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Wayne Gretzky ​ ​

​By: Abby. Newell Grade six (6s)

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Table of contents

Wayne Gretzky’s teams pg 2 Free time pg 3 Starting hockey pg 4 Family pg 5 Early years pg 6 Retirement Pg 7 Switching teams pg 8 Accomplishments pg 9 Stanley cups pg 10 Personal life pg 11

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​ ​Wayne gretzky’s teams My topic is about a canadian hockey player and his name is Wayne gretzky. His importance to the world is he never gave up hockey. He didn't let anything stand in his way and some hockey players looked up to him for that. I chose this topic because I like hockey. I am not a hockey player but I really like to watch it, and I also picked the topic because I always have wanted to learn more about him. All through Wayne Gretzky played on teams he got and switched a lot throughout his career and he was totally fine with him it was all about getting out there to play. Wayne Douglas Gretzky played for many teams in the NHL and got traded 2 times. He played for a total of 4 teams including Oilers,, St Louis Blues and throughout his career, from 1979- 1999. He also played a total of 79 games and set a record of 164 points. He had four nicknames that included The White Tornado, Gretz, The Great Gretzky and most important that everyone called him is the Great One. I think Wayne Gretzky being on a lot of teams was fine but I think he could have at least tried to stay on one team for most of his NHL because throughout his he got traded but the other times he just left himself.

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​Free time Wayne Gretzky had always wanted to play hockey and show off his skills, but he also wanted to have free time, so what did he do in his free time? Although Wayne Gretzky was a hockey player he had some free time too. In his free time he did a lot like being a judge on dance fever and being on a popular tv show called . He was a guest star on Christmas episode as a winter character and he did his own voice too. Wayne wrote books too that included 99: stories of the game, Gretzky an Autobiography, 99 My life in pictures and gretzky: mon histoire and he also had a lot on his plate with five kids. I think that every hockey player needs their time to themselves and I think wayne gretzky has some free time, but other than his summers off, I overall think he had free time

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Starting hockey

Wayne Gretzky had a backyard rink that he learned to skate on, and enjoyed reading about hockey. Meeting Tim Horton at a young age helped him see his love for the game.

Gretzky started playing at the age of two and by the time he was six, he was playing with the older kids. He played his first full year in the NHL in 1979-80 and he was playing with . Everybody thought that because it was his first year in the NHL, that he was still young that he would struggle a lot, but he didn’t at all. I think Wayne Gretzky had an awesome start to playing hockey because he wanted to do that because his older brothers played but mostly because he was really good when he started and had some skills to back him up when he joined his first league in hockey and he is still awesome. I think he definitely had a very good starting in hockey.

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​Family Everyone has to have a family , right? well Wayne Gretzky had an extraordinary family and he was always backed up or pushed by his family but it was in a very good way and he was always grateful. Wayne Gretzky has two brothers and one sister and of course his parents and Phyllis Hockin. Wayne had a very interesting family. Wayne's dad was a telephone technician and coached a lot of hockey too. His brother Keith coached a lot of hockey too like his dad and was in the OHL and NHL, he had another brother named Brent. Brent played hockey a lot too just like his other brothers like playing minor and playing pee-wee hockey tournaments.Wayne comes from a family of athletes and that's where he learned a lot of his skills from his dad and his older brothers and that's also how he basically got the idea to play hockey because his dad was a pro too.where he is today because of his family. I think that Wayne’s family was very happy when he hit his fame point because it was all about hockey and his family liked hockey and they enjoyed it. He mostly learned most of his skills from his older brothers and overall I think wayne has an awesome family.

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​Early years Wayne Gretzky's early years were very impressive and creative in his own way and he was a pro and everyone agreed with him and he could have stopped then but he kept with hockey and saw where he is today from his early years. Wayne Gretzkys had early years too like everyone and he was proud of that. When he started on his first league team he was the youngest on his team and some even said he handled the puck better than the older kids, even though he said that himself. By age six he was already as good as the older kids and by the time he was ten he had scored 378 goals and by 13 he had over 1000 goals. He had just started playing ice hockey in his backyard rink and to see where he is now it is kind of mind blowing. To see that he is an icon everyone knows who he is and it started out kind of bland. I think wayne gretzky's early years were really great because he had brothers and one sister but I definitely think that improved a lot when he started playing in the NHL because he wanted to keep at it he wasn’t like other kids in hockey all he wanted to do was play, but he still cared too and not for people to make decisions for him without his final opinion.

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Retirement

It was a very hard decision for Wayne Gretzky to retire because he wanted to keep hockey and keep being the person he always wanted himself to be but when the time came it was his decision to make. Wayne Gretzky's hockey career came to an end in 1999 when he retired. But people still think he is one hockey legend and nobody has forgotten him. He still was a hockey hall of famer and they still have his official jersey and number. All he thought he was just remembered by his teammates and coaches but he was wrong because once he retired everyone remembered him. A parkway was named after him called “wayne gretzky parkway” they also had a new bus route named after his hockey number (99). He didn’t do much after his retirement and I think he still coached a bit after he retired. He did do a lot but everyone has to retire someday. I think that Wayne Gretzky's retirement was fine because he wanted to play but he was getting older and hockey can’t really be a lifelong sport but Wayne had good years playing hockey and some years where he couldn’t tell but I definley think that his retirement was good.

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Switching teams

Wayne Gretzky didn’t stay on one team the whole time he switched and did what he had to do to keep killing his skills and he got traded about every year but he didn’t really care all he cared about was to play. Although wayne gretzky was on the Edmonton Oilers, he got traded to Los Angeles Kings in 1988. His dad who had found out first had to keep it a secret from wayne because he didn’t want to upset him or disappoint him because he enjoyed playing for the Edmonton oilers. At first when Wayne's coach had asked them if they could trade him, the Kings refused to let him be on their team at first and offered it to instead. After they traded him because they agreed to trade him after all he was ok with it because whatever team he was on he was going to be positive about it. Also he came back one more time and played with the Edmonton oilers, that was the biggest crowd they had ever seen and when they saw him play again the crowd went wild. Conclusion: I think that wayne gretzky was ok with his retirement because as I said all he wanted to do was play but he still cared about who he played for. Honestly I don’t think he was happy about changing teams so many times, I mean usually hockey players stay on one team for most of the season but he switched a butch of times.

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Accomplishments

One thing that made Wayne Gretzky outstanding was his ability to win a lot of trophies for being the best player out there and some of those accomplishments helped him to be what he is today. Wayne gretzky had a lot of Accomplishments throughout his year of hockey and most of it was winning trophies. He won a total of 23 trophies and Got a Statue made of him in Edmonton in front of Rexall place posing holding the . Most of his trophies included the heart trophy for and he won it 9 times . The for scoring champion 10 times. Also he won the lady byng trophy 4 times and the 2 for most outstanding player in a playoff. Wayne Gretzky had a very outstanding record for winning trophies and he had his statue dedicated in his honour.

Conclusion: I think that wayne gretzky had a lot of good records and accomplishments because he won a lot of trophies and got a statue made of him. I think that he was proud of his accomplishments and I think he was awesome at that.

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​Stanley cups Although wayne had a lot of accomplishments he did win stanley cups to not a ton but still enough to be the “the great one” and to be the icon who everyone knows. Wayne Gretzky won 4 Stanley Cups throughout his NHL career and all of these were with the Edmonton Oilers. His fifth win was really close but they were beaten by the canadiens. His seasons he won were 1983-84, 1984-85,1986-87, and 1987-88. Those were all the seasons that he won a Stanley Cup and it was very considerate that he won all of them with the Edmonton Oilers but it was true and all of those were won because of his great hockey skills.

I think Wayne Gretzky had a nice record for winning Stanley Cups and his teammates, but I think he definitely got them into the Stanley Cup every year and he mostly scored all the goals. That is why some people say he is the most outstanding player in a playoff. He took most of the game away with his outstanding skills and records.

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​Personal life personal life is important to everyone and to have their life in order. Wayne was no different and he had an interesting personal life and everyone might be interested in it. Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26th, 1961 in his hometown Branford, . All his family said he was a born hockey player and when he started he was a pro because every winter his dad would make an outdoor rink and he and his brothers would go out almost everyday to play and after he started playing hockey he was great. He also was a hockey hall of famer, he was an awesome hockey player and everyone said he had really high spirits even when his team wasn’t doing the best and it all was improved when he always had his awesome attitude.

I think that wayne had an awesome and outstanding hockey career and his amazing skills paid off on the ice. He had an awesome perspective about hockey and if he ever got something wrong and he wasn’t afraid to get back up with it and live through it and live to his full potential. So I definitely think that he did enough hard work to get where he is now.

I think that Wayne is an awesome outstanding hockey player and he has worked very hard to get where he was when he was still playing hockey. He kind of had some importance in the world because he was a hockey phenomenon and almost everyone who believed in hockey believed in him.