47 Fun Facts About Wayne Gretzky

In which Ontario city was Wayne Gretzky born and raised?

Brantford was home, but he first skated at age two on the frozen Nith River, below his grandparents' farm just outside town.

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

The Wally Coliseum was, in Walter's words, self-preservation: he was tired of freezing beside outdoor rinks while his son skated for hours.

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

378 goals in a single season: by his early teens he was already a celebrity across Canada.

Why did Gretzky always tuck one side of his jersey into his pants?

His first sweaters were too big, because at six he played on a team of ten-year-olds; the tuck stuck for life, and in 2013 the NHL began penalizing it.

Why did Gretzky wear number 99 instead of his hero's number 9?

A teammate already wore 9, so his junior club suggested doubling it, and 99 became so tied to him that in 2000 the NHL retired it for every team.

With which junior team did Gretzky first wear number 99?

Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds drafted him third even though his father had warned that he would not move so far north; the general manager talked the family round.

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

Indianapolis Racers owner Nelson Skalbania signed the teenager to himself rather than the club, and the money-losing team sold him after eight games.

What game is owner Nelson Skalbania said to have offered to play Winnipeg's owner for Gretzky?

Backgammon, in the legend; Jets owner Michael Gobuty says no game was ever played for the player, and that his general manager had judged the teenager too skinny.

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

Peter Pocklington signed him at centre ice beside a cake shaped like a 99, on a deal meant to run through 1999; nine years later the same owner traded him away.

With which boyhood idol and his son did Gretzky share a line at the 1979 WHA All-Star Game?

Gordie and Mark Howe set the teenager up for the opening goal against Dynamo Moscow inside the first minute, and the WHA All-Stars swept the three-game series.

Which Bruins defenceman won the 1979–80 rookie award for which Gretzky was ruled ineligible?

Ray Bourque took the Calder because Gretzky's one WHA season counted as major-league experience, so his 137 points never entered the books as a rookie record.

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

Marcel Dionne took the trophy on a tiebreak, 53 goals to 51; Gretzky answered by winning the next seven scoring titles in a row.

Whose 1944–45 mark of 50 goals in 50 games did Gretzky smash by scoring 50 in 39?

Maurice 'Rocket' Richard's mark had been matched only once, by Mike Bossy the season before; Gretzky blew past it with four goals in game 38 and five in game 39.

Whose single-season record of 76 goals did Gretzky break in February 1982?

Phil Esposito's 76 had stood for 11 years, and he trailed Gretzky from city to city to see it fall; in Buffalo he handed over the puck and admitted he was tired of following him around.

Where was 'Gretzky's office'?

Behind the net he had space from defenders, and anyone who came to flush him out left a teammate open.

Which single-season feat has no NHL player but Gretzky ever managed?

A 200-point season had looked out of reach: the record when he arrived was 152. He got there four times in five years, and the closest anyone else has come is 199.

What did the Oilers do two years after trading Gretzky?

Won the Cup, their fifth in seven years and the first without him, after sweeping Gretzky's own Los Angeles Kings in the second round on the way.

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

New York Islanders players were too battered to celebrate the sweep: Gretzky walked past their dressing room expecting a party, and said the sight taught Edmonton what winning costs.

Which trophy did Gretzky win eight seasons in a row?

Hart Trophy voters first named him most valuable player in 1980, the same season he was ruled ineligible to be rookie of the year; a ninth followed in Los Angeles in 1989.

Which trophy did Gretzky, an outspoken opponent of fighting, win five times?

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy voters reward gentlemanly play; soon after reaching Los Angeles he argued that hockey would never go mainstream while fighting was condoned, and says it got him into a lot of trouble.

What did the NHL's 1985 'Gretzky rule' take out of the game?

Four-on-four play after matching minors gave Edmonton's skaters too much open ice, so the league let teams stay at five a side; the change was reversed for 1992–93.

Which team did fans vote the greatest in NHL history for the 2017 centennial?

The 1984–85 Edmonton Oilers lost the opening game of the Final 4–1 in Philadelphia, then won the next four to keep the Cup.

Which Oilers tough guy did Gretzky insist must come with him to Los Angeles in the 1988 trade?

Marty McSorley was both a close friend and his protector on the ice; the Kings' owner recalls Gretzky being adamant that he be part of the deal.

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

$15 million in cash went north with Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas and three first-round picks; furious Edmonton fans burned the Oilers' owner in effigy.

Who broke Gretzky's NHL record of 894 career goals in April 2025?

Alex Ovechkin scored number 895 with Gretzky watching in the arena, and the game stopped for a ceremony on the ice; the record had stood for 31 years.

Which California city got an NHL team in 1991, the first of two to follow Gretzky's arrival in Los Angeles?

San Jose got the Sharks in 1991 and Anaheim the Mighty Ducks two years later; people inside the game say neither team would exist without his move to the Kings.

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

Gordie Howe's 801 fell in Los Angeles on 23 March 1994, when a give-and-go left Gretzky an empty Vancouver net for number 802; he retired with 894.

Which team traded for Gretzky in February 1996, only to see him sign with the Rangers that summer?

St. Louis Blues fans saw him for just 31 games: the run ended in double overtime of a Game 7 against Detroit, one win short of the conference final.

Which former Oilers teammate, who left for Vancouver a year later, did Gretzky rejoin on the 1996–97 Rangers?

Mark Messier was the reason he chose New York, for less money than he was offered elsewhere; together they reached the 1997 conference final before Messier signed with Vancouver.

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

Pittsburgh Penguins star Jaromír Jágr ended it 2–1 in overtime, yet Gretzky called the defeat his greatest day in hockey.

Which of Gretzky's career totals alone would have made him the NHL's all-time points leader when he retired?

His assists, 1,963 of them, outnumbered the points of every other player in NHL history, so he would have topped the list without scoring a single goal.

What did the Hockey Hall of Fame do for Gretzky in 1999 and then rule out for later players?

Waived its waiting period: he was the tenth player to skip the usual three years, and the Hall then changed its by-laws so that only grave illness or injury could earn another.

Whose number had baseball retired for every team three years before the NHL did the same with Gretzky's 99?

Jackie Robinson's 42 was retired across baseball in 1997, and the NHL followed that lead at its 2000 All-Star Game; the two stood alone until the NBA honoured Bill Russell in 2022.

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

Mario Lemieux buried Gretzky's pass with 1:26 left in the deciding game for a 6–5 win; a game earlier he had completed a hat trick in double overtime, again set up by Gretzky.

What did coach Marc Crawford do with Gretzky in Canada's semi-final shootout at the 1998 Nagano Olympics?

Left him on the bench: all five Canadian shooters failed to beat Dominik Hašek, and Gretzky never got a turn.

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

Executive director of the men's team: after a 1-1-1 start he tore into the team's critics at a press conference, a turning point on the way to Canada's first gold in 50 years.

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

Phoenix Coyotes teams went 143–161–24 in his four seasons behind the bench, and he resigned in September 2009 while the club was in bankruptcy.

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

Janet Jones first met him when he was a guest judge on Dance Fever, but they became a couple only years later, after bumping into each other at a Lakers game.

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

Dustin Johnson proposed in 2013, but the wedding waited almost nine years, long enough for the couple's two sons to be there.

Which baseball team offered the teenage Gretzky a contract that his father would not let him sign?

Toronto Blue Jays officials offered him a deal, by his own account, but his father refused: the boy was going back to school.

Which American television show did Gretzky guest-host in 1989?

Saturday Night Live cast him as the hero of 'Waikiki Hockey', a spoof of Elvis movies, and as the rival Wayne Campbell dreams of beating in a 'Wayne's World' sketch.

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

Toronto Argonauts' new owners lured Notre Dame star Raghib Ismail away from the NFL with a record contract, and the team won the Grey Cup in their first season.

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

Companion is the order's highest grade, yet he never came to collect it: early in 2025, sixteen years on, the insignia was still waiting for him.

How did Gretzky's parents get him away from hometown pressure when he was 14?

Sent him to play in Toronto, which meant a fight over minor hockey's transfer rules; at 14 he played Junior B against opponents as old as 20 and was named the league's top rookie.

Which of his NHL coaches did Gretzky credit with a transition game built on speed and strong European influences?

Glen Sather modelled his Oilers on the WHA's Winnipeg Jets, whose Swedish stars kept the puck instead of dumping it in; Gretzky later credited him with the team's speed and finesse.

Which streak of Gretzky's ended at 13 seasons when a back injury cut short his 1992–93 campaign?

100-point seasons had come every year since he joined the NHL; the back injury kept him out until January, yet he came back to lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final.

In his final season, what did Gretzky fail to do for the only time in his NHL career?

Average a point a game: nine goals and 62 points in 70 games was the only such shortfall of his 20 NHL seasons, yet it was still enough to lead the Rangers in scoring.