However, in an era when Wayne Gretzky was scoring 200 points a season, Federko never got the attention many felt he deserved.

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.

In addition to being its greatest scorer, Gretzky was the most gentlemanly superstar in the modern history of the NHL.

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.

Tony and Mary owned a cucumber farm in Canning, Ontario where Walter Gretzky was born and raised and where he met Wayne's mother, Phyllis Hockin.

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.

According to Martin, " Wayne was so good that you could have a boy of your own who was a tremendous hockey player, and he'd get overlooked because of what the Gretzky kid was doing.

When Gretzky was 14, his family arranged for him to move to and play hockey in Toronto, partly to further his career, and partly to remove him from the uncomfortable pressure he faced in his hometown.

Birmingham Bulls owner John F. Bassett wanted to confront the NHL by signing as many young and promising superstars as possible and saw Gretzky as the most promising young prospect, but it was Racers owner Nelson Skalbania who signed 17-year-old Gretzky to a seven-year personal services contract worth $ 1. 75 million US.

Skalbania opted to have Gretzky sign a personal-services contract rather than a standard player contract in part because he knew a deal to take some WHA teams into the NHL was in the works.

On the advice of his agent, Gretzky picked Edmonton, but the move was not that simple.

In his first NHL season, 1979 – 80, Gretzky was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the League's Most Valuable Player ( the first of eight in a row ) and tied for the scoring lead with Marcel Dionne with 137 points.

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

Gretzky became the youngest player to score 50 goals but was not eligible for the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the top NHL rookie, because of his previous year of WHA experience.

Gretzky was its captain from 1983 – 88.

Gretzky was named an officer of the Order of Canada on June 25, 1984, for outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey.

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

Gretzky himself was considered a " traitor " by some Canadians for turning his back on his adopted hometown, and his home country ; his motivation was widely rumoured to be the furtherance of his wife's acting career.

" After the 1988 – 89 season, a life-sized bronze statue of Gretzky was erected outside the Northlands Coliseum, holding the Stanley Cup over his head ( picture shown above, to the right ).

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 again acted as Executive Director of Canada's men's hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, though not with the success of 2002 ; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals and failed to win a medal.

* 1967 – Keith Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player

* 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC (; born January 26, 1961 ) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach.

Gretzky became executive director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics, in which the team won a gold medal.

That year, Gretzky became the first hockey player and first Canadian to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

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

After the game, Gretzky took the opportunity to confirm his patriotism: " I'm still proud to be a Canadian.

Gretzky made his first international appearance as a member of the Canadian national junior team at the 1978 World Junior Championships in Montreal, Quebec.

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.

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

Gretzky addressed those comments by saying he spoke out to protect the Canadian players, and the tirade was not " staged ".

In 1991, Gretzky purchased the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League with Bruce McNall and John Candy.

* January 26 – Wayne Gretzky, Canadian hockey player

After Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the network began showing occasional double-headers when Canadian teams visited Los Angeles, in order to give Gretzky more network exposure in Canada.

In 1991, Bruce McNall, Wayne Gretzky, and Candy became co-owners of the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.

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.

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

When Kurri arrived to the Oilers he was soon paired with Wayne Gretzky, a phenomenal Canadian centre and arguably the greatest player of all time.

* Lou Marsh / Canadian Outstanding Athlete of the Year Award ; co-winner, Wayne Gretzky ( 1983 )

The Canadian team, despite a strong start in the round robin, failed to play well after losing their semifinal match, and disappointed Canadians who wished for Wayne Gretzky to get an Olympic medal, playing a lacklustre bronze medal game.

Memorably, during the shootout in their semifinal match against the Czech Republic, Canadian coach Marc Crawford opted to have defenceman Ray Bourque shoot in the shootout instead of high-scoring forwards Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman.

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.

The officer in charge of the investigation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Ben Soave, said " If organized crime was a hockey game, Mr. Caruana would be Gretzky.