Anton Gretzky has been described as having " been born in Russia with Ukrainian forebears ", while " the only Slavic language spoken in the Gretzky family Ukrainian ".

Set by Maurice " Rocket " Richard during the 1944 – 45 NHL season and tied by Mike Bossy during the 1980 – 81 NHL season, Gretzky accomplished the feat in only 39 games.

For only the second time in his NHL career, Gretzky finished second in scoring, but narrowly beat out Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux ( who scored 199 points ) for the Hart Trophy as MVP.

Gretzky was sidelined for much of the 1992 – 93 regular season with an upper back injury, the only year in which he did not lead his team in scoring.

Gretzky was having difficulty scoring this season and finished with only nine goals, contributing to this being the only season in which he failed to average at least a point per game, but his last goal brought his scoring total for his combined NHL / WHA career to 1, 072, one more than Howe.

It was only after this game, after returning to New York that Gretzky announced his retirement, before the Rangers ' last game of the season.

According to Gretzky himself, he always finished dead last in peripheral vision, flexibility and strength, and could only bench press.

The loss of Gretzky had an immediate impact in 1988 – 89, as the Oilers were only able to finish in third place in their division.

Messier had 45 goals and 84 assists for 129 points, good for second in the NHL scoring race ( behind only Gretzky ).

Orr is behind only Wayne Gretzky and ahead of Gordie Howe as well as being named the top defenceman of all time.

Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers teammate Mark Messier are the only players to win the Hart Trophy with more than one team.

Gretzky is the only player to win the trophy for more than one team and Joe Thornton is the only player to win it while playing for two different teams in one season.

From 1963 to 2001, Marcel Dionne and Bryan Trottier were the only single-time winners of the scoring title, while Stan Mikita, Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr had won it on multiple occasions.

For two decades, from 1980 to 2001, only three players won the Art Ross Trophy — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr.

On July 3, 2006, Yzerman officially retired, finishing his career ranked as the sixth all-time leading scorer in NHL history, having scored a career-high 155 points ( 65 goals / 90 assists ) in 1988 – 89 which has been bettered only by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

During the 1988 – 89 season Yzerman recorded 155 points ( 65 goals / 90 assists ), a total that only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have surpassed.

Gilmour finished the postseason with 35 points, second behind only Gretzky.

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.

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.

* The highest jersey number allowed in the National Hockey League, as 99 was retired by the entire league to honor Wayne Gretzky and major-league sports only allow one-or two-digit uniform numbers.

As of 2011, he stands ninth all-time in career points-per-game and fourth all-time in career assists-per-game in the NHL, only behind Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.

Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky honed his skills at a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers.

Gretzky played briefly for the St. Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers.

Gretzky's first team, at age six, was a team of ten-year-olds, starting a pattern where Gretzky always played at a level far above his peers through his minor hockey years.

Although Gretzky played 79 games to Dionne's 80, Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy since he scored more goals ( 53 vs. 51 ).

When Pocklington revealed his plans to trade Gretzky to Oilers general manager and head coach Glen Sather, Sather went to work trying to stop the trade, but, when he found out Gretzky played a part in it, he changed his attitude to GM as he requested Luc Robitaille in exchange.

During the 1994 – 95 NHL lockout, Gretzky and some friends ( including Mark Messier, Marty McSorley, Brett Hull, and Steve Yzerman ) formed the Ninety Nine All Stars Tour and played some exhibition games in various countries.

Gretzky ended his professional playing career with the New York Rangers, where he played his final three seasons and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997.

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

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

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

Gretzky was upset that former teammate Ron Low played for what he considered an inferior team, and in a post-game interview said:

Howe had played in five decades of All-Star Games and he would skate alongside the second-youngest to ever play in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky.

Wayne Gretzky has since passed him in goals ( 1, 072 ), assists ( 2, 297 ), and points ( 3, 369 ), but not games played ( 1, 767 ) or games played with one team ( 1, 687 ).

The latter fact was perhaps most prominent when in 1979 – 80, first-year phenom Wayne Gretzky was not eligible to win the Calder Trophy despite scoring 137 points ( the previous rookie record at the time being 95 ), because he had played a full season the previous year in the World Hockey Association.

Four Hockey Hall of Fame inductees played junior hockey for the Petes: Bob Gainey, Wayne Gretzky, Larry Murphy and Steve Yzerman.

Outside the arena at the Star Plaza are statues of Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson, although both sports legends played at The Forum, where the Kings, Lakers and Sparks previously played.

Francis stands second all-time in career assists behind Wayne Gretzky with 1, 249, fourth in career points ( 1, 798 ), third in games played ( 1, 731 ), and twenty-first in career goals ( 549 ).

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Jari Kurri faced Gretzky on ice for the last time, when Finland and Canada played for the Olympic bronze medal in Nagano.

Wayne Gretzky, who also played box lacrosse in his youth, argued that the skills Nieuwendyk learned dodging opposing players in that sport aided his development as a hockey player.

He was named to the team by executive director Wayne Gretzky as he looked to bring a younger team to this tournament than played at the 2002 Winter Olympics.