Wayne Gretzky Biography Wayne Gretzky Biography Name: Wayne Douglas Gretzky Nickname: The Great One Birth Date: January 26, 1961 Birth Place: Brantford, Ontario, Canada Position: Centre Number: 99 Height: 6' 0" Weight: 185 Lbs. Retired: 1999 Married: Janet Jones-Gretzky (July 17, 1988) Children: Paulina, Ty, Trevor, Tristan, Emma Milestones Wayne Gretzky was named the greatest player in National Hockey League history by The Hockey News in 1998. He is the NHL's all-time leading scorer and was named league MVP nine times. Wayne set 40 regular season records (including 9 MVP awards and 10 scoring titles), 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records. Wayne is the only player to score more than 200 points in a season and, he did it 4 times! He accumulated over 100 points in 15 seasons, 14 of them consecutively. Gretzky led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cups in five years from 1984-88. He is the only player to have his number officially retired across the entire National Hockey League. Wayne was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999 (the usual three-year waiting period was waived). Wayne Gretzky Biography Gretzky played on four NHL Teams - Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and, New York Rangers. In 2000 Gretzky became co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2005 he became their Head Coach. Wayne Gretzky Biography In 2002 Wayne became the Executive Director for the Canadian National Men's Hockey Team. That year he won a Gold Medal with Team Canada at the Winter Olympics. Early Years Wayne is the first of 5 children born to Walter and Phyllis Gretzky. His younger siblings are Kim, Keith, Glen and Brent.Wayne Gretzky Biography Gretzky's grandfather emigrated to Canada from Belarus (Mogilev) at the beginning of the 20th century. Wayne's father, Walter, grew up on a farm near Brantford, Ontario in the village of Canning and this is where Wayne's family spent most weekends when he was young. Wayne's mother, Phyllis Hockin, was born and raised in Paris, Ontario. She met Walter when she was 15 (he was 18) at a wiener roast on the Gretzky family farm - where their daughter Kim lives today. Being a former amateur hockey player Walter knew his son had a special talent at an early age and he had Wayne skating in the backyard rink - dubbed "Wally's Coliseum" - at the age of three. He was Wayne's first coach and began to teach him everything about the game. Wayne loved being on the ice and spent hours every day practicing his skating, shooting, and stickhandling. He skated before he went to school, and was on the rink after school until his mother insisted he have dinner. Gretzky says he would eat with his skates on and go back outside (Walter put lights up around the rink so the Wayne could skate at night). Wayne Gretzky Biography Identified as a hockey prodigy at a young age, Wayne played on the local Brantford Novice All-Star team at age six (with 10-year-olds). At age 10 he scored 378 goals and 139 assists in 85 games and the first story was published about him - in the Toronto Telegram. At 14, Wayne was playing against 20-year-olds. Wayne left Brantford to further his career and signed with his first agent. He played a season in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds when he was 16. That was the year Wayne started wearing the number 99 on his jersey. He wanted to wear number 9 — for his hero Gordie Howe — but that number was was already being worn by a teammate (Brian Gualazzi) so his coach (Muzz MacPherson) suggested Gretzky wear number 99. Hockey Biographies