Wayne Gretzky is the greatest player of all time, and one of the biggest moments of his breathtaking career was when he broke Gordie Howe’s career goal-scoring record of 801, for No. 1 in NHL history.
Gretzky grew up idolizing Gordie, and it was because of him he originally wore the number 9 on his jersey.
Eventually, Gretzky was forced to switch to 99, but he always played with a small tribute to one of the all-time greats on the back of his jersey.
What’s even more remarkable about the story of Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe is that Wayne Gretzky actually played on the same juniors team as one of Gordie Howe’s sons.
And when The Great One appeared on the ’This Past Weekend’ podcast with comedian Theo Von, he shared an awesome story about their time on the team.
”When I was 15 years old, I was playing on a junior hockey team. And it was so exciting, because one of my teammates was Murray Howe, who was Gordie Howe’s youngest son. And he’s just a wonderful kid,” Gretzky said.
”I wore No. 9 that year because I always loved Gordie. So when he came in, I said, ’Look, you should wear No. 9, your dad is Gordie Howe. I’ll switch my number.’ And he goes, ’No, no, no. Wayne, this is my last year of hockey. I’m going to enjoy it, and then I’m going to be a doctor.’ He was a really intelligent guy, and he did go on to become a doctor.”
But during their time on the team, Howe’s son worried about Gretzky not spending enough time on his studies.
”So we get on the team bus and we travel to the city. He’d get on there and he’d have all these books. And I go on, no books. And he goes, ’Wayne, you got to get your education.’ And I said, ’I’m going to a hockey game. I can’t think about reading and doing homework right now.’”
Then, one day, Gretzky showed up with a couple of books on the team bus. Murray Howe was thrilled at first but quickly found out what was really going on.
”And so, about two weeks later, I got on the bus and I had like five or six books. I sit down beside him and he goes, ’Good to see you’re taking notes here, Wayne, that’s good for you.’ And he said, ’What do you got? Geography? History?’ And I go, ’Well, I got Gordie Howe: Hockey My Way, Gordie Howe: Hockey Tips.’ I said, ’You want to be a doctor, I want to be a hockey player.’”
