Wayne Gretzky

My Web (I made it)

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26 in the year of 1961 in Brantford, Ontario Canada. Wayne had four siblings, three brothers and one sister: Keith, Brent, Glen and Kim. His Parents' names were Walter and Phyllis. Wayne Gretzky�s Dad worked for Bell Telephone Canada. When he was 6 he played hockey against 10 year olds, and then when he was ten he had scored 378 goals. At 14 years old he was up against 20 year olds. Wayne Gretzky wanted to be a hockey player when he grew up and his special dream was to be in the NHL. Wayne Gretzky married Janet Jones (an American actress) on July 17, 1988. Mr. and Mrs. Gretzky have five children; Paulina, Ty Roberts, Trevor Douglas, Tristan Wayne and Emma Marie.

A portrait (Picture source; http://bleacherreport.com (www.google.ca/images))

Wayne's mentor was his dad, Walter Gretzky. Walter made up challenges on the ice outside their house. He taught Wayne his friends and his brothers how to handle the puck and skate with it. Wayne Gretzky is remarkable because he is a record breaker, has been a score leader and has won many awards and recognitions in hockey. Wayne is admirable because he is a great role model, a great hockey player and stuck to his special dream of being in the NHL. He did so many things to become who he is now; such as going through hockey being a kid playing above his peers, staying out all day as long as he could to skate when he was a boy. He went through the WHA (World Hockey Association) where he played for the Indianapolis Racers. Then he played for the Edmonton Oilers. He established scoring records in the NHL. Now he is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The most important lesson I learned from Wayne Gretzky's life were; to always follow your dream and do the best you can and never give up. I do not think you can judge the quality of a person's life by the enemies they make, because I don't think Wayne Gretzky ever had any major or critical enemies.

The Prime years of Wayne Gretzky's career were 1979-1988 when he played for the Edmonton Oilers where he made many scoring records. When he was on the Oilers they won four Stanley Cups. Then 1988-1996 on the Los Angeles Kings he became their captain and quickly impacted the team. For the second time Wayne Gretzky came second in scoring while just beating Mario Lemieux from Pittsburgh of the Hart Trophy, MVP. Wayne Gretzky was traded to St. Louis where he became their captain. While on the St. Louis Blues he scored an astonishing 37 points in 31 games in the regular season and the playoffs. Finally he was traded to the New York Rangers from 1996-1999. For the first time in Gretzky's career he was not made captain of his team (New York Rangers). In the 1998-1999 season which was in fact his last season he broke a scoring record in regular and playoff seasons. The record he broke was 1,071 goals held by Gordie Howe.

Wayne Gretzky left his playing career in 1999. He had a 10% ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes. Over the next five years, Wayne became head coach for the Phoenix Coyotes. Gretzky took time off to become the Executive Director for Canada's men's team at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Salt Lake City, Utah. They won a gold medal. That was their first in 50 years. Then in the 2006 Winter Games he was Executive Director again, but did not win a medal that year.

My Hero drawing (I made it)

Wayne has been in over 40 movies, network television and video appearances. One of his TV appearances was on Dance Fever as a judge. He has also acted in a role on The Young and the restless in 1981. He traveled to the Soviet Union in 1984 because he was going to film a TV show on the Russian Goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.

I think being a hero means that you have done something meaningful and helpful to some person or some place. I think Wayne is a hero because he inspires children and others because of what he has achieved which would make him a role model for children, so they could look up to him. A hero is different from just being well known because a hero could be a local hero like a great Dad or someone who has just done something helpful for someone. Gretzky had a hero, Gordie Howe. Wayne Gretzky lives in the Phoenix area because he is now the official head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. All of Wayne Gretzky's kids, brothers and sisters are all alive and so is his Dad. His mother died December 19, 05. Wayne Gretzky received the following awards; the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Ross Trophy, the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Award, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, NHL Plus/Minus Award, the Chrysler-Dodge/NHL Performer of the Year, Lester Patrick Trophy, NHL All Star Game MVP, NHL First All Star team and NHL second All Star team. I chose Wayne Gretzky as my hero because I didn't know anything about him. What I have learned from this project is that life has challenges but if you want something bad enough then you can overcome them.