A Hockey Legend - Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky is widely recognized as one of the all time great hockey players, so much so he is more popularly renowned as 'The Great One'. His 802nd goal earned him fame as an all-time leading scorer and his 1852nd point made him the all time great point-getter, in the process breaking several records by the former great, Gordie Howe.

He was born on January 26, 1961, Ontario, Canada, of Russian and Polish descent. Recognizing his prodigious talent, his father constructed a backyard rink for the then six-year-old Wayne and devoted hours everyday to training his son in the skills of stickhandling, shooting and skating. At the age of six, Wayne was playing with ten year olds, with skills that surpassed any one his age. His impressive talent and his ever-present white gloves won him the nickname, "The White Tornado" when he scored 378 goals whilst on a pewee team.

By the age of 14, he moved to Toronto, for more opportunities and by 16 he was playing in the World Junior Championship. At first glance he was considered too small to make it in the Canadian national team, but he was soon the top center in the team, and the leading scorer of the entire competition.

Playing professional hockey was Wayne's ultimate ambition, but at 17, he was still underage. The minimum age to get signed up with the NHL was 20. Impatient to get started and not willing to wait three years, he went ahead and signed a contract with the Indianapolis Racers. Financial difficulties forced them to move Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers. It was here when he attracted a lot of attention, although the Hart Trophy was the only one he won that year.

In 1980, Wayne would begin to claim many hockey statistics as his own; he won his first scoring title with an assists record of 109, which outdid Bobby Orr's record. The next year, he broke Phil Esposito's till then unbeatable 76-goals-in-one-season record. This was a record that many thought was unbreakable, but Gretzky scored 92 goals in a single season, making that the new unbreakable record. He also the only player to have registered 212 points in one season, and the only player to have crossed 200 points in a season. And yes! he has done that for four seasons.

Gretzky was a player of his own rules and signature moves, and was known for using the trailing man on rushes instead of the typical practise of using a player skating ahead of him. When there were penalties, Gretzky never iced the puck in a defensive role, but rather tried to surprise the opposing team with shorthand scoring He'd skate past the blue lines, curl, wait for his defense to join him, create a real scoring chance, and he often did, scoring himself, or assisting. The area behind the rival team's goal would actually be called, "Gretzky's office" as he had so many perfect passes from there, each a scoring opportunity.

Wayne Gretzky finally retired in the 1998-1999 season, playing his last game with the New York Rangers. The NHL decided to retire the number 99, Wayne's number, as an appropriate tribute to the most amazing player of all time.