I was fortunate to have played with Wayne on several occasions when I was with the Brantford PUC busmen in pee wee. He was a joy to play with as well as to watch.
And fact checks. Gretzky played for the Vaughn Nationals in the OHA Metro Jr. B league. There were ZERO 20 year olds. The average age of the league was 16. There were at least 10 other 14 year olds that played in the league including Billy Carroll of the St. Michaels Buzzers, (5 Stanley Cups with Islanders and Oilers). St. Michael's were a high school team. You had to go to the school to play for the OHA Jr. B team. Thus, probably the best high school team in North America. The average age of that team was about 15.5 years old. Fun fact: Billy Carroll was voted league MVP. He was 14 years old! Other guys in that league that year were Mike Gillis (1st round pick Colorado and ex Nuck GM), Tom Laidlaw (Rangers, Kings), Mark Kirton (Leafs, Cannucks). All were only 15 or 16 years old. I played in that league that year and I was 15. Gretzky was more mythical than dominant. The Vaughn Nationals were invented to give Gretzky a team to play for. They were owned by a guy named Darbinson who hoped to cash in on Gretzky. He bought a team, sponsored Gretzky's move to the Toronto, let Gretzky live in his house, enrolled him in school, then put together a ragged team of 19 year olds for Gretzky to play with. They were terrible! He moved Gretzky to his Tier II division team the following season. 😂
Maybe not in our lifetime but it was also said that Terry Sawchuk's shutout record was unbeatable. Then came along Martin Broduer and changes to the game that lowered scoring. The same was said about Wayne Gretzky's career goals record. While that record still stands nobody is saying it is unbeatable anymore as Alex Ovechkin closes in. I disagree. Records were made to be broken and I think it's likely that some wunderkind somewhere will eventually eclipse these records as well. Unless Mcdavid or possibly Bedard are up to the task its unlikely they will fall in my lifetime but to say never. Well that's a long time. If the great ones career goals record can be beat why not his assists and points. By your account then if Ovechkin and I think it's more when than if he breaks Gretzky's goals record will that make Ovechkin's record unbeatable. Or will Ovechkin be excluded because Gretzky's record was unbeatable. So by your account then how many goals would Oveckin need to make the record unbeatable?
I want to apologize to hockey fans as well to North American people for bad pronunciation an unnecessary stupid mistakes in the video. I promise that in the future I will try to correct myself and make fewer mistakes!
Agreed. You lose alot of credibility amongst the Canadian hockey crowd when names of cities and players are mispronounced so badly. Good on you though for owning it and hopefully the next time I see one of your hockey videos you won't sound like a foreigner that knows very little about Canada, hockey and the players who play/played the game.
Love the video with all of the footage from the WHA. Might be a good idea to get someone who knows the names of the players and can pronounce them correctly to narrate. Thanks
Thumbs down for mispronunciation of words! Interesting facts, tainted by laziness; step up your game! Update: I see in the comments you owned this already; atta boy, I will thumbs up to that!
@StuMarston ya the hype over Lindros was ridiculous. There was I hype for Mario as well but maybe because he was French and from Quebec it didn't seem to me that there was that much hype around Mario. As for the best prospect since Gretzky. I think that goes to Lemieux. Did he not score over 300 points his last year in junior?
So sick and tired of hearing about this guy every game, really the heart of Canada that has lived in the states for over 30 yrs...give me a break ENOUGH the NHL by far has the most players from all over the world, and we don't hear about them or there stories , because for what ever reason they keep bringing up stupid stories that we have heard time and time again, I'm not saying we should forget about the great players of the past but MOVE ON... Its time to focus on the players that are there now .
@@canucks4961 I had seasons tickets in the golds in Edmonton during Wayne's Prime. I can tell you for a fact, the D men were BIG strong , mean and dirty. The clutch and grab was horrendous. I can tell you, everyone wanted to hit him, but what people do not realize he was miles ahead of everyone on the ice with his big brain and outstanding vision under pressure. Un matched technical ability. He out thought everyone on the ice. Witnessed this up close for years in Edmonton... In all respect your statement is flat out a dumb statement
With respect BULLSHIT , as per his ability and vision of the ice I cannot argue, but all the stars were lined up for him, read Lanny 's book how they were instructed not to run him, as he was there meal ticket for the future of the NHL,Explain how that kid from Toronto hit him clean and that kid never played in the NHL again. I guess I should have explained my comment better, His character is total bullshit, paying this idiot 8 million a year to coach the coyotes as per Bettemen, to try and keep this joke of a team alive, also when hull and lafountaine were scoring like crazy and there was talk about them possible coming close to his record , he holds a press conference that he might retire so then he was headline news for the rest of the year .then when Mario Lemieux announced he is coming out of retirement the exact same day as his press conference ..Gretzky decides to have one of his own and announces that there really was nothing more to report about him buying the coyotes, the exact quote from TSN was WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT, I will tell you what that is about , if there is a camera he wants to be on it, There many more stories and if you want i can go on and on, the bottom line is every thing I have stated is true. What the hell was he doing coaching the blues in the all star game, when he only played 25 games for them, why the hell is his wife betting on hockey with his coach ,over 2.5 million over 2 months and he doesn't know anything about LOL, and that her name is Janet Jones in the news ...amazing how the Gretzky name was dropped, He is a business man nothing wrong with that , but as per I do it for the love of the game Ya right
