* 1981 – In the 39th game of his 3rd NHL season Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals giving him 50 on the year setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games.

By the age of ten, Gretzky had scored 378 goals and 139 assists in just one season with the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers.

Marie Greyhounds selected Gretzky, even though Walter Gretzky had told the team that Wayne would not move to Sault Ste.

Skalbania offered to play a game of backgammon with Winnipeg owner Michael Gobuty, the stakes being if Gobuty won, he would get Gretzky and if he lost, he had to give Skalbania a share of the Jets.

In the first game of the 1981 playoffs versus the Montreal Canadiens, Gretzky had five assists.

Walter had known for months, but kept it from Gretzky so as not to upset him.

According to Gretzky, Pocklington needed money as his other business ventures were not doing well ( a similar reason to the cause of Babe Ruth being sold to the New York Yankees ), and had gone " sour " on Gretzky and wanted to move him.

After the details of the trade were finalized by McNall and Pocklington, one final condition had to be met: Gretzky had to call Pocklington and request a trade.

Long before then, running out of time and looking for a team with which he could win again, Gretzky had been traded from the Kings at his request.

Gretzky has called the tournament the best hockey he had played in his life.

However, Gretzky denied that he had any exotic innate abilities.

Walter Gretzky had played Junior B hockey, but was slowed by chicken pox and failed in a tryout for the Junior A Toronto Marlboros, ending his playing career.

Gretzky would later remark that the Soviet National Team's practice drills, which impressed Canada in 1972, had nothing to offer him: " I'd been doing these drills since I was three.

" In 1980, an exercise physiologist tested all of the Edmonton Oilers, and when he saw the results of Gretzky ’ s test of recuperative abilities, he said " he thought the machine had broken.

But Gretzky himself dispelled the rumor at the end of one grueling season with the Edmonton Oilers, in which he had suffered a mild concussion as a result of what writer Michael Benson called a " cheap shot " from Winnipeg Jets star centre Dale Hawerchuk.

In 2002, the Kings held a jersey retirement ceremony and erected a life-sized statue of Gretzky outside the Staples Center ; the ceremony was delayed until then so that Bruce McNall, who had recently finished a prison sentence, could attend.

Bidders for the club had indicated that Gretzky would no longer be associated with the team after it emerged from bankruptcy, and on September 24, 2009, Gretzky stepped down as head coach and head of hockey operations of the Coyotes.

Although Gretzky had previously stated he would not participate in any " old-timers exhibition games ", on November 22, 2003, he took to the ice one last time to help celebrate the Edmonton Oilers ' 25th anniversary as an NHL team.

For the first season that Gretzky played in Los Angeles, the Kings had their training camp at the Olympiques ' arena.

The next year, although the Islanders had won three straight Stanley Cups, more attention was being paid to the upstart Edmonton Oilers, whose young superstar Wayne Gretzky had just shattered existing scoring records.

" Gretzky, who weighed far less than the NHL average, adroitly applied this technique as a professional player, avoiding checks with such skill that a rumour circulated that there was an unwritten rule not to hit him.

Oilers players such as Gretzky and Mark Messier said that they realized at that moment how much it would actually take to win the Stanley Cup.

SLM purchased Kevin Sports Toys International Inc. ( the maker of the Wayne Gretzky NHL hockey game ), Norca Industries Inc. ( a plastic toy manufacturer of such products as swimming pools, sleds, and sandboxes ), and Innova-Dex Sports Inc. of Montreal ( a bicycle helmet manufacturer ).

) He was also the fastest to various other milestones such as 200 ( 255 GP ), 300 ( 381 GP ), 400 ( 506 GP ) and 500 ( 647 GP ) goals at the time he achieved them, but Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have since surpassed these marks.

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 ).

Eric Lindros was named captain over longtime leaders such as Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, and Ray Bourque ( Clarke at the time was general manager of Lindros's NHL team, the Philadelphia Flyers ).

After the Stanley Cup win in 1990, the Oilers were no longer a powerhouse ( they last won the division title in 1986 – 87 ) as key players such as Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, and Esa Tikkanen left to seek higher salaries elsewhere ( caused in part by the Gretzky trade in 1988 ), the high turnover often being attributed to owner Peter Pocklington's cost-cutting moves.

He also brought in skill players such as, Jim Duhart, who led the UHL in scoring the previous season, former National Hockey League ( NHL ) player Brent Gretzky, and Michael Rupp, who played for the team during the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout.

Investures can also be delayed, such as in the case of Wayne Gretzky, who was appointed to the grade of Officer in 1984 for his outstanding contributions to the game of hockey.

The protection offered by Semenko allowed Edmonton's stars, such as Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, and Paul Coffey more freedom on the ice, greatly helping the Oilers win Stanley Cups in 1984 and 1985.

" Gretzky ’ s ability to improvise came into the spotlight at the 1998 Olympics in Japan.

In January 1996, Kariya finished as a runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the inaugural Jean Beliveau Award, an annual distinction from Hockey Canada for players who have demonstrated " outstanding playing ability and international experience while maintaining the fundamentals of sportsmanship and fair play.

Gretzky has made several TV appearances, including a Dance Fever celebrity judge, and an ' unforgettable appearance ', acting in a dramatic role along side with Victor Newman in The Young and The Restless in 1981.

While serving as a celebrity judge on Dance Fever, Gretzky met his future wife, American actress Janet Jones.

Jones met Gretzky when he was a judge on Merv Griffin's show Dance Fever in 1984.

Gretzky became accustomed to the position after watching and studying Bobby Clarke play in that zone.

On September 24, 2009, Tippett took over the coaching duties of the Phoenix Coyotes after Wayne Gretzky resigned from the position earlier that day.

At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last WHA player still active in professional hockey, Mark Messier, who himself attended the game along with other representatives of the Edmonton dynasty, being the last.

However, Gretzky, was passed over for the captaincy, along with several other Canadian veterans including Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque in favour of the younger Eric Lindros.

" Gretzky said he sensed other players more than he actually saw them.

In a poll of sports fans conducted by ABC Sports, Thorpe was voted the Greatest Athlete of the Twentieth Century out of 15 other athletes including Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, Wayne Gretzky, Jack Nicklaus, and Michael Jordan.

Gretzky, Bobby Hull, and Martin St. Louis are the other players who have won these three awards in their career, though not in the same season, while Bobby and Brett Hull are the only father-son combination to win the Hart and Lady Byng trophies.

Hockey player Wayne Gretzky has won the Lou Marsh Trophy four times, more than any other athlete.

Wayne Gretzky has won the trophy four times, more than any other athlete, while Barbara Ann Scott has won the trophy three times, more than any other woman.

Wayne Gretzky led the league four times and the only other players to lead more than once are two-time leaders John LeClair and Chris Pronger.

This also coincided with the arrival of Wayne Gretzky in Los Angeles, which greatly increased the profile of the building's other tenant, the Kings.

Pocklington purchased Gretzky and two other Indianapolis players, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll, paying a reported $ 700, 000 for the contracts of the three players, although the announced price was $ 850, 000.

The estate purchased from Gretzky was riddled with water damage, torn up flooring, and missing toilets, among other things.

Hockey commentators alternatively criticized Crawford's decision ( Bourque, like the other four Canadian shooters, failed to score ) and praised it on the grounds that Bourque was one of hockey's most accurate shooters at the time and Gretzky had always been surprisingly mediocre on breakaways.

Three-time winner Wayne Gretzky has won the award the most times out of any player and two-time winners John LeClair and Chris Pronger are the only other repeat winners of the award.

Carson demanded a trade out of Edmonton in November 1989 because among other reasons he could not handle the pressure of being expected to replace Wayne Gretzky.

Hockey player Wayne Gretzky has won the Lou Marsh Trophy four times, more than any other athlete.

Hollywood actors and other celebrities were also attended, including Mr. Reagan's first wife, actress Jane Wyman, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Dolores Hope ( widow of Bob Hope ), Merv Griffin, Tommy Lasorda, Wayne Gretzky, Scott Baio, Bo Derek, Tom Selleck, Pat Sajak, Wayne Newton, and the Sinatra family.

Despite the fairy tale aspect, the world is essentially equivalent to ours, with references to Star Trek, the internet, Wayne Gretzky, and many other recognizable people, things or ideas.

In interviews, Walter Gretzky has stated that his parents were Belarusians, while on other occasions he has mentioned his family's Polish ancestry.

Cam Neely ( 1993 – 94 ) of the Boston Bruins scored his 50th goal in his 44th game ( his team's 66th game ) — tied with Lemieux's 88-89 season for the fastest by any player other than Gretzky.

The tournament also was the only time in a meaningful contest that the two most dominant NHL players of the last quarter century, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, played on the same forward unit, combining with each other on 29 % of Team Canada's goals.