Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky CCis a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey Leaguefor four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. He is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and more assists than any other player. He scored more assists than any other player scored total points,...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth26 January 1961
CityBrantford, Canada
CountryCanada
He's a nice young man. We just feel at this point in time maybe he needs a change, maybe he needs a new venue.
I don't think that we as a group worked as strong early in the game as they did, and that was the difference. If you look at a team like Los Angeles, they are successful because they are pulling together in the same boat. Everybody is going in the same direction, everybody knows their responsibility and does their job.
I don't want to get in a situation where he is 90 percent and gets re-injured and is out for another week. . . . We won't take that risk.
He's meant so much not only to the National Hockey League but to that franchise and the city of Pittsburgh.
I'm glad the NHL has finally stepped in and put him back in the game and reinstated him,
I'm not going anywhere. I'm still going to coach the Phoenix Coyotes. I've done nothing wrong.
I'm really excited about the team we've put together in the last 12 months, ... We've added speed, skill and character, and I really believe we're going to be a good team.
In a lot of ways he reminds me of ( Mark ) Messier . He's solid. He's hard. He just wants to win.
I like how hard this team played (on the trip) and how unselfish it was. . . . We're playing as a group and that's most important. The outcomes have been better because we're playing better as a group.
The commissioner, Gary Bettman , promises a season starting in October. If that means replacement players, I don't like it. The real players, I think, won't cross the line. You know hockey guys, how proud they are, how united. But in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, they'll fill the buildings, even for replacements. Fans are mad. They want hockey. Other cities, I'm not sure.
The last uniform was unique. And it was so different from any other team in the National Hockey League. But this one is very much of a classic look. We wanted to make it something kids would want to wear and minor hockey league teams across North America would want to wear.
You can't give the puck away in your own zone against a team that's that good. They just have so much explosive power it makes it difficult to come back.
I'm thrilled to be sort of back in the hot seat.
I'm thrilled to be back in the hot seat, ... This is what I love, what I know, and I felt I was the best person to coach this team. We finally feel like we've got a pretty good hockey club, and I wanted to be part of it, simple as that.