The Great One, National Hockey League’s Wayne Gretzky completes half a century celebrating his 50th birthday
Today is the birthday of “The Great One”, the one and only Wayne Gretzky.
Celebrating his 50th birthday, we remember him and pay our respect to the greatest professional hockey player ever known. His name is on the top of the list of hockey players, as with so many players in their respective sports like Michael Jordan in basketball,
Tiger Woods in golf, Pete Sampras in tennis, Diego Maradona in football and many more.
Hockey fans all around the world, may they be young, old, or even from different countries, love him and give testimonials to his greatness.
Gretzky has played professional hockey since April 18, 1999. He finished his career in the best way possible without having regrets.
He scored 2,857 points in his career and after retiring from professional hockey, became the coach of Phoenix Coyotes, stepping down from that in 2010.
The last game “The Great One” played was with New York Rangers against Pittsburg in which Rangers lost by 2-1. It was the last goal he scored in his sports career.
One might think that Greatzsky ended his career because he was unable to play or due to some other problems, but then you’re seriously mistaken.
He remains as much of a NHL fan and icon as he ever did. Some of the best players today look up to him as a role model and hope of achieving that status.
"I think so, and I don't think that's ever going to change", says Charlie Huddy, an old teammate of Gretzky in Edmonton and New York.
One of Gretzky’s achievements, not known to fans, is that he was the one to expose hockey to the world as a thrilling and exciting game. What would have basketball been without MJ? Same is the case with Gretzky.
Having a name such as “The Great One” is one thing, but having a unique number that nobody in any sports franchise has ever used and been inducted into the Hall of Fame is another.
No.99 is Gretzky’s and only his, but he’s not only celebrated as the greatest because of how many games he won or how many goals he scored, but because of innovations and intelligent game-plays he introduced.
He thought of crossing limits and trying new things in order to win. Plays and moves which were never seen in the game of hockey before Gretzky, came along and are now considered to be the best offensive and defensive tactics.
For instance, setting up behind the net and bouncing the puck off of posts and boundary walls to confuse the goalie.
He was huge and lightning fast, but played the game with his mind, planning everything in his head and then implementing it in reality.
Edmonton Oilers really has Gretzky to thank, after he made the franchise 4-time champions of the Stanley Cup.
Having set a standard so high, none has ever been able to pull it off other than him. Canada takes special pride in having such a superstar belonging to the country while USA uses him as its face of hockey.
Now Gretzky can be seen enjoying his life with his family, wife, Janet, and his 5 children.
He might not be a component of official hockey today but will always remain associated with it as long as his name remains.
A day before his birthday, Gretszky told NHL Live! In an interview, "It feels like yesterday that I was tying up my skates sitting in a locker room at an All-Star Game next to Gordie Howie”.
Gordie Howie is a long time teammate and friend of Gretzky's.
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