Hockey Career of Wayne Gretzky
Hockey Career of Wayne Gretzky
EARLY HOCKEY YEARS
Born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, January 26, 1961. Wayne began skating at the age of three on a backyard rink built by his father, Walter. He began playing organized hockey in grade school and was soon such a dominant scorer that he was moved out of his age bracket to play with players several years older.
Gretzky's idols as a young hockey player were his father and Hall of Fame forward Gordie Howe. After playing in several local and regional leagues, Gretzky advanced to play junior hockey with the Sault Sainte Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, a developmental league for young players. During the 1977-78 season with the Greyhounds he compiled 182 points, with 70 goals and 112 assists in 64 games.
EDMONTON OILERS
Before the start of the 1979-80 season, the Oilers and three other WHA teams were accepted into the NHL. During his first NHL season Gretzky became known as The Great One. He accumulated 137 points with 51 goals and 86 assists. The total earned him the first of eight consecutive Hart Memorial Trophies as the league's most valuable player. A year later, Gretzky scored 164 points a league record at the time and won the first of seven consecutive Art Ross Trophies.
The 1988 Stanley Cup victory was Gretzky's last in Edmonton. Team owner Peter Pocklington, struggling to keep his team profitable as the salaries of the franchise's top players rose, began to dismantle his dynasty. On August 9, 1988, in what is considered by many as the most significant trade in NHL history, Pocklington traded Gretzky and two Oiler teammates to the Los Angeles Kings for two players, three first-round draft choices, and cash.
AFTER EDMONTON
Over the next eight seasons in Los Angeles, Gretzky gradually relinquished his title as the game's dominant offensive player to the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux. His presence on the Kings, however, changed the team from a struggling franchise to one of the NHL's most glamorous teams. Aided by other former Oilers Gretzky helped turn the Kings from a losing team playing in front of small crowds to a consistent winner that sold out almost every home game. During the 1992-93 season Gretzky guided the Kings to their first Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Montréal Canadiens, 4 games to 1.
The Kings failed to reach...