Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player known as “The Great One.” In surveys of hockey writers, former players, general managers and coaches, the NHL has called him the greatest ice hockey player of all time. Across 20 NHL seasons, he set records that may never be broken: 2,857 career points and 1,963 career assists, both all-time NHL records. His No. 99 is the only number retired by the entire league.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Wayne Douglas Gretzky |
| Age | 65 years old |
| Date of Birth | January 26, 1961 |
| Birthplace | Brantford, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Former Professional Ice Hockey Player |
| Partner | Janet Jones (wife, married 1988) |
| Children | Five |
| Net Worth | Approx. $250 million |
Who Is Wayne Gretzky?
Wayne Gretzky is widely considered the greatest ice hockey player ever to play the game. Nicknamed “The Great One,” he played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League, from 1979 to 1999, for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. At the time of his retirement, he held 61 NHL records — 40 in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs and six in All-Star competition — and his records for career points (2,857) and assists (1,963) still stand.
Gretzky was not the biggest or the fastest player on the ice. He dominated through vision, anticipation and hockey sense, famously explaining that he skated “to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player nine times, the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion ten times, and four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers. After retiring, he became a team owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and a vice chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group.
Early Life & Background
Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. His father, Walter, built a backyard rink and coached him, and Wayne was a child prodigy: at age six he was playing against 10-year-olds, and at age 10 he scored 378 goals in a single season for the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers. By his early teens, his games were drawing national media attention in Canada, and his family moved so he could play top-level junior hockey.
Gretzky turned professional at 17, signing with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association in 1978, and was traded to the Edmonton Oilers after just eight games. When the WHA folded in 1979, the Oilers joined the NHL, and the 18-year-old Gretzky began one of the most extraordinary careers in sports history.
Career
In his first NHL season, 1979–80, Gretzky tied for the league scoring lead and won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP at age 19. The records came in waves: in 1981–82 he scored 92 goals, a single-season record that still stands, and in 1985–86 he recorded 163 assists and 215 points in a season — both records. He is the only NHL player ever to top 200 points in a season, and he did it four times. In 1983–84, he set a league record with a 51-game point streak.
With the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky won four Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988) alongside Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr, forming one of the greatest dynasties in hockey history. On August 9, 1988, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a blockbuster deal known in Canada as “The Trade,” and his arrival helped grow the sport in the United States. He led the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and later played briefly for the St. Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers, retiring on April 18, 1999.
Gretzky finished with 894 goals — the NHL record for 26 years, until Alex Ovechkin passed him with his 895th on April 6, 2025 — along with 1,963 assists and 2,857 points in 1,487 regular-season games. He won nine Hart Trophies, ten Art Ross Trophies, two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, and was selected to the All-Star Game in all 18 of his NHL seasons in which it was played. The NHL retired his No. 99 league-wide in 2000, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, with the usual waiting period waived. After hockey, he coached and partly owned the Phoenix Coyotes and served as vice chairman of the Oilers Entertainment Group from 2016 to 2021.
Facts About Wayne Gretzky
- Gretzky’s No. 99 is the only number retired league-wide by the NHL.
- He is the only NHL player ever to score more than 200 points in a season — and he did it four times.
- At retirement, Gretzky held 61 NHL records. He still holds the records for career points (2,857) and career assists (1,963).
- He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP nine times and the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion ten times.
- Gretzky scored 378 goals in a single season as a 10-year-old in Brantford, Ontario.