Wayne gretzkys biography

A product of Brantford, Ontario, Wayne Gretzky was born in January 26, 1961. By the age of 2, his father had Wayne on skates and by 5 he was a local attraction.

The making of a superstar was born. Wayne Gretzky was playing and excelling in the game of hockey with players twice his age and height. A record that is still held today has Gretzky scoring 310 goals with his Novice team. By the 1976-77 season he had caught the eyes of the Ontario Hockey Association. He played three games with the Peterborough Petes as an underage player before joining the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds a year later.

Wayne Gretzky turned professional at the age of 17 with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. After eight games Gretzky was traded to the Edmonton Oilers...and "The Great One" had arrived. Following the merge of the two professional leagues (WHA and NHL), Wayne Gretzky became the talk of hockey rinks around the world. During the 1980's, Gretzky won individual awards which included the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player nine times, as well as leading the league in scoring seven times. While an Edmonton Oiler, Gretzky re-wrote the record book in the NHL (by the time he retired he held over 60 NHL records).

Following the 1987-88 season, Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky had an immediate impact not only with his new team, but also with hockey in the United States. Gretzky continued to dominate the league, and led his Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals during the Stanley Cup Centennial year in 1993.

After a brief stint in St. Louis during the latter part of the 1995-96 season, Gretzky finished his career on Broadway in New York. He spent three years as a Ranger before retiring following an emotional farewell speech in front of his beloved fans at the conclusion of the regular season in 1999.

Along with his four Stanley Cup rings he won with the Oilers, Gretzky's award cabinet includes Lester B. Pearson Trophies (as MVP

Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1961)

"Gretzky" redirects here. For other people with the same name and other uses, see Gretzky (disambiguation).

Ice hockey player

Wayne Douglas GretzkyCC (GRET-skee; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by the NHL based on surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading career goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.

Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky honed his skills on a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers. Despite his unimpressive size and strength, Gretzky's intelligence, stamina, and reading of the game were unrivaled. He was adept at dodging checks from opposing players, consistently anticipated where the puck was going to be, and executed the right move at the right time. Gretzky became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed "Gretzky's office".

Gretzky was the top scorer in the 1978 World Junior Championships. In June 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), where he briefly played before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHA folded, the Oilers joined the NHL, where he es

(1961-)

Who Is Wayne Gretzky?

Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian-born hockey player and NHL Hall of Famer. He started skating at age 2 and by the age of 6 was regularly playing with older boys. He played his first full NHL season in 1979-80 for the Edmonton Oilers. Over the next two decades, he dominated the sport, setting a host of league records. He retired in 1999 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame that same year.

Early Years

Widely considered hockey's greatest player, Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. A precise and hard-working player, Gretzky was just 2 years old when he first started skating.

The young Gretzky spent countless hours on the ice, honing his talents as a skater, shooter and passer. As a result, Gretzky often played in leagues that catered to older boys. The age and size differences between Gretzky and his competition mattered little. In his final year of peewee hockey, he scored an improbable 378 goals.

By the time he was a teenager, Gretzky was making waves across Canada with his play. He was selected third in the 1977 Ontario Major Junior Hockey League Midget draft and displayed his impressive skills that season for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. His future status as an NHL star was furthered at the 1978 World Junior Championships in Quebec City, where Gretzky played for his home country and led the entire tournament in scoring.

NHL Success

Eager to turn professional but barred from leaping to the NHL because of the league's age restrictions, Gretzky signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the fledgling World Hockey Association in the fall of 1978. However, not long after Gretzky arrived, the franchise closed its doors and sold its young asset to the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.

In the fall of 1979, Gretzky embarked on his first full NHL season. As he had at every other level, he quickly started to dominate the competition, racking up an astonishing 51 goals and 86 assists,

Wayne Gretzky (born January 26, 1961 Brantford, Ontario) known as "The Great One", is a Canadianretiredice hockey player. Gretzky played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 20 seasons. He was coach and part-owner of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes until he stepped down on September 24, 2009. He also managed Canada's Olympic hockey teams in 2002 and 2006, as well as Canada's 2004 World Cup of Hockey team.

Biography

The Gretzky family comes from Belarus, or more precisely from the Brest region (the village of Ogdemer), from where his paternal grandfather Terenty Lavrentiyovych Gretzky emigrated. Grandmother Veyna Maria was Ukrainian and comes from Pidhaitsi (now Ternopil region); he and his grandfather spoke Ukrainian to each other. His parents were Walter and Phyllis Gretzky; his father considered Ukrainian his native language. The family had four other children: Kim, Kate, Brent and Glenn.

Gretzky did not emphasize his Ukrainian roots, but at a large fundraising dinner in Toronto in support of the Canadian medical mission to help victims on the Maidan and the ATO on September 11, 2014, Wayne and his wife Janet were introduced to Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper as guests of honor.

Career

Wayne signed his first contract at the age of 16 with the Indianapolis Racers. He then played for the National Hockey League (NHL): "Edmonton Oilers", "Los Angeles Kings", "New York Rangers".

Gretzky was a star junior player with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. When he was a boy he went from a bad first season, to great improvement. But this success also brought criticism because his father pushed Gretzky's success over other young players'. In 1978, when he was 17, he began playing as a professional with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), but was sold to the Edmonton Oilers after only a few games. He was third in WHA scoring a