Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky on the Edomton Oilers (google images)

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” said Wayne Gretzky. This quote means that if you don’t take the chances, what you want won’t happen. This applies to Wayne Gretzky because he never gave up and is one of the greatest athletes in the world. Here is how he is “The Great One.” For starters he always got his team to the playoffs. Also every kid refers to him and wants to be like him. Next, he donates to the poor and needy children. And lastly, he has good manners and is nice to everyone he meets.

Wayne’s childhood was “the shortest childhood,” according to him. Since the age of ten years old the press was always trying to squeeze in interviews with him. He was amazing. At ten he had 378 goals and 120 assists! Un-believable right, well think again because he did really do it. Wayne skated when he was just two years old at his grandma’s in Ontario; she always put up an ice rink for young Wayne. At age four Wayne’s father (Walter) built him an ice rink; Wayne called it Wally’s coliseum after his father. Wayne spent most of his free time on this ice rink until one day; Wayne made a ten-year-old travel team when he was only five! Wayne played the season and only had one goal. Wayne was upset when he went to the award ceremony and didn’t get an award. He cried the whole ride home until his Dad gave him a pep talk and told him to never give up. Wayne certainly took his father's advice and started collecting goals, and assists. At age 17 he got drafted into the OHL, and then at age 18, he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL.

Wayne’s life hasn’t been as easy as you might think. He faces problems just like you and me. Wayne was always trying to get his team to the Stanley Cup, which he did do five times; four championships with the Edmonton Oilers and one 2nd place with the L.A. Kings. Another obstacle Wayne faced was when his Dad got Alzheimer's and couldn’t remember anything Wayne had accomplished, or that he used to take Wayne to all of hockey games/practices when Wayne was young. One other obstacle Wayne faced is that he had to hide from the paparazzi; even as a child, Wayne had to hide and that’s why he tries his hardest to give his kids a normal life. Once Wayne tried to take a walk with his family and reporters sabotaged them. Wayne always tried his hardest even when he was playing with people twice his size.

Some contributions that Wayne Gretzky had were that he helped bring the Edmonton Oilers into the NHL with his skill. Another contribution he had was that he got any team's hometown that he played for to watch hockey more, and buy merchandise so the NHL gets money. Also he inspires young hockey stars like Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. And finally, he helped hockey become one of America’s favorite sports.

Wayne Gretzky won many awards in his career, but his biggest award was the Stanley Cup, which he won, with the Edmonton Oilers in 1984. One of his accomplishments are that he is the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer. Also, he is the point leader for the NHL. And one other award he had was MVP, which he won 10 times.

Wayne Gretzky had many traits, but these are just three great ones he had.