation should also be highlighted. According to Glen Sather, head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky's technical skills stood out in particular. His leadership qualities and team-friendly play on the ice were also valued, as well as Gretzky's dedication and passion. His unique way of playing as a passer behind the opposing goal earned this area of ​​the field the name "Gretzky's Office". He had acquired these skills during his time in Junior B , as the striker was physically inferior to most of the opponents and was therefore considered unsuitable for the storm position in front of the housing. Gretzky's head coach at the time recommended the attacker instead to run behind the opposing goal and from there either to end up using a backhand shot on his own behalf or to play a free teammate in front of the goal. When the Canadian first appeared in the National Hockey League towards the end of the 1970s, a body-hugging style of play and a rough pace dominated the league, which was practiced especially by the Philadelphia Flyers - the so-called "Broad Street Bullies" . Gretzky's commitment contributed to the fact that creativity, acumen on the ice, technical skills and other playful aspects gained importance and the hard style faded into the background.

When Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings won the Art Ross Trophy as the best scorer in the league in 1980, Gretzky noticed that the number of goals scored was considered more significant than the assists posted and took the position that he was as strong as assists Weighted hits. With this statement, Gretzky expressed that it was just as important to prepare goals for teammates as to achieve goals on one's own behalf. This attitude is often attributed to his exemplary behavior on and off the ice, which earned the Canadian the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy several times. After the Edmonton Oilers' third Stanley Cup victory in the 1987 calendar year, Gretzky ran over to his teammate Steve Smith right after the trophy was handed over and asked the defender to be the first to lift the trophy. A year earlier, Smith had caused a mishap in the seventh game of the second playoff round against the Calgary Flames to be eliminated from the Oilers competition. This gesture is often seen as an example of Gretzky's exemplary behavior.

During his active career, he spoke out against fistfighting and violence in ice hockey . However, the striker took part in fights a few times in the course of his career, including when he was named Sportsman of the Year in 1982 by the US sports magazine Sports Illustrated at the awards ceremony. Gretzky, who had a fight that same night with Neal Broten from the Minnesota North Stars , later described this action as "the stupidest act of my entire career" . Away from the ice, the striker was considered a selfless person who treated teammates and opponents with respect.

Gretzky, who is socially committed , organized in the summer of 1984, a private celebrity tennis - charity tournament from which he had but to withdraw. The Canadian was recovering from an operation that removed bone fragments from his ankle. He is also an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right to Play .

family

Wayne Gretzky is married to the American actress and dancer Janet Jones and has three sons and two daughters. He had met Jones in 1984 at the show Dance Fever , for which the Canadian was hired as one of the judges. In 1988, the couple married in Edmonton with great media coverage. Gretzky's oldest daughter Paulina (* 1988) works as a model and pop singer. She also appeared in several films as an actress.

His father Walter Gretzky (* 1938) was awarded the Order of Canada , the highest civil order of merit in the country, in December 2007 for his contributions to minor ice hockey in Canada and for his commitment to various charities . His mother Phyllis Hockin (1941–2005) was married to Walter Gretzky for 46 years and died in December 2005 of lung cancer. Two of his brothers, Brent (13 NHL games) and Keith (mostly in minor leagues ), were also active as professional ice hockey players.

literature

  • Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player . Ferguson, New York City, New York 2004, ISBN 0-8160-5545-9 .
  • Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice . Crabtree Pub, New York City, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-7787-2539-8 .
  • Scott Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: The Great Goodbye . Key Porter Books Limited, Toronto, Ontario 1999, ISBN 1-55263-099-4 .
  • Andrew Podnieks: The Great One: The Life and Times of Wayne Gretzky . Triumph Books, Chicago, Illinois 1999, ISBN 1-57243-352-3 .
  • Thomas R. Raber: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Great . Lerner Publications Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota 1999, ISBN 0-8225-9848-5 .
  • Andrew Santella: Wayne Gretzky: The Great One . Franklin Watts, 1999, ISBN 0-531-15954-X .
  • Dan Diamond (Ed.): National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2000 . Total Sports Canada, Toronto, Ontario 1999, ISBN 0-920445-63-2 .

Web links

Commons : Wayne Gretzky  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NHL History - Greatness personified. National Hockey League, accessed May 28, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 4.
  3. ↑ a b Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice. 2011, p. 16.
  4. ^ Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 5.
  5. ↑ Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice. 2011, p. 19.
  6. ↑ a b Dan Diamond (Ed.): National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2000 , Total Sports Canada, p. 13.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Dan Diamond (Ed.): National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2000 , Total Sports Canada, p. 18.
  8. ^ Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 8.
  9. ↑ a b c d Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 9.
  10. ^ Wayne Gretzky: Greatness Ascendant. National Hockey League, September 14, 2001, accessed May 28, 2011 .
  11. ^ Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 10.
  12. ↑ a b c d Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 11.
  13. ↑ a b c Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 12.
  14. ↑ a b c d Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice. 2011, p. 24.
  15. ↑ Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice. 2011, p. 25.
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  30. ^ Ali Center fitting tribute to Greatest. ( Memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: sandiegouniontribune.com. Accessed March 24, 2016.
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  32. ↑ a b Jessica Morrison: Wayne Gretzky: Greatness on Ice. 2011, p. 42.
  33. ↑ K. Michael Gaschnitz: The Edmonton Oilers in 2003, p. 4
  34. ↑ Shirley Fischler, Stan Fischler: Who's Who in Hockey 2003, p. 151.
  35. ^ A b Michael Benson: Wayne Gretzky: Hockey Player 2004, p. 23.
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  40. ↑ a b Gretzky recalls his record run of 50 goals in 39 games. (No longer available online.) Canada December 22, 2006, archived from the original on November 8, 2012 ; accessed on January 22, 2012 (English).
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  122. ↑ From Wayne Gretzky to Bruno Kernen - great athletes working for an idea. (PDF; 42 kB) (No longer available online.) Right to Play, archived from the original on April 13, 2013 ; Retrieved January 24, 2012 .
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  125. ↑ Gretzky's daughter pursues singing, acting career. ESPN, August 14, 2006, accessed January 24, 2012 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ In some databases and literature, his first goal scoring was ascribed to him as a five-year-old.
  2. ↑ Partly listed in databases and literature with 120 assists.
  3. ↑ Partly listed in databases and literature with 64 encounters.
  4. ↑ The Campbell Conference All-Stars were a selection of the best players in the Campbell Conference .
  5. ↑ The Western Conference All-Stars were a selection of the best players in the Western Conference .
  6. ↑ The North American All-Stars were a selection of the best players from Canada and the United States who competed against a selection of players from Europe and the rest of the world.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 24, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Gretzky, Wayne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gretzky, Wayne Douglas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player, coach and official
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Brantford , Ontario , Canada