Wayne Gretzky Sports Cards
When one thinks of professional hockey there’s two players that stand out more than others. The first is the legendary Gordie Howe, but the second is none other than number 99, Wayne Gretzky. Wayne Gretzky was born in a small city in Ontario, Canada called Brantford where he lived with his family. His father, Walter who worked for the telephone company and his mother Phyllis, as well as three brothers and one sister.
Wayne became interested in hockey at a young age when his father built a rink in the backyard. It didn’t take long to see that Wayne Gretzky had an above average understanding of the game of hockey. He had the ability to visualize the game in his head, and although he wasn’t the strongest or fastest player, he excelled. At age six, Wayne was playing with players a full level above his age as his ability made it too easy for him to play with players of his own age. Since he was playing with bigger kids, the jersey’s that they had to wear were always to large for him, so he tucked them into his pants on one side, which became a trademark throughout his life as a hockey player.
As he progressed through minor hockey it was clear that he had tremendous talent and this talent was not always welcomed by jealous parents in his hometown. When he turned 14 he started playing hockey in Toronto and he began playing with the Junior B team, the Toronto Nationals. Despite his incredible abilities, he was passed by in the OMJHL Midget Draft. He then went on to play in the Ontario Hockey League for a season with the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, in northern Ontario. This is where number 99 became famous. He wanted number 9, but it was already taken so he settled on number 99, a number that he kept for his entire career. His exceptional abilities then landed him a spot on the 1978 Canadian World Junior Championship team as the youngest player.
Because Gretzky had exceptional talent he was noticed by the NHL and the WHA, but he could not start with the NHL as they would not sign players under the age of 20. He went on to play with the Indianapolis Racers, but only played 8 games before the team had to find another home for him as they were losing money. They decided on the Edmonton Oilers, which at the time was part of the WHA, but it soon went bankrupt and joined the NHL.
Wayne played with the Edmonton Oilers from 1979-1988. With his first year in the NHL being 1979, the 1979 Gretzky rookie card became very valuable, worth anywhere from $1000 to $80,000 depending on the condition of the card.
Gretzky didn’t stop with the Edmonton Oilers, but went on to play for the LA Kings from 1988-1996. As he was not happy in Los Angeles, Gretzky went on to play a season for the St. Louis Blues in 1996 and then to play 3 seasons as a free agent with the New York Rangers where he played until his retirement.
Following his retirement from the NHL he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and then went on to purchase a minority stake in the Phoenix Coyotes and eventually became their head coach, which is a position that he still holds today.
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