Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky CCis a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey Leaguefor four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. He is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and more assists than any other player. He scored more assists than any other player scored total points,...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth26 January 1961
CityBrantford, Canada
CountryCanada
Hopefully, they can come up with a compromise that everyone's happy with because it would be great to see us keep playing hockey.
The Rangers are the most loved/hated team in hockey. I know from playing there that anywhere they go, city to city, whether it's Miami or Dallas or Chicago or Phoenix, the Rangers have a tremendous following of New Yorkers.
He works harder than any athlete I've ever been around as far as off-season conditioning goes. He's a maniac . . . I see him playing another three years no question. He could be our ( Julio ) Franco .
There's no bubble for Stevie Y. If he's not playing great, and his knee is bothering him, he'd be the first guy to tell me.
We're here for a little bit of a tour for four or five days, just to get together and kind of talk about the season. The players everybody is talking about are all playing well, and decisions are very difficult. No matter what we do, there is going to be a controversy.
It's not a question of shutting him (Thornton) down. It's a question of playing against him hard and our guys have played against him hard, and we played against him hard.
I like how hard this team played (on the trip) and how unselfish it was. . . . We're playing as a group and that's most important. The outcomes have been better because we're playing better as a group.
I felt like the last three days I've defended myself over something that absolutely and unequivocally never happened, that I was not involved with. The three days have been horrible and I'm too tired, mentally and physically to talk any more about it. There's nothing for me to talk about.
It is kind of ironic how when I broke into professional hockey at 17 I was told that I was too small, and too slow, and that I wouldn't make it to the NHL. And now it has flip-flopped,
I watched how fast he skated and how hard he shot that puck. I wish I had an extra No. 7 in a red jersey. I could have found a spot for him on my power play.
I watched him and how much he enjoyed it. His success was probably a factor on my wanting to be a coach.
I will say it one more time, I said it the other night, I didn't bet, it didn't happen, it's not going to happen, it hasn't happened, it's not something that I've done.
I basically told him he's been a big part of our team, and we're not going to just give him away; we're not going to loan him to any team. I was honest with him. If we were offered a couple of really good, young players that would help us for a long time we'd have to seriously consider it . . . . But we're not phoning people, we're not calling teams. At this point in time, I don't anticipate moving Curtis.
His records speak for themselves. He's a consummate professional.