Wayne Gretzky—The Great One—Page 2

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Near the end of the 1998-99 season, rumours circulated that Gretzky was to call it quits. Each night the Rangers played, a media throng followed—even though the Rangers were out of the playoff race. Suspecting that it would be Gretzky’s last-ever pro game in Canada, fans at Ottawa’s Corel Centre gave Gretzky a long post-game standing ovation at the end of their Senators’ match against the Rangers.

Finally, Gretzky admitted what the public suspected all along—he was going to retire. Gretzky’s final game was a regular-season match against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and media from throughout North America would cover the event.

The Hockey Hall of Fame decided to waive the normal waiting period required for admission. Fittingly, number 99 became a Hall of Famer in 1999. On October 1, 1999, before the team’s home opener against the New York Rangers, the Oilers’ retired Gretzky’s number and the NHL did the same League-wide.

Gretzky has regularly heeded his country’s call. He played in four separate Canada Cups. He assisted on Mario Lemieux’s famous 1987 tournament clincher against the Soviets at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum. The Gretzky-and-Lemieux combination from that season was the only time the best two players of their generation—in the primes of their careers—would play together. But the Canada Cups were not always rosy for the Great One; Gretzky received a serious back injury—which would hamper him for the rest of his career—in the 1991 tournament, thanks to a vicious hit from behind from American defenceman Gary Suter.

Gretzky represented Canada at the 1978 World Junior Championships and the 1982 World Championships after Los Angles upset the Oilers in the playoffs.

Gretzky’s biggest hockey disappointment came in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. In the first Olympic tournament in which NHL players were allowed to participate, Canada was upset by the eventual gold medallists from the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. One of the most enduring memories of the event, is the image of Gretzky on the bench, staring at a blank sheet of ice, wondering what could have been.

That loss served to motivate Gretzky. After leaving the ice for good, Gretzky was named executive director of the men’s hockey program for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Gretzky used his experience to assemble a team that did not disappoint; the team’s gold-medal win over the United States sent Canadians into a coast-to-coast celebration.

In June of 2000, Gretzky joined the ownership group of the Phoenix Coyotes as the managing partner. It was through his work and celebrity that the Coyotes got public support for a new home arena in Glendale, Arizona and that the team reinvented its image in 2003 with a brand new maroon uniform.

Gretzky is considered one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, along with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Pele and Michael Jordan. In the hearts and minds of all Edmonton Oiler fans, and arguably all Canadians, he is the greatest player to play the game and will remain a much-loved son of Edmonton forever.

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