ANCIENT& not so ancient WISDOM
offering a weekly positive perspective

January 8, 2004

I don't like my hockey sticks touching other sticks, and I don't like them crossing one
another, and I kind of have them hidden in the corner. I put baby powder on the
ends. I think it's essentially a matter of taking care of what takes care of you.
- Wayne Gretzky, (1961 - )

The Great One… In his twenty years in the National Hockey League, Wayne Gretzky set more than sixty records, including the records for most goals, assists, and points in both a season and a career.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26th, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and he received his first pair of skates when he was two. At five, he was playing against those twice his age and developed his ability to play against bigger players.  When he was six years old, his father, Walter, built an ice rink in the family's backyard, and it was there that Wayne skated for hours on end, every day, practicing his skills with coaching from his dad. "It was for self-preservation," Walter admitted. "I got sick of taking him to the park and sitting there for hours freezing to death." By nine, he was a local legend.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take. - WG

At 14, he decided the jealously of other players and parents in his small hometown was too limiting. He began playing for the Toronto Nats. By fifteen, he was playing in the junior leagues. When he was 15, he played three games in the Ontario Hockey Association as an emergency call-up with the Peterborough Petes. In his last year of amateur hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Bloodhounds, he scored seventy goals. It was there that he first adopted the number 99 when his favorite number 9 was taken by fourth-year player Brian Gualazzi. Many people didn’t think he would make it as a professional hockey player. He was considered too small to withstand the physical punishment that a hockey player takes over the course of an 82 game season.

The next year, 1977-78, was his only full season in the Ontario Hockey Association. Gretzky also represented Canada internationally for the first time at the World Junior Championship in Quebec City. As a 16-year-old, he led the tournament in scoring and was named the top center. Ironically, the coaching staff had invited him to the team's training camp only because he was leading the league in scoring; again he was thought too small to even make the team. After missing a month of league play with the juniors, he returned to the OHA - and he was still leading in scoring.

In the fall of 1978, Gretzky joined the Indianapolis Racers as a free agent after signing a personal services contract with Nelson Skalbania, the team's owner. Gretzky had wanted to join the NHL, but the league's draft age was 20 and Gretzky didn't think it would help to play three years in the OHA until he was drafted. The Racers folded after only eight games, however, and Skalbania sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers.  The Edmonton Oilers signed him to a 21-year contract. When Gretzky signed his contract, he believed it meant that he would never play in the NHL. That year, they went on to the Avco Cup finals, where they lost to the Winnipeg Jets.

The World Hockey Association folded after the 1978-79 season. The Edmonton Oilers, along with the Winnipeg Jets, the Quebec Nordiques, and the Hartford Whalers, transferred to the NHL. When Gretzky first arrived in Edmonton as an NHL player, he stayed with coach Sather, who immediately promised him that he'd one day be captain of the team and win the Stanley Cup. Clearly, Sather knew how good Gretzky could be. Oilers owner Peter Pocklington predicted that they would win the Stanley Cup within five years.

In the NHL, he tied Marcel Dionne for the league lead in points Gretzky tied Marcel Dionne for the scoring race but lost the Art Ross Trophy because Dionne had more goals. He couldn't win the Calder Trophy because the NHL had declared that players from the WHA weren't rookies, but he did win the Hart Trophy, the first time a first-year player was so honored.

In Edmonton, under coach Glen Sather, and surrounded by phenomenal talent in Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr in goal, he became the most dominant player in the history of the game. His records are the stuff of legend and his play was unlike anything ever seen. The team they set virtually every scoring record that currently stands.

His style was unique and almost impenetrable. The area behind the opposition goal was dubbed "Gretzky's office" because from there he made so many perfect passes for goals. He used the trailing man on rushes rather than a man skating ahead of him. Gretzky would come in over the blue line and then curl, waiting for a defenseman, often Coffey, to join the rush and a chance for scoring. When a man on their team was in the penalty box, Gretzky wasn't looking to ice the puck in a defensive role; he was looking to take advantage and score shorthanded. The result was goals and more goals - the Oilers routinely scoring 400 a season. Gretzky lead in scoring virtually every year in the 

         A good hockey player plays where the puck is. 
A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. - WG

In August of 1988 Gretzky's married Janet Jones, and a few days later he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that rocked the NHL. He, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley went to the Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, first-round draft choices in 1989, 1991 and 1993 and $15 million. Some Edmonton fans felt betrayed, and many blamed Janet Jones for forcing the trade. Others blamed Gretzky for asking for a trade, but most people vilified owner Peter Pocklington for selling his most valuable asset for a large sum of cash. Gretzky never wore a Canadian team sweater again in the NHL.

Gretzky brought a winning attitude and ability and to the L.A. Forum, which was sold out every game for the first time in franchise history. Gretzky's relationship with owner Bruce McNall was close in business as they were in hockey. In 1993, he took the Kings to the finals for the first time after eliminating the Maple Leafs in game seven of the semifinals in his favorite building, Maple Leaf Gardens. The deciding game in Toronto was a 5-4 win for L.A. in which he scored a hat trick and he called his finest NHL game ever. But in the finals the Kings were exhausted and Montreal beat them in five games. Gretzky was never again to get as close to the Cup.

As a King, Gretzky scored his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe as the all-time leading scorer and a 1,852nd point to pass Howe as all-time point-getter in the league. Gretzky was traded to St. Louis. He played only 18 games in St. Louis during the regular season, and after a disappointing showing in the playoffs, the Blues decided not to offer Gretzky a contract in the off-season. He signed a three-year deal in the summer of 1996 to be with his oldest hockey friend, Mark Messier, and the New York Rangers. He continued to be the team's leading scorer, but his supporting cast grew weaker. Time and again his perfect passes ended up in open ice where no Ranger had anticipated the play. Near the end of the 1998-99 season, Gretzky announced his retirement. With his retirement, the NHL retired the number.

Gretzky played in the NHL's All-Star Game every year he was in the league and was the first player to be named game MVP with three different teams. He also played in each Canada Cup in 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991. Each time he led the tournament in scoring, and only in his first year, 1981, did the team fail to claim the title of world champion.

Off the ice, he continued to have a winning impact in hockey. In November of 2000, Gretzky was named Executive Director of Canada's 2002 Men's Olympic Hockey team. His duties included making the final decision on all personnel and player selections. During the Salt Lake City Games, Gretzky challenged the media coverage and officiating, claiming it was "anti-Canadian". His rallying methods paved the way for Team Canada to claim the gold 5-2 over the USA, the first in 50 years for Canada's men's hockey teams.

Wishing you great and continued success!

Sincerely,