50 Fun Facts About Wayne Gretzky

In which Ontario city was Wayne Gretzky born and raised?

The family chose their house on Varadi Avenue partly because the yard was flat enough for a backyard rink.

What was the nickname of the backyard rink Walter Gretzky built for his sons?

Walter's advice was to 'skate where the puck's going, not where it's been'.

How many goals did the ten-year-old Gretzky score in one season for the Nadrofsky Steelers?

He added 139 assists; the Toronto Telegram profiled him in October 1971.

Why did the young Gretzky tuck his jersey into his pants on the right side, a habit he kept for life?

He played on a team of ten-year-olds at age six.

Why did Gretzky wear number 99 rather than his hero's number 9?

Coach Muzz MacPherson suggested doubling it up when Brian Gualazzi kept the 9 at Sault Ste. Marie.

With which junior team did Gretzky first wear number 99?

Two teams passed on him in the 1977 draft; the Greyhounds took him third despite his father saying he would not move north.

Which WHA team signed the 17-year-old Gretzky to a seven-year personal services contract in June 1978?

Owner Nelson Skalbania paid US$1.75 million; the NHL would not sign players under 20, but the WHA had no such rule.

What game did Racers owner Nelson Skalbania propose playing with Winnipeg's owner to decide who got Gretzky?

Michael Gobuty declined, and the plane carrying Gretzky, Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll landed in Edmonton instead.

Which Oilers owner signed Gretzky to a ten-year personal services contract on his 18th birthday in 1979?

Worth CA$3 million with options for ten more years, it was the longest contract in hockey at the time.

With which boyhood idol and his son did Gretzky play on a line at the 1979 WHA All-Star Game against Dynamo Moscow?

Their line scored seven points in game one of the three-game series in Edmonton.

Why was Gretzky ineligible for the Calder Trophy as top rookie in his first NHL season, 1979–80?

He tied for the scoring lead with 137 points but lost the Art Ross on goals, and won the first of eight straight Hart Trophies.

Who won the 1979–80 Art Ross Trophy despite tying Gretzky on 137 points?

Dionne had 53 goals to Gretzky's 51, and had played one more game.

Whose 35-year-old record of 50 goals in 50 games did Gretzky smash in 1981–82, scoring 50 in 39?

Mike Bossy had tied the mark the season before.

How many goals did Gretzky score in the 1981–82 season, still the NHL record?

He added 120 assists for 212 points, the first 200-point season in history.

What is Gretzky's single-season points record, set in 1985–86?

He recorded 163 assists that year, also a record.

How many times did Gretzky total over 200 points in a season, a feat no one else has managed once?

He is also the only player with more career assists than any other player has total points.

In which year did Gretzky and the Oilers win their first Stanley Cup?

Three more followed in 1985, 1987 and 1988; the Oilers won a fifth in 1990 without him.

Which team swept the Oilers in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final, a year before Edmonton's first Cup?

The Islanders were three-time defending champions in 1983.

How many Hart Trophies as NHL most valuable player did Gretzky win?

Eight came in a row from 1980; he also won ten Art Ross Trophies and two Conn Smythes.

Which award for sportsmanship did Gretzky win five times, fitting his outspoken opposition to fighting?

He led the league in assists 16 times and in goals five times.

What was the 'Gretzky rule' the NHL introduced in 1985?

The Oilers had feasted on the open ice; the rule was reversed for 1992–93.

Which team was voted the greatest in NHL history during the league's centennial celebrations?

Between 1982 and 1985 the Oilers averaged 423 goals a season when no team had ever scored 400.

On what date was Gretzky traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 'The Trade'?

He learned of the plan from his father two hours after winning the 1988 Cup, and Kings owner Bruce McNall called him on his honeymoon.

Which two teammates did Gretzky insist must join him in Los Angeles as a condition of the trade?

McSorley kept playing enforcer for him in LA as he had in Edmonton.

How much cash did the Kings send Edmonton as part of the Gretzky trade?

Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas and three first-round picks also went to the Oilers; Pocklington was burned in effigy.

Which politician demanded the Canadian government block the Gretzky trade?

Gretzky got a long standing ovation on his return to Edmonton and insisted, 'I'm still proud to be a Canadian.'

Which two NHL franchises arrived in California during Gretzky's time with the Kings, a sign of his impact on the Sun Belt?

He led the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and is credited with popularising hockey in California.

Whose career goal-scoring record of 801 did Gretzky break in the 1993–94 season?

He finished with 894, a mark Alexander Ovechkin chased for three decades.

Which team did Gretzky join in February 1996 in a brief, disappointing stint before signing with the Rangers?

The expected chemistry with winger Brett Hull never developed.

Which former Oilers teammate did Gretzky briefly reunite with on the 1996–97 Rangers before he left for Vancouver?

The Rangers reached the 1997 conference finals, Gretzky's last playoff run.

Against which team did Gretzky play his final NHL game, on 18 April 1999 at Madison Square Garden?

It ended 2–1 in overtime; his final Canadian game had been a 2–2 tie in Ottawa three days earlier.

How many NHL records did Gretzky hold when he retired in 1999?

Forty were regular-season records, 15 playoff and six All-Star.

What did the Hockey Hall of Fame do for Gretzky in November 1999 that it said it would never do again?

He was the tenth player to skip the wait, and the Hall announced he would be the last.

What baseball precedent inspired the NHL to retire number 99 league-wide at the 2000 All-Star Game?

Edmonton also renamed Capilano Drive as Wayne Gretzky Drive and gave a rush-hour bus the number 99.

With which superstar linemate did Gretzky combine for the winning goal of the 1987 Canada Cup against the Soviets?

Gretzky had a tournament-best 21 points and five assists in game two; Lemieux one-timed his pass with 1:26 left in game three.

What controversial decision did coach Marc Crawford make about Gretzky at the 1998 Nagano Olympics?

All five Canadian shooters missed; Gretzky had already been passed over for the captaincy in favour of Eric Lindros.

In what role did Gretzky help Canada win Olympic hockey gold in Salt Lake City in 2002?

He reprised the job at Turin 2006, where Canada went out in the quarter-finals.

With which three other athletes did Gretzky light the Olympic cauldron inside BC Place at the 2010 Vancouver opening ceremony?

He had also served as an ambassador for Vancouver's successful bid.

Which NHL team did Gretzky part-own from 2000 and coach from 2005 to 2009?

His coaching record was 143–161–24 with no playoff appearances; he left after the team's bankruptcy.

Which actress did Gretzky marry on 16 July 1988, in what the Canadian press called 'The Royal Wedding'?

They met when he was a celebrity judge on Dance Fever; they have five children.

Which professional golfer married Gretzky's daughter Paulina in 2022?

They had been engaged since August 2013.

Which baseball team offered the teenage Gretzky a contract after he batted .492 in the summer of 1980?

He was also a competitive runner, though he bench-pressed only 140 pounds and finished last in Oilers strength tests.

Which American sketch comedy show did Gretzky guest-host in 1989?

He had earlier acted in The Young and the Restless in 1981.

Which CFL team did Gretzky co-own with Bruce McNall and comedian John Candy from 1991?

McNall's later prison sentence delayed the Kings' jersey retirement ceremony until 2002.

What rank of the Order of Canada was Gretzky promoted to in 2009?

He had been made an Officer, the mid-level grade, during the Oilers' first Cup year.

Which network did Gretzky join as a studio analyst in 2021 after leaving the Oilers' front office?

He had returned to Edmonton in 2016 as vice-chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group.

What did Gretzky's father Walter do while Wayne was 14 to relieve the pressure of being booed in his hometown?

He played Junior B for the Toronto Nationals in a league with 20-year-olds.

Which former Oilers coach did Gretzky credit with a European-influenced transition game built on speed and finesse?

Ken Dryden called Gretzky 'the first Canadian forward to play a true team game'.

What record streak ended with Gretzky's injury-shortened 1992–93 season?

A back injury kept him out until 6 January 1993, his 1,000th NHL game; he then scored a hat trick in game seven against Toronto.

How many goals did Gretzky score in his final season, 1998–99, the only one in which he failed to average a point a game?

His last goal took his combined NHL/WHA total to 1,072, one more than the old professional record.