Wayne Gretzky learned to skate at age 2 on a backyard ice rink his dad built in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. By the time he was 6 he was already playing with 10-year-olds. By 10 he had scored 378 goals in a single season of youth hockey.
He turned pro at 17 and joined the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL the next year. He was small and skinny compared to other players, but he saw the ice differently. “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been,” he liked to say. He won 4 Stanley Cups with Edmonton and 9 NHL Most Valuable Player awards.
By the time he retired in 1999, Gretzky held 61 NHL records - many for things like most goals in a season (92), most assists in a career (1,963), and most career points (2,857). He earned the nickname “The Great One,” and his number 99 has been retired across the entire league. No player has ever worn it since.
