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
I don't know what the record is for scoring the fastest goal on your first shift, but that's got to be up there. That's a great way to start your NHL career.
When your leading goal scorer and your best player has 15 goals, you've got to play airtight. When we play airtight, we're a tough team to play against. When we believe that we can throw pucks in the middle, backhand passes, plays like that - and it's not one guy, it's a group effort - then we're in trouble.
We didn't have a very good first period to say the least. Then Johnson's goal was a big goal. That was a big sort of turning point for us in the hockey game to be able to come in after the first period only down 2-1.
Our Achilles' heel has been killing penalties at home. They get a power play goal and it's a 2-1 hockey game. You get the number of points they have as a team by hard work, and we knew they weren't going to quit by any means.
That second goal sort of broke our back. Lenny probably would like to have that one back and keep it a 1-0 game. The intensity level from their team was a lot higher tonight than when we played them a few weeks ago in Phoenix.
When people come up to me and say, "I was at your Game 7 in the playoffs in Toronto," or, "I saw your first goal in the NHL," that triggers memories. But I don't sit around my kitchen table and tell my kids, "You know, one year I got 92 goals."
I have recall. I don't know why or how. I had a guy once who said he played against me in novice [league, for kids under nine], for the Detroit Lasers. And I said, "Oh yeah, we beat you in the tournament, 8-1 and I think I scored seven goals, and the goalie was left-handed." And he was, "Oh my God. I was the goalie!" .
You'll never catch me bragging about goals, but I'll talk all you want about my assists.
Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don't take the shot.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.
The sad thing about this whole scenario is that Rick is a wonderful person and a great guy, so I hope everything works out in his favor. It's hard because I love the guy. He's a great guy, you know. I just hope it all works out for him.
Blake takes a nice shot, and I think that changed the momentum of the hockey game. We just couldn't find our way back into it.
The success of Team Canada got me interested in teaching again which is something I really enjoy doing,
Every game is a stepping stone to getting to the final game. We had a really good first period and all of a sudden the tide turned.