Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky CCis a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey Leaguefor four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. He is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and more assists than any other player. He scored more assists than any other player scored total points,...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth26 January 1961
CityBrantford, Canada
CountryCanada
I'm thrilled to be back in the hot seat, ... This is what I love, what I know, and I felt I was the best person to coach this team. We finally feel like we've got a pretty good hockey club, and I wanted to be part of it, simple as that.
I don't want to get in a situation where he is 90 percent and gets re-injured and is out for another week. . . . We won't take that risk.
He's meant so much not only to the National Hockey League but to that franchise and the city of Pittsburgh.
If I bet on sports ? I would never embarrass Team Canada or the country or hockey ? I would phone (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman and Bob Nicholson right now and say you know what, I resign, it's over, even if I made a $1 bet.
I don't think that we as a group worked as strong early in the game as they did, and that was the difference. If you look at a team like Los Angeles, they are successful because they are pulling together in the same boat. Everybody is going in the same direction, everybody knows their responsibility and does their job.
It's not my call. You have to ask those guys. I'm retired. You're asking the wrong guy. I would tell you honestly I couldn't play with a visor. But that doesn't mean I have all the answers.
The biggest difference between L.A. and Edmonton was that instead of people looking at me I was looking at them.
The ball is a little bit in his court. We want to keep him. He?s a consummate pro and a wonderful man.
Not much really to add to what I said two days ago. Nothing for me to talk about. I'm not involved. It's been a hard week for my family.
It's a big game, it's on Hockey Night in Canada and he's been outstanding all year.
It's not the ideal situation, but when you have a daughter who is 17 and doesn't want to move away from high school, that's life, ... The way we're looking at this is, this is a great opportunity and we're having fun.
It's the easiest thing in the game of hockey, and I was a player, that you always turn back and try to blame the goaltender. There's no excuse there. Curtis will be fine. It's not Curtis' fault that we got beat 8-4.
It's always a tough situation when a great player has to retire. He's meant so much to not only the National Hockey League, but the city of Pittsburgh and that franchise. You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux. He's a great hockey player and a good person. The game will miss him.
It was a hard fought game, our guys played a tough game. They're a team that plays really hard and our guys really came to work tonight.