INTRODUCTION I. “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be” -Wayne Gretzky
II. Greatness is rare. Greatness, no matter the subject, doesn’t come around all too often. Over time, we have seen many come and go that have embodied greatness, but none of them have anything on “The Great One”.
III. Now I know that many of you don’t follow the NHL at all and that’s understandable. We hockey lovers are a rare breed in the United States and even more so here in Indiana. This hockey lover hopes that if you take only one thing from my speech today, it is the realization that Wayne Gretzky is much more than some hockey player.
IV. Being a hockey player and fan for close to my entire life, …show more content…
Wayne was born to be a hockey player.
1. Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. A precise and hard-working player, Gretzky was just 2 years old when he first started skating. (Bio)
2. The young Gretzky spent many hours on the ice, building his talents as a skater, shooter and passer. As a result, Gretzky often played in leagues with older boys. The age and size differences between Gretzky and his competition mattered little. In his final year of Peewee Hockey he scored an improbable 378 goals. …show more content…
Gretzky would continue to dominate his competitors as he climbed the hockey hierarchy. For a short time, he even played for the Indianapolis Racers of the former WHL before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHL folded, Edmonton was absorbed into the NHL and from that point on, the NHL was never the same. (Bio)
1. Wayne Gretzky played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League, from 1979 to 1999, during which he was rostered on four teams. He was given the nickname "The Great One" and he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. (The Hockey News)
2. Over a long career, Gretzky dominated the NHL. Gretzky is the leading point-scorer in NHL history and it’s not by a small margin. To help put this in perspective, if you took away all his goals he would still be the all time leading scorer of the NHL. Another amazing thing is that he is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. At the time of his retirement in 1999, Wayne Gretzky held 61 NHL records: 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records. As of 2014, he still holds 60 NHL records.
II. Greatness is rare. Greatness, no matter the subject, doesn’t come around all too often. Over time, we have seen many come and go that have embodied greatness, but none of them have anything on “The Great One”.
III. Now I know that many of you don’t follow the NHL at all and that’s understandable. We hockey lovers are a rare breed in the United States and even more so here in Indiana. This hockey lover hopes that if you take only one thing from my speech today, it is the realization that Wayne Gretzky is much more than some hockey player.
IV. Being a hockey player and fan for close to my entire life, …show more content…
Wayne was born to be a hockey player.
1. Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. A precise and hard-working player, Gretzky was just 2 years old when he first started skating. (Bio)
2. The young Gretzky spent many hours on the ice, building his talents as a skater, shooter and passer. As a result, Gretzky often played in leagues with older boys. The age and size differences between Gretzky and his competition mattered little. In his final year of Peewee Hockey he scored an improbable 378 goals. …show more content…
Gretzky would continue to dominate his competitors as he climbed the hockey hierarchy. For a short time, he even played for the Indianapolis Racers of the former WHL before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHL folded, Edmonton was absorbed into the NHL and from that point on, the NHL was never the same. (Bio)
1. Wayne Gretzky played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League, from 1979 to 1999, during which he was rostered on four teams. He was given the nickname "The Great One" and he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. (The Hockey News)
2. Over a long career, Gretzky dominated the NHL. Gretzky is the leading point-scorer in NHL history and it’s not by a small margin. To help put this in perspective, if you took away all his goals he would still be the all time leading scorer of the NHL. Another amazing thing is that he is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. At the time of his retirement in 1999, Wayne Gretzky held 61 NHL records: 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records. As of 2014, he still holds 60 NHL records.