Wayne Douglas Gretzky born January 26, 1961. "The Great One" is the greatest hockey player ever to grace the ice. We could write a novel about his life and career in hockey, but just take in how ridiculous his accomplishments are:
He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records. As of 2009, he still holds 60 NHL records (Wikipedia).
Mark Messier is the next closest in all time points, almost 1,000 behind Gretzky!
Gretzky led the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988). He also played for the Los Angeles Kings, where he is credited with making the sport of hockey popular nation-wide, a brief stint with the St. Louis Blues and finally the New York Rangers until he retired in 1999. The NHL bypassed the three-year period and inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 1999. Gretzky also coached the Phoenix Coyotes for four seasons.
'Sportscenter' put together the top 10 plays of his career for you to enjoy:
Happy Birthday, Great One.
