GRETZKY : The BIG League's.

In this section I am just giving the reader an opportunity to follow Wayne's professional career in brief. Elsewhere I have provided links to an in-depth look at the Great One. Scroll images for Links to brief overviews of each team.

The Great Years in Edmonton On Wayne's 18th birthday he signed a long term personal services contract with the Edmonton Oilers and proceeded to become a fan favorite everywhere. Clicking on the image above will take you to a profile of his Oiler's days. Clicking on the image below will take you to Pt.1 of a three part interview with Wayne.

Here he is with his famous hockey dad Walter.

This has to be one of my all time favorite's of Gretzky. I have always considered him a dancer, a Ballerina on ice. A Baryshkanov on skates if you will.

1988 - The Mother of All Trades

When rumours started circulating that Wayne would be traded to Los Angeles, no one believed it. Soon it became a reality and the face of hockey was forever changed. Wayne took his charisma and talent to the USA and proceeded to make hockey a popular sport. Salaries escalated and hockey became Big Business for the first time in its history.

He left Edmonton a young man, but soon became both man and legend acheiving milestone after milestone as an LA King; however, another Stanley Cup would elude him for the rest of his career. The closest he came was in 1993 when they went to the finals against Montreal, only to lose 4 games to 1. He became the leading goal scorer and points getter of all time while in LA. A special moment was when he broke Gordie Howe's record in Edmonton. The photo above is from that night.

1995-1996 St. Louis Blow's It Big Time.

Can you imagine acquiring the Greatest Hockey Player of all time and then not signing him to a contract? Enter the St. Louis Blue's: I hunch this is a part of Wayne's career he could have done with out! He also took heat from the press for wanting out of the King's organization, and as usual 99 took it all in stride.

Wayne had been looking forward to playing with great friend Brett Hull, but, when a contract offer was renaged on during his short stay, Gretzky decided to join Mark Messier in New York.

New York Rangers

Mark Messier was prominent in bringing Wayne to New York in 1996. What you may not know is that the Great One almost landed in Vancouver. Apparently the deal fell through at the last minute due to incompetence on the part of the Canuck Organization. Ironically, just a year later Mark headed to Vancouver and Wayne was once again without his boyhood friend. Almost as if their reunion was jinxed, Mark returned to the Rangers just after Wayne retired.

Phoenix Coyotes: Co-Ownership

Wayne had been retired less than one year when he became co-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. When asked if he would consider co-ownership, he suggested that the Uniforms be changed. The new ones are featured below.

If you would like to comment on this entry or anything else for that matter, click on the Gretzky image below. The link takes you to a guestbook.