Wayne Gretzky was, and always will be, a superstar. It was nearly impossible for him to go unnoticed before and after games across North America. But he and former NHL goalie Greg Stefan had a genius prank that allowed Gretzky to go completely incognito into arenas.
Gretzky was already a mega-celebrity before making his NHL debut, and when he entered the league, he proved exactly why. He dominated year after year, turning the Edmonton Oilers into a dynasty in the 1980s. Still widely considered the greatest player of all time by a significant margin, many of his NHL records remain untouched and may never be broken.
Wayne Gretzky’s influence on hockey is unparalleled—no one has done more for the sport than The Great One. But his status as hockey’s biggest superstar didn’t come without challenges, especially when it came to navigating crowds of eager fans before and after games. However, he and Greg Stefan, his childhood friend and former NHL goalie, came up with a clever trick to give Gretzky some space at arenas.
Wayne Gretzky’s awesome prank
In an interview with Greg Bensinger, Gretzky revealed how they pulled off the prank.
“Goaltender Greg Stefan, who played in the NHL, we looked a lot alike,” Wayne Gretzky said. “We both had blonde hair. In those days, it was a big thing to have your number on your jacket. So we traded jackets going into the arena. I said, ‘You go in first. You go get bugged.’ And I’m just going to walk in.”
The plan worked—just not in Stefan’s favor.
“So we switched jackets, and he said, ‘I’m never going to do that again,’” Gretzky recalled, laughing. “Nobody really ever saw me, but they all assumed I was him because he had my jacket on with No. 99. So it was kind of funny.”
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