Herman - Who Is Wayne Gretzky?

Fifty in fifty. That means scoring fifty goals in fifty hockey games.

Maurice The Rocket Richard, of the Montreal Canadiens, was the first National Hockey League player to do it, in the 19441945 season.

Ten years passed. Twenty. Thirty. It seemed no other hockey player could pull off the feat. Finally New York Islander Mike Bossy tied the record thirty-six years later.

How much time would pass before someone else scored fifty goals in fifty games?

One season later, Wayne Gretzky, just twenty years old, skated onto the ice. The place: Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Canada. The date: December 30, 1981.

Wayne was the center for the Edmonton Oilers. He was about to face off against the Philadelphia Flyers.

It had been an amazing season for Wayne. By the thirteenth game, he had thirteen goals. After thirty-five games, he had thirty-eight goals. And after thirty-eight games? He had a whopping forty-five.

Now he was ready for game thirty-nine.

No oneeverhad scored fifty goals in less than fifty games. Just five more goals and Wayne would do it.

On this gusty winter day, Wayne felt lucky. Somehow he knew hed scoreand score big.

In the first period he scored two goals, one right after the other. By the end of the second period, he scored again for a hat trick: three goals altogether. Five minutes into the third period, Wayne slid the puck around a rushing defender. He shot, lifting the puck high in the air. He scored! His fourth goal of the game!

Now Wayne had forty-nine goals. Could he make it fifty?

With ten minutes left, Wayne shot and shot again. Each one was stopped by the Flyers goalie. Only seconds remained. The game was close: Oilers, 6; Flyers, 5.

Philadelphia pulled its goalie off the ice. An offensive player skated out, to try to tie the game. It was a risk. Philadelphia left their net wide open. Wayne took off down the ice.

Grant Fuhr, the Oilers goalie, pushed the puck to right wing Glenn Anderson.

Pass it to me! Wayne shouted from the Flyers zone. Three seconds were left on the clock. Wayne got the puck. A defender charged. Two seconds left. Wayne zipped around the Flyer. He shot.

Goal!

Wayne had done it. Fifty goals in only thirty-nine games.

Teammates mobbed Wayne. The hometown crowd went crazy. Wayne Gretzky didnt just break the record. He destroyed it! By game fifty, he had sixty-one goals. And by the end of the season, Wayne scored ninety-two goals in eighty games for another record.

Wayne would go on to break or tie more than sixty records. Most goals in a season and most goals in a career. Most assists in a season and most assists in a career. Most career points. (In hockey, players earn a point for each goal or assist.) If you only counted Waynes assists, hed still have the most points of any player. Ever.

Wayne retired in 1999. He hasnt played for years. Yet many of his records still standincluding fifty goals in thirty-nine games. He probably holds the record for holding the most records of any professional athlete.

Wayne wasnt the biggest or fastest or strongest. But the way he playedhis style and smartswould change the game. Wayne Douglas Gretzky was a different kind of hockey player, almost from the time he could walk.

Chapter 1
Growing Up Gretzky

In Canada, hockey is THE sport. When Canadian children dream of being a pro athlete, most dont think of baseball or football. They dream of hockey, and playing for glory in the National Hockey League. Its said Canadian children grow up on skates. Wayne Gretzky did. He started skating when he learned to walk.

Wayne was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, a small city in the province of Ontario, Canada. In Brantford, it snows for almost half the year. Theres lots of time to skate outdoors.

When Wayne was two, his dad bought him his first pair of skates. Walter Gretzky strapped them on for little Wayne. Together, they stepped onto the frozen Nith River.

Walter helped Wayne slide along the ice. According to Walter, Hed never ever been on skates before. I put him on the ice. He literally skated. Just skated. And thats where it all beganon the river running right past the Gretzky family farm.

Walter Gretzky had grown up on the farm, outside town. He too grew up playing hockey. He met Waynes mom, Phyllis, when he was a teenager. Phyllis went to the games he played. And Walter watched Phyllis play softball. Sports were always a part of their lives.