When was gretzkys first nhl game

At first Wayne wanted nothing to do with this, but the unthinkable happened and on August 9, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.

Gretzky would play his first regular season game with the Los Angeles Kings on October 6, He started off with a bang as his Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings 8 to 2. He played in LA until the season, and would eventually get his number 99 retired there. After being traded to the Kings, Edmonton fans did not have to wait long into the season before they welcomed Gretzky back.

Ten weeks after the trade, on October 19, , Gretzky made his return visit to Edmonton, but lost in a high scoring affair 8 to 6. Wayne was not quite sure what would happen — boos or cheers or silence. As it turned out all the fans really wanted was a chance to say goodbye to their favourite adopted son.

From the start of the pregame skate he was showered with applause. During the national anthem Gretzky received a standing ovation that would last 4 minutes. He was welcomed back with open arms. Gretzky was not a first overall draft pick. But on Oct. Messier , who was 18 years old at the time, was also trying not to let the enormity of the moment rattle him.

Ron Chipperfield, a year-old centre who was named the first captain of the Oilers on Northwest Airlines Flight to Chicago, conceded to feeling like a rookie, despite his five years of play in the WHA. Head coach Glen Sather, now the senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers, saw a team that was eager to show what it could do.

Hicks, a product of Cold Lake, Alberta, was added from the Black Hawks through the expansion draft, and put together his best offensive season in his first year with the Oilers, scoring nine goals and 31 assists over 78 games. Siltanen was another blueline threat for Edmonton. He put up 35 points in and would follow that up with a point campaign in his second year in the NHL.

The Finn hit his stride for the Oilers in , when he notched 63 points in 63 games. Price, meanwhile, was another player who came to the Oilers via expansion draft. The former New York Islander was a well-rounded player who scored 11 goals, 32 points and served penalty minutes in The win also ends Toronto's game losing streak to its oldest rival.

On the same night. It's the 1,th point of the year-old forward's NHL career, more than anyone else in League history except Gretzky. It's the third four-goal game in the first 13 days of the season; there were four games of four or more goals in all of It's also the third four-goal game by a Boston player since the start of the season. We encourage you to review it carefully. The NHL uses cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies.

Gretzky convinced his long-time agent Michael Barnett to join the team as its General Manager. In , rumours began circulating that Gretzky was about to name himself head coach of the Coyotes, but were denied by Gretzky and the team.

Ultimately, Gretzky agreed to become head coach on August 8, He made his coaching debut on October 5 and won his first game on October 8 against the Minnesota Wild. He took an indefinite leave of absence on December 17 to be with his ill mother. Phyllis Gretzky died of lung cancer on December Gretzky resumed his head-coaching duties on December The Coyotes' record at the end of the —06 season was 38—39—5, a win improvement over —04; they were 36—36—5 in games Gretzky coached.

In , Moyes became majority owner of the team. There was uncertainty about Gretzky's role until it was announced on May 31, that he had agreed to a five-year contract to remain head coach. The Coyotes' performance declined in —07, as the team ended the season 15th in their conference. During Gretzky's coaching tenure, the Coyotes did not reach the postseason, and their best finish in the Western Conference standings was 12th.

An ownership dispute involving Research in Motion's Jim Balsillie with the intention of relocating the team and the NHL itself arose, which eventually ended up in Court.

Gretzky did not attend the Coyotes' training camp, leaving associate head coach Ulf Samuelsson in charge, due to an uncertain contractual status with the club, whose bankruptcy hearings were continuing. Bidders for the club had indicated that Gretzky would no longer be associated with the team after it emerged from bankruptcy, and on September 24, , Gretzky stepped down as head coach and head of hockey operations of the Coyotes.

Gretzky's final head coaching record was —— On February 18, he lashed out at the media at a press conference, frustrated with media and fan comments regarding his team's uninspiring 1—1—1 start. Gretzky's temper boiled over after Canada's 3—3 draw versus the Czech Republic, as he launched a tirade against the perceived negative reputation of Team Canada amongst other national squads, and called rumours of dissent in the dressing room the result of "American propaganda. American fans online began calling Gretzky a "crybaby"; defenders said he was merely borrowing a page from former coach Glen Sather to take the pressure off his players.

Gretzky addressed those comments by saying he spoke out to protect the Canadian players, and the tirade was not "staged. Gretzky again acted as Executive Director of Canada's men's hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, though not with the success of ; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals and failed to win a medal.

He was asked to manage Canada's team at the Ice Hockey World Championships, but declined due to his mother's poor health. Gretzky also served as an ambassador and contributor in Vancouver winning the bidding process to host the Winter Olympics. He went to Prague, Czech Republic and was part of the presentation team.

Gretzky was the final Olympic torchbearer at the Winter Olympics. He was one of four who lit the cauldron at BC Place Stadium during the opening ceremony although one did not due to technical difficulties with one of the cauldron's "arms" which failed to rise and then jogged out of the stadium, where he was then driven by police escorts through the streets of downtown Vancouver to light a second, outdoor cauldron near the Vancouver Convention Centre located in the city's downtown waterfront district.

Under IOC rules, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron must be witnessed by those attending the opening ceremony, implying that it must be lit at the location where the ceremony is taking place.

Although another IOC rule states that the cauldron should be witnessed outside by the entire residents of the entire host city, this was not possible since the ceremony took place indoors. Quickly word spread through the downtown Vancouver area that Gretzky was indeed the final torchbearer, and very soon a crush of people came running after the police escort to cheer Gretzky on and hopefully catch a glimpse of him carrying the torch to the outdoor cauldron.

Although Gretzky had previously stated he would not participate in any "old-timers exhibition games" on November 22, , he took to the ice to help celebrate the Edmonton Oilers' 25th anniversary as an NHL team.

It was preceded by the Mega Stars game, which featured Gretzky and many of his Oiler Dynasty teammates against a group of retired Montreal Canadiens players whose likes included Claude Lemieux, Guy Lafleur and others.

Despite frigid temperatures, the crowd numbered 57,, with an additional several million watching the game on television. The Edmonton alumni won the Megastars game 2—0 while Montreal went on to win the regular season game held later that day, 4—3.

Louis Blues players two days before the Winter Classic. He represented the Blues in the game, which his team won 8—7. In October of , Gretzky returned to the Oilers as a partner and vice-chairman of the team's parent company, Oilers Entertainment Group. Gretzky made his first international appearance as a member of the Canadian national junior team at the World Junior Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At the age of 16, he was the youngest player to compete in the tournament.

He went on to lead the tournament in scoring with 17 points to earn All-Star Team and Best Forward honours. Gretzky's 17 points remain the most scored by a year-old in the World Junior Championships. Canada finished with the bronze medal. Gretzky debuted with the Team Canada's men's team at the Canada Cup. He led the tournament in scoring with 12 points en route to a second-place finish to the Soviet Union, losing 8—1 in the final.

He notched 14 points in 10 games, including a two-goal, two-assist effort in Canada's final game against Sweden to earn the bronze. Gretzky did not win his first international competition until the Canada Cup, when Canada defeated Sweden in a best-of-three finals. He led the tournament in scoring for the second consecutive time and was named to the All-Star Team.

Gretzky's international career highlight arguably came three years later at the Canada Cup. He has called the tournament the best hockey he had played in his life. Playing on a line with Pittsburgh Penguins' superstar Mario Lemieux, he recorded a tournament-best 21 points in nine games. After losing the first game of a best-of-three final series against the Soviets, Gretzky propelled Canada with a five-assist performance in the second game, including the game-winning pass to Lemieux in overtime, to extend the tournament.

In the deciding game three, Gretzky and Lemieux once again combined for the game-winner. With the score tied 5—5 and minutes to go in regulation, Lemieux one-timed a pass from Gretzky on a 3-on-1 with defenceman Larry Murphy.

Lemieux scored to win the tournament for Canada; the play is widely regarded as one of the most memorable plays in Canadian international competition. The Canada Cup marked the last time the tournament was played under the "Canada Cup" moniker. Gretzky led the tournament for the fourth and final time with 12 points in seven games.

However, he did not compete in the final against the United States due to a back injury. Canada nevertheless won in two games by scores of 4—1 and 4—2.

Five years later, the tournament was revived and renamed the World Cup in It marked the first time Gretzky did not finish as the tournament's leading scorer with seven points in eight games for fourth overall. Leading up to the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, it was announced that NHL players would be eligible to play for the first time. Gretzky was named to the club on November 29, However, Gretzky was passed over for the captaincy, along with several other Canadian veterans including Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque in favour of the younger Eric Lindros.

Expectations were high for the Canadian team, but the team lost to the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. The game went to a shootout with a 1—1 tie after overtime, but Gretzky was controversially not selected by coach Marc Crawford as one of the five shooters, all of whom failed to score.

Team Canada then lost the bronze medal game 3—2 to Finland to finish without a medal. The Olympics marked Gretzky's eighth and final international appearance, finishing with four assists in six games.

He retired from international play holding the records for most goals 20 , most assists 28 , and most overall points 48 in best-on-best hockey. Gretzky's size and strength were unimpressive in fact far below average for the NHL , but he is widely considered the smartest player in the history of the game. His reading of the game and his ability to improvise on the fly were unrivaled, and he could consistently anticipate where the puck was going to be and execute the right move at the right time.

While they were using all this energy trying to rattle his teeth, he was just skating away, circling, analyzing things. He was also considered one of the most creative players in hockey. Every time he took the ice, there was some spontaneous decision he would make. That's what made him such a phenomenal player. Gretzky's ability to improvise came into the spotlight at the Olympics in Japan. Then an older player in the sunset of his career, he had been passed over for the captaincy of the team.

But as the series continued, his unique skills made him a team leader. In his first two seasons in the NHL, his deft passing skills helped earn him a reputation as an ace playmaker, and so opposing defencemen focused their efforts on foiling his attempts to pass the puck to other scorers.

In response, Gretzky started shooting on goal himself—and with exceptional effectiveness. He had a fast and accurate shot. Statistics support the contention: whereas Phil Esposito, who had set the previous goal-scoring record, needed shots to score 76 goals, Gretzky netted his 76th after only shot about half as many.

He scored his all-time record of 92 goals with just shots. Because he was so light compared to other players, goalies were often surprised by how hard Gretzky's shot was. Goalies called his shots "sneaky fast.

When Gretzky entered the league in , critics opined that he was "too small, too wiry, and too slow to be a force in the [NHL]. But that year, Gretzky tied for first place in scoring, and won the Hart Trophy for the league's most valuable player.

In his second year in the league, weighing just pounds, he broke the previous single-season scoring record, racking up points. The next year —82 , at pound still "a wisp compared to the average NHL player" , he set the all-time goal-scoring record, putting 92 pucks in the net.

He weighed "about pounds" for the better part of his career. He consistently scored last in strength tests among the Edmonton Oilers, bench pressing only pounds 64 kg. However, he had remarkable physical stamina.