This jersey was also a basis for the uniforms worn by Wayne Gretzky's team of NHLPA All-Stars, nicknamed the " 99ers ", for their exhibition tour in Europe during the 1994 – 95 NHL lockout ; a picture of Gretzky in this jersey was used for the cover art of a video game bearing his name.

Gretzky also became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed " Gretzky's office " because of his adept skills in that area.

The Canadian Press also named Gretzky Newsmaker of the Year in 1982.

The following seasons saw Gretzky break his own assists record three more times ( 125 in 1982 – 83, 135 in 1984 – 85, and 163 in 1985 – 86 ); he also bettered that mark ( 120 assists ) in 1986 – 87 with 121 and 1990 – 91 with 122, and his point record one more time ( 215, in 1985 – 86 ).

The Oilers also won the Cup with Gretzky in, and.

Veteran Canadian journalist Peter Gzowski says that Gretzky also seemed to be able to, in effect, slow down time.

Gretzky also excelled at baseball and box lacrosse, which he played during the summer.

Also in Edmonton, the local transit authority assigned a rush-hour bus route numbered No. 99 which also runs on Wayne Gretzky Drive for its commute.

Gretzky is also a partner in First Team Sports, a maker of sports equipment and Worldwide Roller Hockey, Inc., an operator of roller hockey rinks.

* On August 9, 1988, in what became the biggest trade in NHL history ( also known as " The Trade Of The Century "), Wayne Gretzky was traded along with teammates Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski from Edmonton to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Martin Gelinas, Jimmy Carson, three first round draft picks, and $ 15 million cash ( approximately $ 18 million CAD in 1988 ).

Gretzky also became the youngest player in NHL history to score one thousand points.

Gretzky also set records for assists ( 163 ) and points ( 215 ).

* Held record for most assists in one NHL season from 1970 to 1981 ( 87 in 1969 – 70, which he surpassed in 1970 – 71 with 102 ; broken by Wayne Gretzky and also bettered by Mario Lemieux )

It is also the birthplace of hockey player Wayne Gretzky, comedian Phil Hartman, as well as Group of Seven member Lawren Harris.

His play during his first NHL season earned him comparisons to Wayne Gretzky for his vision and Pavel Bure for his speed, while also earning accolades from Gretzky himself.

In the past, Suter was also accused of intentionally injuring Wayne Gretzky during a game between Canada and the United States in the 1991 Canada Cup.

His omission was singled out by the media ; general manager Wayne Gretzky, who selected the camp's participants, explained publicly, " Paul is a great player, but at some point you have to have a cutoff ," while also asserting that he had spoken to Kariya personally regarding the situation.

Of those fourteen, only Lafleur, Gretzky, Lemieux, Jagr, St. Louis, Crosby, Ovechkin, and Malkin have also won the Art Ross Trophy for the same season and completed a Hart-Pearson-Art Ross sweep.

Heatley also set the record for being the youngest player to score a hat trick in the All-Star Game, a record previously held by the Edmonton Oilers ' Wayne Gretzky.

He was also taken to breakfast by Wayne Gretzky in an attempt to convince Roenick to play for the Hull Olympiques, a QMJHL team that Gretzky owned.

* Named to play in the All-Star Game for the 19th consecutive season, passing Wayne Gretzky for the league record, 2001 ; Bourque also appeared in the All-Star Game in every season that it was held during his career ( there was no game in 1987 or 1995 ).

Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky also appeared as a special guest, helping to raise the Canadian flag.

He served as Kings team captain during the 1992 – 93 ( while Wayne Gretzky was injured ) and for the final two games of the 2005 – 06 season.

According to Walter, Gretzky was being " shopped " to Los Angeles, Detroit, New York and Vancouver.

After the 1996 – 97 season, Mark Messier signed a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, ending the brief reunion of Messier and Gretzky after just one season.

However, VANOC secretly built a second outdoor cauldron next to the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre, and Gretzky was secretly chosen to light this permanent cauldron.

Quickly word spread through the downtown Vancouver area that Gretzky was indeed the final torchbearer, and very soon a crush of people came running after the police escort to cheer Gretzky on and hopefully catch a glimpse of him carrying the torch to the outdoor cauldron.

In Vancouver 2010, four athletes — Catriona LeMay Doan, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Nancy Greene — were given the honor of lighting the flame simultaneously ( indoor ) before Wayne Gretzky transferred the flame to an outdoor cauldron at Vancouver's waterfront.

On February 12, 2010 Nancy Greene lit the Vancouver Olympic cauldron along with fellow Canadian sport icons Steve Nash, Rick Hansen, Catriona Le May Doan and Wayne Gretzky.

Although public sentiment sided with Messier, as he led the team to two first-place regular season finishes and the Stanley Cup, General Manager Neil Smith figured out that he had Gretzky and Pat LaFontaine as top centermen, and he came close to signing Joe Sakic from the Colorado Avalanche At 36 years old, Messier signed with the Vancouver Canucks to a high-priced free agent contract, where he would be reunited with Mike Keenan, who was the Rangers ' head coach in 1994, who would be hired as the Canucks ' general manager and head coach early in the 1997 – 98 season.

In accordance with the teams colors and matching the socks, they are usually emblazoned with the team's logo on the front, the player's last name on the upper back ( with the first initial in cases of teammates with the same family name, such as Henrik and Daniel Sedin, teammates with the Vancouver Canucks ), and a designated number below, from 0 to 99 ( in the NHL, 98 is the highest number allowed, subsequent to the league retirement of number 99 to honor Wayne Gretzky ).

In Vancouver, on 6 October, the Queen, accompanied by Wayne Gretzky, and in front of a crowd of 18, 000 at General Motors Place, dropped the ceremonial first puck for the National Hockey League exhibition game between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks ; this was the first time any reigning monarch, Canadian or otherwise, had performed the task.

At 16, in his single year at the major junior level, Gretzky surpassed the OMJHL single-season scoring record, winning the OMJHL Rookie of the Year and Most Sportsmanlike awards.

After winning the first game of the series by a score of 4 – 1, the team lost the next three games in overtime, and then fell 4 – 1 in the deciding fifth game where Gretzky failed to get a shot on net.

Moments later, Gretzky scored the winning goal to stave off elimination.

Despite this, though, he struggled in the playoffs and earned the ire of Canuck fans when he asked his idol Wayne Gretzky for a game stick immediately following the team's ouster from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Kings, an action fans felt symbolized the lack of commitment to winning from a player who scored just 3 goals in 28 playoff games as a Canuck.

The next season, after winning their third Stanley Cup, Oilers Captain Wayne Gretzky chose to hand the cup to Smith before any others.

The Whalers, although seeded # 2, easily won the Wayne Gretzky Trophy as Western Conference playoff champion, sweeping # 7 Guelph, and winning in 5 against both # 3 Kitchener and # 1 London.

While with the Vipers, he scored the winning goal in an exhibition game against Wayne Gretzky's Ninety-Niners, an all-star team put together by Gretzky during the 1994 NHL lockout.

The 20-year-old Smith beat out 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky ( 182 points ) for that year's OMJHL scoring title, while also winning the Red Tilson Trophy as the OMJHL's most outstanding player and was voted the CHL Player of the Year for the entire Canadian Hockey League.

The most notable individual performers were Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers, who broke Bobby Orr's single season assist record and Phil Esposito's point mark for a new record of 164 points, winning his second of an unmatched eight straight Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player, as well as Mike Bossy, who became only the second man in NHL history to score 50 goals in his first 50 games.

Portions of " Dream Weaver " were first sampled in a short film appearing in the 1990 Wayne's World episode of Saturday Night Live, in which guest star Wayne Gretzky appears, and Wayne is picturing that song playing as he imagines himself defeating Gretzky in street hockey and then winning his wife, Janet Jones.