Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26th , 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. As is well known he became the most known hockey player in Canada and for that matter the world, all by setting and breaking numerous records in the National Hockey League. The “Great One’s” hockey career began in his own backyard where his father, Walter Gretzky, built him a homemade rink. It was here that Wayne began to hone his skills while he skated for hours on end and practiced his skating, passing, shooting and stickhandling skills. He learned everything about the game from his father including learning how to skate at just the age of five. Wayne began playing amateur hockey at the age of six with ten and eleven year olds. His hockey idol was the Detroit Red Wings’ Winger Gordie Howe who wore number nine (Wayne wore ninety nine in the pros). Even though he only scored one goal in that first season he progressed drastically each season to the point where he was setting absurd records, like his 378 goal season in his last year of pee wee in Brantford. At the age of fourteen Wayne felt it was time for a change. He was no longer happy playing in his hometown due to the increased pressure and jealousy of the hometown players in
The Oilers were gaining steam through the early 1980’s and in 1983 they finally reached the Stanley Cup Finals poised to win the Holy Grail. Unfortunately Gretzky and the Young Oilers were handled easily in four straight games by the aging dynasty of New York Islanders. The loss served as a learning experience and fuel to make another run for the Cup. The following year The Oilers got their revenge defeating the same Islander team to win the Cup who was looking for its fifth straight title. That First Cup win was the first of four in a row for the Oilers who repeated as champions until 1988. It was after that fourth Cup that the Hockey World saw one of the most shocking deals in the history of sport take place. The Oilers’ owner Peter Pocklington had traded Wayne to the Los Angles Kings as a result of strained relations and debt problems. The trade was basically a sell as the Oilers received a whopping $15 million in those days with a handful of draft picks and prospects for the “Great One”. parents. He decided to move to Toronto and play for the Toronto Nats. The next year when Wayne turned sixteen he played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the major junior Ontario Hockey Association. That first and only full year in the league was a success as he finished second in the scoring race behind Bobby Smith while playing players as old as twenty. He also participated in the 1978 World Junior Championship in Quebec City, earning top centre honours and tournament scoring leader. The Great One’s career was slowly dwindling to an end as his production was no longer what was expected of him. At the end of the 1998-99 season Gretzky a
Some topics in this essay:
Gordie Howe,
Wayne Oilers,
Walter Gretzky,
Star Appearances,
Cup Oilers,
Louis Blues,
Angles Kings,
Rangers One’s,
OHA Wayne,
Hockey Association,
oha wayne,
mark messier,
season gretzky,
hockey association,
goal season,
set league,
nhl record,
stanley cup,
wayne oilers,
gordie howe,
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Approximate Word count = 1124
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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