July 31, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Wayne Gretzky didn’t have the size or speed most scouts looked for. But what he did have couldn’t be measured. With unmatched vision, timing, and instinct, he rewrote what was possible on the ice. He holds more than 60 NHL records and remains the only player to score over 200 points in a season, a feat he accomplished four times. We take a look at the life and legacy of “The Great One,” a player who saw the game differently and left behind a record book no one has come close to matching.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Known as the
Great One, for more than his dominance on the ice,
Wayne Gretzky proved that good guys do finish first. The
Canadian known as the greatest hockey player of all time
is now a naturalized American citizen living in the United States.
(00:30):
Let's take a listen to his story.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Although Canada is not a monarchy, this man is considered
their prince. He dominated a sport for twenty 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 (00:55):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
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 nineteen eighty eight and became a US citizen
soon after. Wayne Gretzky born January twenty sixth, nineteen sixty
one played twenty seasons in the National Hockey League. He
(01:21):
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
(01:41):
is the only NHL player to total over two hundred
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,
(02:04):
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
(02:25):
was a short leap for full coast to coast fame.
Here's Gretzky's biographer, Rick Riley.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
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 ten years old,
he was swamped by other ten year olds for autographs.
By thirteen, he was on National Hockey Night in Canada.
So he's grown up sort of like John F. Kennedy junior.
He's been the Prince of Canada.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
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 (03:05):
In his nine and ten year old year, he scored
one hundred and ninety five goals, and the people in
the town said, yeah, well, Willie gets in the next day,
he'll never score one hundred and ninety five again, And
they were right. The next year he scored three hundred
and seventy eight.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
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 (03:32):
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 thirteen to one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'd say, how'd you do this? Is we won? Listens
you get any goals? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:42):
How many?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Eleven?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And that's the way he was. When Gretzky turned fourteen,
he began playing in the minor leagues with guys who
were in their twenties, and he dominated there too.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Here's a kid that weighed one hundred and seventy 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
(04:17):
need bar bells, you know, just do the bar.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I said, this guy looks like an anorexic rock star.
He's the least athletic looking personally, these little pipe cleaner arms.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
But there was something about him that he just had
this six sense. He knew people, he could see shadows,
he could feel movement.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
He said.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It was almost like having deja vous all the time.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
The average guy in the league thinks one play ahead,
the superstars think two plays ahead, and Gretzky thinks three
plays ahead. In nineteen seventy eight, 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,
(04:58):
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 nineteen eighty seven, and
on July sixteenth, nineteen eighty eight, married in a lavish
ceremony at Saint Joseph's Basilica that was broadcast live across Canada.
(05:25):
Immediately after the wedding, Gretzky received his American citizenship. Just
days after that, on August ninth, he was traded to
the Los Angeles Kings.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
It's the biggest trade in sports history.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
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 nineteen ninety three Stanley Cup Finals, and he
is credited with popularizing hockey across the United States. Let's
(06:00):
take a look back at his trade to the Los
Angeles Kings. Canada lost their Prince, but America received the sun.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Here in Los Angeles, nobody cares about anything, let alone hockey.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But all of a sudden, the right people were going
and was the end thing to do.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
We were bringing Ronald Reagan before the games to give
us pep talks and Sylvesters Donald came before the game.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They give us pep talks.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
What an impact it made on this team.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
Sale of Jack's camps jerseys went from dead last to
number one of all sports teams.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
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 (06:41):
Wayne going to Los Angeles not only saved hockey in
California and saved the NHL.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
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 (06:58):
Here's a look back Gretzky looking Garick Curry, Nick Sorley
to Gretzky.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
But granted school score, that's not so hockey like a
got three.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
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 (07:26):
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 ninety five of them runs.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Or something like that.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
This is definitely the greatest player to ever played the game.
You could almost see a smile come on his face
the minuit he stepped on the ice because that's where
he could be.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Wayne Gretzky do what he enjoyed the most.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
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 (08:03):
He basically took a league on his shoulders and carried
them to a place that nobody, and I mean nobody
twenty years ago whatever thought hockey would be right now.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
He was the last hockey player who came from the
game that was part of us.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Ladies and gentlemen, will now say these words for the
last time ever.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
In this building, hockey fans Tonight's first Star nine Wait
read speaker ultil.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
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 (08:52):
Him the great One. The NHL retired his jersey number
ninety nine 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
(09:12):
reference is himself.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
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 ten, he's signing autographs
in Canada as a hockey star, and then of course
that moved to the La Kings, which saved hockey in
America and indeed made hockey in America. I love that line.
(09:39):
Canada lost their prince, America received our son. The story
of Wayne Gretzky here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. Known as the
Great One, for more than his dominance on the ice,
Wayne Gretzky proved that good guys do finish first. The
Canadian known as the greatest hockey player of all time
is now a naturalized American citizen living in the United States.
(00:30):
Let's take a listen to his story.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Although Canada is not a monarchy, this man is considered
their prince. He dominated a sport for twenty 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 (00:55):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
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 nineteen eighty eight and became a US citizen
soon after. Wayne Gretzky born January twenty sixth, nineteen sixty
one played twenty seasons in the National Hockey League. He
(01:21):
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
(01:41):
is the only NHL player to total over two hundred
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,
(02:04):
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
(02:25):
was a short leap for full coast to coast fame.
Here's Gretzky's biographer, Rick Riley.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
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 ten years old,
he was swamped by other ten year olds for autographs.
By thirteen, he was on National Hockey Night in Canada.
So he's grown up sort of like John F. Kennedy junior.
He's been the Prince of Canada.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
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 (03:05):
In his nine and ten year old year, he scored
one hundred and ninety five goals, and the people in
the town said, yeah, well, Willie gets in the next day,
he'll never score one hundred and ninety five again, And
they were right. The next year he scored three hundred
and seventy eight.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
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 (03:32):
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 thirteen to one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
I'd say, how'd you do this? Is we won? Listens
you get any goals? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:42):
How many?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Eleven?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
And that's the way he was. When Gretzky turned fourteen,
he began playing in the minor leagues with guys who
were in their twenties, and he dominated there too.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Here's a kid that weighed one hundred and seventy 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
(04:17):
need bar bells, you know, just do the bar.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I said, this guy looks like an anorexic rock star.
He's the least athletic looking personally, these little pipe cleaner arms.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
But there was something about him that he just had
this six sense. He knew people, he could see shadows,
he could feel movement.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
He said.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
It was almost like having deja vous all the time.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
The average guy in the league thinks one play ahead,
the superstars think two plays ahead, and Gretzky thinks three
plays ahead. In nineteen seventy eight, 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,
(04:58):
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 nineteen eighty seven, and
on July sixteenth, nineteen eighty eight, married in a lavish
ceremony at Saint Joseph's Basilica that was broadcast live across Canada.
(05:25):
Immediately after the wedding, Gretzky received his American citizenship. Just
days after that, on August ninth, he was traded to
the Los Angeles Kings.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
It's the biggest trade in sports history.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
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 nineteen ninety three Stanley Cup Finals, and he
is credited with popularizing hockey across the United States. Let's
(06:00):
take a look back at his trade to the Los
Angeles Kings. Canada lost their Prince, but America received the sun.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Here in Los Angeles, nobody cares about anything, let alone hockey.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
But all of a sudden, the right people were going
and was the end thing to do.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
We were bringing Ronald Reagan before the games to give
us pep talks and Sylvesters Donald came before the game.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They give us pep talks.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
What an impact it made on this team.
Speaker 5 (06:26):
Sale of Jack's camps jerseys went from dead last to
number one of all sports teams.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
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 (06:41):
Wayne going to Los Angeles not only saved hockey in
California and saved the NHL.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
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 (06:58):
Here's a look back Gretzky looking Garick Curry, Nick Sorley
to Gretzky.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
But granted school score, that's not so hockey like a
got three.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
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 (07:26):
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 ninety five of them runs.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Or something like that.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
This is definitely the greatest player to ever played the game.
You could almost see a smile come on his face
the minuit he stepped on the ice because that's where
he could be.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Wayne Gretzky do what he enjoyed the most.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
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 (08:03):
He basically took a league on his shoulders and carried
them to a place that nobody, and I mean nobody
twenty years ago whatever thought hockey would be right now.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
He was the last hockey player who came from the
game that was part of us.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
Ladies and gentlemen, will now say these words for the
last time ever.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
In this building, hockey fans Tonight's first Star nine Wait
read speaker ultil.
Speaker 6 (08:41):
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 (08:52):
Him the great One. The NHL retired his jersey number
ninety nine 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
(09:12):
reference is himself.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
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 ten, he's signing autographs
in Canada as a hockey star, and then of course
that moved to the La Kings, which saved hockey in
America and indeed made hockey in America. I love that line.
(09:39):
Canada lost their prince, America received our son. The story
of Wayne Gretzky here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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