Gretzky Sees Clearly Now : Kings: After being knocked out of Game 3, he will line up tonight against Edmonton in Game 4. (2024)

FAQs

Why did Gretzky go to the Kings? ›

Shortly after winning the 1988 Stanley Cup, Gretzky was told by his father that the Oilers were looking to trade him. Pocklington's business ventures weren't doing well and he was in dire need of some cash. As a result, he was shopping Gretzky around with the demand of getting $15 million back in return.

The "Miracle on Manchester" remains the biggest single-game comeback in Stanley Cup playoffs history. The Kings clawed their way back from a 5-0 deficit to start the third period to win the game in overtime. Despite the upset against the Oilers, the Kings were eliminated in the next round by the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1.

Gretzky made an immediate impact in LA. In his first season with the Kings, he scored 54 goals (fourth in the league) and put up 114 assists (tied with Lemieux for first). Overall, his 168 points finished second in the league and were good enough to secure him the Hart Memorial Trophy.

Despite being soundly outshot by the Bruins, the Oilers won the game 3–2 when Klima—benched for much of the game, and thus the only player on either team who was not exhausted—scored at 15:13 of the third overtime. The Oilers defeated the Bruins in five games, and won their first Cup without Gretzky.

Born and raised in Canada, Gretzky wanted to finish his career right where he started it. But if we're to believe Gretzky's take, the Oilers ignored their star money maker's wishes and sent him packing to sunny California. The Edmonton Oilers owner at the time, Peter Pocklington, told a different tale.

Few people know that Wayne Gretzky actually began his professional hockey career with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association and that he didn't arrive in Edmonton until he was "sold" to the Oilers in 1978.

Among the current thirty-two active NHL teams, twelve have never won the Stanley Cup, with the oldest of them being the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres (50 seasons). The longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs (54 seasons), breaking a tie with the New York Rangers.

In 1962, the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. During a party after the win, the trophy was dropped in a bonfire and badly damaged. It was repaired at the expense of the team.

After the Stars won the Cup in 1999, there was a huge pool party at Craig Ludwig's house. Well, apparently, Guy Carbonneau decided that tossing the Stanley Cup off of the deck of the house and into the pool would be a fun time for all involved. Due to some bad luck, the Cup didn't reach the pool.

The Gretzky rule

In June 1985, as part of a package of five rule changes to be implemented for the 1985–86 season, the NHL Board of Governors decided to introduce offsetting penalties, where neither team lost a man when coincidental penalties were called.

What team does Wayne Gretzky own? ›

Post retirement, Gretzky became part owner of the NHL team, the Phoenix Coyotes. He bought 10% stake back in May 2000 and became the team? s coach from October 2005 to September 2009. In 2016, he also became the vice-chairman and partner of the Oilers Entertainment Group.

Gretzky had just married actress Janet Jones and was spending part of the summer living in the Hollywood home of actor Alan Thicke. Knowing that Gretzky was living in Los Angeles and certain he wouldn't re-sign with the Oilers when his contract expired, Pocklington accepted McNall's offer.

Versatility and athleticism: Gretzky was versatile in a demanding and rugged team sport. Hockey focuses on a myriad of athletic attributes—many of the same varied skills utilized, for the most part, by basketball, football and soccer players, widely considered among the best athletes.

Hockey great Wayne Gretzky gave an emotional eulogy at the funeral of his father Walter.

Wayne Gretzky is entering the hockey broadcasting world. The NHL's all-time leading scorer signed a multi-year deal to become a studio analyst with American-based Turner Sports on Wednesday.

And the course of hockey history would be forever changed. Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski were traded to the Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million in cash and three first-round picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993.

Wayne Gretzky. Who else but the player who, over the course of a 20-year NHL career, scored the most goals, assists and points in league history? At the time Gretzky retired, he held 61 NHL records and most still stand today.

Who won the Wayne Gretzky trade? ›

Winner: Gary Bettman

The Gretzky trade helped elevate the success, popularity and status of the Los Angeles Kings franchise.

The Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy and was first awarded in 1892-93 to the professional athletes of Ice Hockey in North America. The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports because the winner must play sometimes 16 playoff games, and sometimes 28 total games before being deemed a champion.

In the NHL there are 11 teams that have been unable to capture hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup: Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vegas Golden Knights and the Ottawa Senators (modern ...

4. The winning team holds the trophy for one year and each person is given 24 hours with the Cup, a tradition formalized in 1995.

In 1999 when the Dallas Stars won it, the Cup was damaged when then Stars player Guy Carbonneau tried to throw the trophy from the roof of a house into a pool.

He won the Stanley Cup nine times and the first ever Bill Masterton Trophy awarded for perseverance in 1968. He suffered a fatal heart attack while playing tennis at his home in Hallandale, Florida in 1984. Provost won the most Stanley Cups of anyone who is not a member of Hockey Hall of Fame.

However, anyone with any aspirations of winning it themselves won't take this opportunity. Many believe that touching the Stanley Cup before you've won it is bad luck and will keep you from doing so.

On this day in 1958, Craig MacTavish is born. He would be the last NHL player to skate without a helmet and would later become general manager of the Edmonton Oilers. Jarred Cohen and 1,567 others like this. Also got away with OUI resulting in a death when he played for Boston.

What did Gretzky say when he retired? ›

Gretzky says he accepted his retirement decision the moment he announced it in the final week of the 1998-99 season; he played his final NHL game on April 18, 1999, with the Rangers. "The fact I can't do it, it kills me," he says of continuing to play, "but I've got peace of mind because it was time to move on.

Gretzky is upset about this, so he has proposed a major rule change: a shot clock in the shootout. Gretzky proposes a “shootout shot clock.”

Wayne Gretzky had 266 games played with exactly 0 points.

1979 O-Pee-Chee #18 Wayne Gretzky ($200,000)

Due to its iconic status, it remains the holy grail of hockey card collectors.

Winning 4 Stanley Cups, Gretzky set records in both regular season and post-season play, holding the record for most career regular season goals (894), assists (1,963), points (2,857) and hat-tricks (50).

As per Celebrity Net Worth, Johnson is worth $50 million. Gretzky, on his end, has a net worth of $250 million. Despite Johnson's popularity on the golf front, the difference is significant. Mostly due to the time and experience, Gretzky's worth is $200 million more than DJ's.

When he was 10, Wayne Gretzky got hit in the mouth with a hockey stick, knocking out three front teeth. “Now,” his father, Walter, told him, “you're a hockey player.” Gretzky has become the greatest hockey player ever, but he never again had such a bloody accident on the ice.

Wayne Gretzky, one of the greatest NHL players, once revealed that he could not face his rivals' actions toward the end of his career. This action led Gretzky to make a crucial decision. Wayne Gretzky knew when to retire. It was not just a feeling that his body had weakened, but was also the need of the hour.

Gretzky went on to say that "Everyone thought that my wife (actress Janet Gretzky) had picked L.A. and my wife said, 'you should play in Detroit. ' It was my dad who called me and said, 'you should play in L.A.' For whatever reason, he said, 'I think you should move to L.A.' and I became an L.A. King after that."

Wayne Gretzky remembers his idol, the late Gordie Howe.

Who does Wayne Gretzky think was the best? ›

The three Hall of Famers, part of the National Hockey League's naming of the top 100 players of all time, agreed that former Detroit Red Wings great Gordie Howe was the best who ever played.

Crosby: 930 games, 439 goals, 1,191 points, 0.47 goals per game, 1.28 points per game. Gretzky: 1,695 games, 1,016 goals, 3,239 points, 0.60 goals per game, 1.91 points per game​

Wayne Gretzky is known as "The Great One" but as far as the NHL's all-time leading scorer is concerned, the greatest player ever to lace up a pair of skates was Detroit Red Wings legend Gordie Howe. Gretzky grew up idolizing Howe as a youngster in Brantford, Ont., and he wore No. 9 before switching to No.

If Wayne Gretzky never scored a goal, he still would've recorded 11 straight 100-point seasons and won 4 scoring titles.

After his latest tally Tuesday, Ovechkin has scored 820 career goals — 74 back of Gretzky's record.

Says it's 'great for the game' with Capitals forward 85 behind him for mark. Wayne Gretzky talked about Alex Ovechkin breaking his NHL record of 894 goals long before the Washington Capitals left wing believed it was reachable.

Ovechkin passed Gretzky — who had 12 — on the all-time list. Mario Lemieux and Marcel Dionne are the only other players to do it 10 times. The goal gives Ovechkin 820 in his career, leaving him only 74 behind Gretzky for the all-time record.

Here is how the top 10 of the all-time scoring list looks: Wayne Gretzky -- 894. Alex Ovechkin -- 802.

Nogier was not qualified by the Kings before free agency this summer, making him a free agent. Gretzky was dealt from the Oilers to the Kings alongside Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski in exchange for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round draft picks (1988, 1991, 1993), and $15 million.

1996: Wayne Gretzky is traded to the St. Louis Blues by the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, the Blues' first-round pick in the 1997 NHL Draft (Matt Zultek) and a fifth-round pick in the 1996 NHL Draft (Peter Hogan).

Why did Gretzky leave St Louis? ›

In the second round of the playoffs against the Red Wings, the Blues fell behind and Gretzky didn't' look like his former self. So as what some saw as a motivational tool, Keenan pulled the contract offer to Gretzky off the table. After the season, Gretzky went on to sign with the New York Rangers.

Gretzky also 25 goals in 72 regular-season games in April and was held without a goal in two regular-season games played in May 1995. 196 -- Goals by Gretzky on which Jari Kurri earned an assist. Kurri has the most assists on Gretzky's goals by any player.

One problem Wayne Gretzky had was that when he was playing against the Kings, Wayne Gretzky had a herniated disk in his back that was sore and it did some damage to his back so he had to miss a one whole year of hockey and any other sports he liked.

However, Gretzky did play more than 25 games the preceding year in the World Hockey Association, which disqualified him for being eligible for the Calder Trophy.

Gretzky said he had a rough year because he'd lost his father, Walter, and that he was excited to be “getting an opportunity to spend time in the Midwest with Janet's family.” Wayne Gretzky is now St. Louis-based. Family moved to be closer to his 100-year-old mother-in-law (Janet Jones's mother).

His dad told him that he looked too small wearing his sweater untucked, so he tucked it into his hockey pants. Gretzky claimed that, since then, it became a habit of his. This habit carried on throughout his extremely successful professional hockey career.