Wayne Gretzky Retires
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Wayne Gretzky waves goodbye Thursday in Ottawa.
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NEW YORK (April 16, 1999) - Wayne Gretzky, "The Great One," announced his retirement at a Madison Square Garden news conference today after 20 seasons in which he dominated the National Hockey League unlike any other player in the League’s 82-year history.
"I look upon the next few days as a celebration, as something to enjoy," said Gretzky. "It's a gut feel, something I really believe is right. In my heart I know I made the right decision. To the fans, thanks for your support. I also want to thank anyone who was in any organization that I was a part of."
The 38-year-old Gretzky will say goodbye in Sunday's season finale against Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden.
"Whether it's now or next year or 20 years from now, I'll always miss and always love hockey," he said.
The 38-year-old Gretzky helped win four Stanley Cup Championships and three Canada Cup tournament titles. He owns 10 Art Ross Trophies as the NHL’s leading scorer; nine Hart Trophies as the League’s MVP; two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP. He has been awarded four Lady Byng Trophies as the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. He’s an eight-time First All-Star Team member and seven-time Second Team member. Gretzky holds virtually every offensive record in the National Hockey League and his tireless support of the game has contributed significantly to the popularity it enjoys today.
On Aug. 9, 1988, after helping Edmonton capture a fourth Stanley Cup and winning a second Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles in one of the biggest sports deals in history. Gretzky and teammates Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski were dealt to Los Angeles for center Jimmy Carson, left wing Martin Gelinas, three future first-round draft choices and cash. His first season in a Kings uniform was an unqualified success, as the team finished with the most-improved record in the NHL (42-31-7) and placed second in the Smythe Division. Gretzky finished second in League scoring with 168 points (54-114-168) and won his ninth Hart Trophy.
Gretzky reminisced Friday about "going to LA, being part of an adventure to help bring this game to new heights."
That August day would change forever the NHL landscape in the United States. Gretzky joined a Kings team that had averaged just over 10,000 fans per game in its 21-year history. With Gretzky as the star attraction, hockey became one of the hottest tickets in pro sports in California. By 1991, the team would become the only franchise in Southern California to sell out every home game for an entire season. Hockey’s success in a warm-weather environment paved the way for acceptance of the sport in America’s Sun Belt.
On April 28, 1992, Gretzky’s Kings were eliminated in a six-game opening-round playoff series by the Edmonton Oilers. It would be the Great One’s last NHL game for more than eight months as a debilitating back injury, a herniated thoracic disk, would call into question whether Gretzky ever would be able to return. Experts said he would be out of hockey for at least a year, but by early December, Gretzky had resumed skating; on Jan. 6, 1993, he was back in the Kings lineup for his 1,000th career game, assisting on two Kings goals in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Despite the eight-month layoff, Gretzky would rebound to register 65 points (16-49-65) in just 45 games and would lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals for the only time in franchise history. Despite the loss in five games to the Montreal Canadiens, Gretzky proved he was back at the top of his game by registering 40 points in 24 post-season games.
Concluding the 1993-94 season, Gretzky captured his 10th and final Art Ross Trophy and added his fourth Lady Byng Trophy -- marking his 10th multiple-award campaign. He also received the Lester Patrick Trophy recognizing his outstanding contribution to hockey in the United States. In 1994-95, Gretzky led the Kings in scoring for the sixth time in seven seasons before being traded to the St. Louis Blues. On Feb. 27, 1996, Gretzky went to the Blues in exchange for left wing Craig Johnson, center Roman Vopat, center Patrice Tardif and two draft choices. As the Blues top scorer, he recorded 102 points (23 goals, 79 assists), reaching the 100-point plateau for the 15th time in his career.
On July 12, 1996, Gretzky signed with the New York Rangers, joining his former Edmonton Oilers teammate Mark Messier. He made an immediate impact in New York, posting a 15-game scoring streak in his first month with the club. He recorded 97 points as the Rangers’ top scorer and tallied a League leading 72 assists, tying the club’s single season record for assists by a center.
In 1998 Gretzky realized a dream by competing for Canada at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. He concluded the year with his seventh selection to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team and was named a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship. He led the League in assists once again with 67, including the 1,851st of his career, which made his assists total greater than any other player’s career points total. The 1998-99 season saw Gretzky build his grand totals to 894 goals and 1,962 assists for 2,856 points in 1,486 career games, capping a lifetime of thrills and achievement.
As a five-year-old, the Brantford, Ontario native was good enough to play on a 10-and-under team and even managed to score a goal. Four years later, a 10-year-old Gretzky finished the 1971-72 season with 378 goals and 120 assists in 69 games in the Brantford atom league.
Such was the advanced billing as Gretzky arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to play for the Greyhounds for his first and only full year of major junior hockey in 1977. Selected third in the annual midget draft by Sault Ste. Marie behind Tom McCarthy and Paul Reinhart, the 16-year-old Gretzky justified the Greyhounds' faith in him, scoring six goals in his first game and proceeding to take OHA Rookie of the Year honors, recording totals of 70-112--182 for the season.
The next year, on June 13, 1978, the 17-year-old Gretzky signed a contract with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association. Just eight games into the season, Gretzky was sold to the rival Edmonton Oilers along with Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll. On Jan. 5, 1979, Gretzky realized a lifelong dream by centering his childhood idol Gordie Howe and son Mark on the WHA All-Star Team against the touring Moscow Dynamo club from the Soviet Union. He finished the 1978-79 season with 110 points and was named the league's Rookie of the Year.
Both Gretzky and the Oilers made their NHL debuts in Chicago on Oct. 10, 1979 against the Blackhawks. Although the Oilers lost, the 18-year-old Gretzky recorded his first NHL point, an assist on Kevin Lowe's goal at 9:49 of the first period. Four nights later, in Edmonton's third game of the season, Gretzky beat Vancouver Canucks' goaltender Glen Hanlon to score his first NHL goal, on a power play at 18:51 of the third period. Gretzky finished the season with 137 points (51-86-137) and won the first of eight consecutive Hart Trophies as the most valuable player to his team.
Over the next eight seasons with the Oilers, from 1980-81 through 1987-88, Gretzky eclipsed even the lofty pace set in his rookie year, averaging nearly 192 points per season. Included were many record-shattering performances, such as: scoring 50 goals in his team's first 39 games in 1981-82; a consecutive point-scoring streak of 51 games to start the 1983-84 season; setting an all-time scoring record for the playoffs with 47 points in 1984-85 and setting the all-time regular-season mark with 215 points in 1985-86. The Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Finals five times, capturing the Cup four times. In addition, Gretzky was an integral part of the 1984 and 1987 Team Canada squads that won the Canada Cup.
"Everything I've done and everything I have in life, I owe to the NHL and the game of hockey," Gretzky said.
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