From a simple backyard rink in Canada, a young Wayne Gretzky began a journey that would redefine greatness on ice. Known universally as “The Great One,” this undersized prodigy, blessed with an unparalleled vision for the game, didn’t just dominate hockey for two decades; he captured hearts with his humble spirit. His story transcends sports, detailing how a Canadian legend, after achieving every imaginable record, ultimately chose to make America his home and became a naturalized citizen, ready to write his next chapter.
When Gretzky made his historic move to the Los Angeles Kings, he sparked a revolution, popularizing hockey in sunny California and beyond, attracting new fans and stars alike. His arrival didn’t just transform a team; it helped to grow the sport across the entire United States, leaving an indelible mark on NHL history. Join us as we explore how Canada’s cherished prince became a true American icon, proving that with talent, heart, and a pioneering spirit, anyone can leave an unforgettable legacy in Our American Stories.
📖 Read the Episode Transcript
Speaker 2: Although Canada is not a monarchy, this man is considered their prince. He dominated a sport for 20 years without any of the physical skills needed to even play in the National Hockey League. Yet he is known as the Great One. I’m one Edmonton right back to Grete.
Speaker 3: He’s gone.
Speaker 2: He’s hockey’s biggest star and a Canadian hero. But he’s also the husband of an American. He married actress Janet Jones in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen soon after. Wayne Gretzky, born January 26, 1961, played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League. He is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and more assists than any other player. Think about this: He tallied more assists than any other player has scored in total points. That’s goals and assists combined, and he is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. Gretzky was born and raised in Brantford, Ontario. Each year when the cold sit in, his backyard was converted into a private hockey rink, day, night, and countless pre-dawns. A frail, undersized boy practiced while his father watched through the kitchen window, drinking coffee and issuing drills that looked like they came more from a chess instructor than a hockey coach. Pure talent and desire lifted the prodigy to organized hockey at the age of six. From there, it was a short leap for full coast-to-coast fame. Here’s Gretzky’s biographer, Rick Riley.
Speaker 3: He lived a life like none of us can imagine. He could skate before he could walk, and he became this sort of human icon in Canada. At 10 years old, he was swamped by other ten-year-olds for autographs. By 13, he was on National Hockey Night in Canada. So he’s grown up, sort of like John F. Kennedy Jr. He’s been the Prince of Canada.
Speaker 2: How could this young kid achieve such success in a country where every kid is born with skates on their feet? Take a look at these numbers given to us by Jim Taylor of the Calgary Sun.
Speaker 4: In his nine- and ten-year-old year, he scored 195 goals, and the people in the town said, “Yeah, well, Willie gets in the next day, he’ll never score 195 again.” And they were right. The next year he scored 378.
Speaker 2: From an early age, the Great One earned his nickname not just for his on-ice superiority, but also for his off-ice humility. Here’s his childhood buddy, Brian Risetto.
Speaker 3: I used to come home and I’d score a goal and I’d be doing cartwheels, and he’d come home and they’d win 13 to 1.
Speaker 2: I’d say, “How’d you do this? Is we won? Listens you get any goals? Yeah?”
Speaker 4: How many?
Speaker 3: Eleven?
Speaker 2: And that’s the way he was. When Gretzky turned 14, he began playing in the minor leagues with guys who were in their 20s, and he dominated there too.
Speaker 3: Here’s a kid that weighed 170 pounds soaking plays. If you got into an armress in competition, you could probably drag a couple of girls out of the stands that would beat him. Gretz was not that fast. Fact, he was slow, and not that strong. Fact, he was weak, you know, and not that big, fact, he was tiny. He was always dead. Laughed in a conditioning growth, he benched a buck forty. I mean, you almost don’t need barbells, you know, just do the bar.
Speaker 4: I said, “This guy looks like an anorexic rock star.” He’s the least athletic-looking, personally. These little pipe cleaner arms.
Speaker 3: But there was something about him that he just had this sixth sense. He knew people, he could see shadows, he could feel movement.
Speaker 4: He said.
Speaker 3: It was almost like having déjà vu all the time.
Speaker 2: The average guy in the league thinks one play ahead, the superstars think two plays ahead, and Gretzky thinks three plays ahead. In 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, where he briefly played before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. As an Oiler, he established many scoring record and led his team to four Stanley Cup championships. Ben Wayne met wife Janet at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 1987, and on July 16th, 1988, married in a lavish ceremony at Saint Joseph’s Basilica that was broadcast live across Canada. Immediately after the wedding, Gretzky received his American citizenship. Just days after that, on August 9th, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
Speaker 5: It’s the biggest trade in sports history.
Speaker 2: He wasn’t a rookie, he wasn’t over the hill. He was in his prime. His trade to the Kings had an immediate impact on the team’s performance, eventually leading them to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, and he is credited with popularizing hockey across the United States. Let’s take a look back at his trade to the Los Angeles Kings. Canada lost their Prince, but America received the sun.
Speaker 4: Here in Los Angeles, nobody cares about anything, let alone hockey.
Speaker 2: But all of a sudden, the right people were going and was the end thing to do.
Speaker 6: We were bringing Ronald Reagan before the games to give us pep talks and Sylvesters Donald came before the game.
Speaker 3: They give us pep talks.
Speaker 2: What an impact it made on this team!
Speaker 5: Sale of Jack’s camps jerseys went from dead last to number 1 of all sports teams.
Speaker 4: He reinvented the Los Angeles Kings and got Hollywood and media corporations involved and interested in hockey, which is carried over till today.
Speaker 1: Wayne going to Los Angeles not only saved hockey in California and saved the NHL.
Speaker 2: Gretzky played briefly for the Saint Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers. His retirement in the Big Apple was a heavy-hearted goodbye that was felt across the world.
Speaker 1: Here’s a look back: Gretzky looking, Garick Curry, Nick Sorley to Gretzky.
Speaker 2: But granted school score, that’s not so hockey like a got three.
Speaker 5: That’s why Gretsch Gretzky is the Babe Ruth of his sport. Gretzky as an individual stood above his contemporaries to an even greater extent than did Michael Jordan.
Speaker 4: If you compare a statistic to any other sports, I mean, you know, he would have somebody would have to come next year and hit 95 of them runs.
Speaker 3: Or something like that.
Speaker 4: This is definitely the greatest player to ever played the game. You could almost see a smile come on his face the minute he stepped on the ice because that’s where he could be.
Speaker 2: Wayne Gretzky do what he enjoyed the most.
Speaker 3: I think what Gretz did for hockey can never be forgotten. He changed the game. He gave it grace, he gave it space, he gave it speed, he gave it artistry. The further he gets from us more, we’ll see what he did never be accomplished again.
Speaker 1: He basically took a league on his shoulders and carried them to a place that nobody, and I mean nobody, 20 years ago, whatever thought hockey would be right now.
Speaker 6: He was the last hockey player who came from the game that was part of us.
Speaker 4: Ladies and gentlemen, will now say these words for the last time ever.
Speaker 3: In this building, hockey fans: Tonight’s first Star, nine Wait read speaker ultil.
Speaker 6: I’ve always said it, and I’m not the first person to say this, but he’s always been a better person than he has been a hockey player. When you really get to know, then you know why they call.
Speaker 2: Him the Great One. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only player to receive this honor. “He’s made the record book obsolete,” said former Minnesota general manager Lou Nanny. “His only point of reference is himself.”
Speaker 1: Did a terrific job by the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And indeed there was no one ever like him; there may never be one like him again. By the age of 10, he’s signing autographs in Canada as a hockey star, and then of course that moved to the L.A. Kings, which saved hockey in America and indeed made hockey in America. I love that line: “Canada lost their Prince, America received our son.” The story of Wayne Gretzky here on our American Stories.
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