Brett Hull warned Wayne Gretzky not to join his team
It just took him 20 days to realize he was right
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky is a retired Canadian ice hockey centre who played 20 NHL seasons for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, and who holds the league's career records for goals, assists and points. Gretzky was born in Brantford, Ontario, on 26 January 1961 and finished with 2,857 points in 1,487 regular-season games. Gretzky retired in April 1999, and the NHL took number 99 out of circulation across the entire league that same month.
| Position | Centre, shoots left |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 January 1961, Brantford, Ontario, Canada |
| Drafted | Never drafted; signed with the WHA in 1978 and entered the NHL with Edmonton through the 1979 merger |
| NHL teams | Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers |
| NHL career | 1,487 games, 894 goals, 1,963 assists, 2,857 points |
| Honours | 4 Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988), 9 Hart Trophies, 10 Art Ross Trophies, 2 Conn Smythe Trophies, 5 Lady Byng Trophies |
| Known for | Single-season records of 92 goals in 1981-82 and 215 points in 1985-86 |
| Nickname | The Great One |
Why did Wayne Gretzky wear number 99?
Gretzky grew up idolising Gordie Howe and wanted Howe's number 9. When Gretzky arrived at the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the 1977-78 junior season, 9 already belonged to teammate Brian Gualazzi, and coach Muzz MacPherson suggested he wear two nines instead. Gretzky kept 99 for the rest of his playing career, in the WHA and at all four of his NHL clubs, and in April 1999 the league withdrew it for every team, a step it has taken for no other number. His minor-hockey years hold other oddities, among them the reason Gretzky played defence as a boy.
How many goals Wayne Gretzky scored, and the records behind them
Gretzky scored 894 regular-season goals, and his 1,963 assists and 2,857 points top the all-time lists as well. When Gretzky retired, that assist total on its own was higher than any other player's career point total. He set the single-season goal record with 92 in 1981-82 and the single-season point record with 215 in 1985-86, and he is the only player to clear 200 points in a season, which Gretzky managed four times. Our breakdown of Gretzky's career numbers against every NHL team splits those totals by opponent.
Why did Wayne Gretzky get traded to the Kings?
Edmonton traded Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings on 9 August 1988, months after the Oilers had won their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. Owner Peter Pocklington sent Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski west, and took back Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round picks and 15 million dollars in cash. Gretzky then spent eight seasons with the Kings and lifted the sport's profile in southern California, taking a club that had never reached the Stanley Cup Final there in 1993, before a short stop in St. Louis and three closing seasons with the New York Rangers.
The Wayne Gretzky quote Michael Scott made famous
Plenty of people meet Gretzky's name through a line he may never have said. On The Office, Michael Scott keeps a whiteboard reading "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take", credited first to Gretzky and then to Scott himself, and that joke carried the sentence far beyond hockey. The attribution to Gretzky rests on a lawyer's recollection of a conversation, while comparable lines about shooting and swinging circulated in soccer and baseball decades earlier. Gretzky nodded to the sitcom version himself on a TNT playoff broadcast in May 2022. His younger brother Brent Gretzky played 13 NHL games.
