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 basically told him he's been a big part of our team, and we're not going to just give him away; we're not going to loan him to any team. I was honest with him. If we were offered a couple of really good, young players that would help us for a long time we'd have to seriously consider it . . . . But we're not phoning people, we're not calling teams. At this point in time, I don't anticipate moving Curtis.
If this is not decided in the next few days, I'm scared we could be looking at a year, a year and a half, two years, not just three months like a lot of people thought in September. From April to October, the players don't get paid, so I can't see us coming to an agreement in August or September. If we don't find a way to make everyone who is part of this sort of happy and get a deal done, we could be looking at a long, long time before hockey is played in the NHL and that's very alarming too. I hope in the next couple of weeks we can come to an agreement.
Obviously you don't replace a guy like Mario, not only what he does on the ice but his presence on the locker-room, how much the players respect him and how much they look up to him,
What records show are consistency, and that's what he's shown in his career. When a guy gets that many wins it's from a lot of effort and a lot of hard work and a lot of hours. I know the players tonight wanted him to get this at home.
It's not going to be easy every day, but I'm going to work hard, and our players are going to work hard, ... I look forward to this as a new chapter in my life, and I can't wait to get started.
It's always a tough situation when a great player has to retire. He's meant so much to not only the National Hockey League, but the city of Pittsburgh and that franchise. You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux. He's a great hockey player and a good person. The game will miss him.
Yes, Sidney Crosby. He's the best player I've seen since Mario (Lemieux).
We're here for a little bit of a tour for four or five days, just to get together and kind of talk about the season. The players everybody is talking about are all playing well, and decisions are very difficult. No matter what we do, there is going to be a controversy.
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.
He was an exceptional leader who was unselfish, hardworking and dedicated. He truly loved the game. He was the best player I ever played with.
But you know it's time to move forward. We will invite him to our training camp. He's an elite player and I expect him to have a great year and be part of Team Canada come February in Italy.
As a player, you have one responsibility, to focus yourself and be ready for the game. As a coach, your responsibility is to get 20 guys ready and have them all on the same page. If you can't get every guy ready every night, you're going to struggle.
Listen, everything I have in my life is because of the NHL and because of hockey, and I love the game and I loved every minute of being a player, I loved coaching, I loved being involved in the NHL.
One of the key qualities that you need to be a great hockey player is fantastic anticipation and feel for the game - if you know where the puck is going before it is hit, that is half the battle.