Greatest ambassador to hockey. Speaks truthfully about different hockey eras, their upsides and downsides. It's an absolute pleasure to watch any of his interviews. Thank you Great One
He’s a good man, speaks from the heart. Imagine being the greatest in the world in a sport for over 20 years and still being healthy mentally and physically enough to appreciate all the success with his family. 👌🍻
Biff I agree. That's why I've always pushed for the international wider rinks to allow players more creativity and use their puck handling and speed more. I always love watching (well with the exception of last olympics and any moving forward) hockey in the olympics because you see him guys and teams playing so much different in the olympics than they do in the nhl
I'll agree with that (even though I'm a Yank, you can take that for what it's worth). When i watched the game in the 70's, players like Yvan Cournoyer were maybe 5'9" and could fly. I remember when the hockey world was shocked when a guy like Barry Beck could be over 200 lbs and still play.
yep. my son is a student of the game, has great hands, speed, but is an unselfish player. He constantly gets grief from coaches for looking to pass, or get a pass, and not just hitting. The selfish kids, especially those who have an in, are celebrated. It's not just my kid. The current model in youth hockey is killing the joy of the game.
I'm a southern boy from Texas... I can't help but admire the way Canada loves hockey... It's so embedded in the culture like Gretzky said. Over the last 20 plus years I have become such a fan. Yes I know.. You Canadians have forgotten more than I'll ever know about hockey lol... I still love it !!!
bill Knox I think its great how the southern cities like Dallas Nashville Tampa have supported their teams. I grew up in st louis saw a team there grow from its inception. I remember when there were zero Americans but things change. hockey a great sport especially playoffs. keep watching
Hey. Keep your stick on the ice! There is a man named Matthews, he comes from Arizona, his grandparents are Mexican. He plays for The Toronto Maple Leafs...and he's good, real good. Just play, as much as you can. Think about hockey, not just in terms of the game. So...yes there is much to know about hockey, and Canadians seem to absorb the game because of our culture...Hockey is just THERE, always, from when we are young. We play on frozen ponds with our friends and have a blast. We play on the street and in the school yard. Your buddies dad floods their back yard every winter. Get out and PLAY the game. Have fun with it.
What a smart and real guy. It's clear he came from humble beginnings and understands the realities of life in a broader context. Strange thing is, that I remember Wayne as a player, but never really heard him speak before. To my Czech ear, Wayne sounds a lot like the late Ivan Hlinka, who was very similar in his life story, natural wisdom in spades, a sharp, critical eye to observe the reality around him and a remarkable ability to comment on it in plain language. This natural, realistic shrewdness explains a lot of Gretzky's phenomenal success as a player. He wasn't the biggest guy, he wasn't the fastest skater, or the hardest shooter. But he was the best player. And all of the difference was in the head.
Just listen to a bunch of players being interviewed in each of, what I call, the four major sports in the USA, Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Hockey and you will find out quickly, the most intelligent and well spoken people are from Hockey. . . Not to say there aren't any in other sports because there are plenty in all of them. The bigger percentage of each sport, however, is Hockey by far. . .
@pippin1962 Yes, sadly he died in a road accident. It's too bad the communists only allowed players over the age of 30 to go play abroad. Had he played in the NHL from young age, he'd have left a large impact, I think. His nickname in the national team was "Velkej", which means "the Big One". It was meant literally as well as metaphorically. He was a natural leader who absolutely hated losing, always gave 100% effort, and expected the same of everyone around. Until they were surpassed by the golden generation of the 90's, that won the first NHL-involved Olympics and 5 World Championships (3 in a row), Hlinka was the leader of the most successful generation in our hockey. When it comes to accumulated accomplishments as a player and a coach, I don't think he's got an equal in our country's history.
All class, all the time. We can argue about who was the best of all time--Orr, Howe, Gretzky...and if you're French Canadian, Maurice Richard--but there's never been a better ambassador for the game than the Great One.
But it's an opinion well backed by facts on the ground. I hear it all the time from guys who coach or have kids playing in leagues who themselves grew up playing pick-up on ponds in addition to the house and travel teams.
Depth of experience, from both player and admin.level. And you can bet that anyone associated with hockey, from mites to NHL level, wants to talk with Wayne about the game. Just imagine how many tedious, one way conversations he's had to sit through listening to some dude pontificate about the present (then) state of hockey.
He's busy trying to win a Stanley Cup for a 5th time as an Oilers executive these days (interesting note, Los Angeles offered him a similar position the year before they won their first Cup, in an interview, he said he should of taken it, he could have 1-2 more Cups!).
I am a Bruins fan and even I want him as Commissioner. At least let him hand out the MVP award and Stanley Cup to the winner and let Gary stay in his office
I love Wayne Gretzky. He brings tears of joy to my eyes. I count myself so fortunate that I got to grow up watching him play since 1980 and all the great memories he is part of in my life. If I ever met him I’d probably break down crying over the experience. And I don’t cry for almost anything but dead loved ones. The NHL makes me sad nowadays. It’s corporate and lacking in the passion and love that existed before 2000. Bettman is the great destroyer of the NHL.
Gretzky's trade from Edmonton changed how hockey was viewed by cities outside the snow belt. Without this trade, most of the teams south of St. Louis would not exist today (or would have been established until many years later).
@@Malt454 If you're not on the ice you never wanted to play to begin with. You can go buy used gear for the same damn price as a baseball player. If you want to play and are skilled. You will get noticed.
@@lazydaze3134- It's not just about the cost of equipment - ice time, rep teams, travel, hockey camps cost real money - "wanting to play" isn't enough, and then there's the issue of which kids get to play every game and which don't.
@@Malt454 Canada is all about relative poverty now. Two neighbouring houses, both with both parents working full time, one house gets to play hockey, one house gets to barely scare by. Right out of the bible, the Love of the Many grows cold.
I grew up in Minnesota. Which like Canada, hockey is big. Sometime in the early 70s, players from Minnesota made up nearly 1/2 of all US born players. I sometimes joke to people that we were Canada's southern most Province. Why is it that football teams often provide equipment but not hockey teams? I remember my friend who played goalie and his dad spent a lot of money on those big leg pads.
3 of the current top 6 college hockey teams are in MN, and their rosters have plenty of MN-born players on them. (St. Cloud St. is #1, MN-Duluth is #4, Mankato St. #6...Gophers nowhere to be seen, though.)
Man alive, did you touch a nerve! I still smart at the fact that when I played hockey in high school, the football players used to complain and moan about the cost of buying their cleats! The hockey club wore the school logo, but didn't get a cent of support from it. Bake sales, car washes, etc. to raise money for the equipment and gear. I was fortunate my folks could afford to pay for my enjoyment of the game, but not everyone was so fortunate.
Thank you mr Gretzky, for having to endure what you did when coming to Los Angeles to give us the gift of hockey because of you I got into hockey in the 90’s and my life has blossomed , thx again, god bless u and god bless hockey
Totally agree. Way to systematic and robotic these days. Plays develop in the same way over and over. That's why I can't watch the NHL anymore. But I love to watch Juniors, Swedish league, NCAA, and Olympics.
As a kid I knew older hockey players that donated their equipment to me. I could barley afford skates. Hockey is a communal effort. As kids we were all driven by the parents to practices in the early morning hours. Great memories and good people. The game of hockey does prepare you for life. I can't imagine a world without the sport.
When Bettman took over as commissioner ( he was the assistant NBA commish at the time) the conferences and divisions were named after builders of hockey. When Buttman took over he made it like the NBA ...west conf..east conf..pac div cent div etc . There was the history of hockey with the names of HOFer's
I was finally able to get into playing ice hockey at 23 because I could finally afford it. After playing ball hockey since I was 4, it was a nice change to play real hockey for once.
That’s the truth very few ice rinks in Southern California where I grew up so it took hefty equipment costs and ice rink time which wasn’t cheap then you gotta find at least 8 ppl to play some decent 3v3
What are you talking about ? " real " hockey is played on frozen bodies of water with a stick and a puck and some blades strapped to the soles of your boots .
Hockey, Baseball, Golf, Tennis and Auto Racing have the richest traditions in all of sports. These sports have always upheld tradition and substance over pomp and flash.
I'm living in Finland and we are talking about hockey all the time. We are a small nation compared to Canada and we can't produce great players all the time but people in Finland are as obsessed and addicted to hockey than Canadians. When I was a kid and teenager in 70s and 80s track and field sports was more popular. Ben Johnson was even more famous than Gretzky when tested positive for doping. But in 90s everything changed and hockey became bigger than life in Finland.
".. Canada and we can't produce great players all the time but people in Finland are as obsessed and addicted to hockey than Canadians. .." It's amazing the quality of players that Finland consistanly produces from a talent pool of 62,000 registered hockey players! And I'm not sure if includes male and female players. In Canada it's close to 600,000 registered hockey players.
I'm sure that the number of registered Finnish hockey players will increase remarkably during the next 10-20 years. There are ice halls everywhere in Finland and junior coaches are nowadays very professional. However, Finnish kids also play a lot on outdoor ice.
mahtivaari72 They have a good system for developing their players from what I understand, working on skating and skills before they actually start playing games.
I remember back in the 70's and 80's ;playing outdoors from 8am til 12 noon then wolf down lunch, go back to the rink and play til 5pm ,then wolf down supper and back to the rink til lights out at 11 pm.We had a 9pm curfew but when we were at the rink the police did not enforce the curfew.Today when I pass an outdoor rink on a weekend it is empty.
I love this guy. I’m so glad I got to see his career, beginning to end. Still humble, approachable, articulate. God bless Wayne Gretzky. Everything you want a sports hero to be.
After a few hours of listening to him , you will come to realize that he has been giving the same answers to the same questions for decades now and is very protective of his persona and his legacy .
The instigator rule is what ultimately ruined the game. Players could no longer be protected & have suffered shortened careers or serious injuries that take away from some of their talent.
The cost is what stopped me dead in my tracks. Tried out for my high school hockey team with borrowed goalie equipment, coach liked what he saw and offered me a spot. My parents then found out what is was going to cost for equipment, ice time, and other fees and they said there is no one way we can afford this and that was the end of my dreams. That all happened for me in the 80’s; I can only imagine what parents have to go through in today’s world to afford everything.
My daughter loves hockey, which I thought was cool. Now that she’s almost ten and growing out of everything so fast, the true cost is starting to set in. Add to that the nearest rink is 25 miles away. Lately I found myself trying to discourage her from playing hockey, which only makes her more adamant. 50 miles for every practice. Uuughh...
Man, players like you are so rare, im at an age where I've heard of you, but being from the East Coast. I did not see your games. But i have watched all of your highlights and what I was seeing blew my mind. You are the first greatest player to ever play the game!!! As a hockey fan I just want to thank you!!!
I think it is comical how some of those goals went in during Wayne's era. Flopping goalies everywhere. Today's game is definitely harder and more skillful. Entertainment value is a toss-up. I think people are just too nostalgic. Like... who didn't like Knight Rider or A-Team? Now you just have to laugh.
dhoffmaneye The NHL game isn't as entertaining now as it was a generation ago. The difference? Yesteryears' players were just as talented but on average, not as fast as today's players. Today's faster skaters (especially the defencemen and forechecking forwards) prevent the play from opening up and consequently, there are fewer goals because of tighter checking. The 200 ft. x 85 ft. NHL rink dimension has become too small for today's speed merchants. Games played on the larger 100 ft. wide European rinks allow the faster players to skate to the outside and around the defence -- something that doesn't occur today very often in the NHL. Also, the European game played on the wider ice surface produces a better passing game. I'd rather watch the World Juniors playing in Finland/Sweden or a Spengler Cup from Davos featuring 2nd rate players than a regular NHL game because of the higher level of excitement created by the enhancement of open play.
@@RemmyNHL Can't say I've seen much ragging the puck on international ice surfaces. What leagues are you watching? The North American game produces far more offensive cycling around the corner boards up to the half-line. The International rink size allows for more lateral passing and eliminates most of the puck dump and chase tactics used by many NHL lines. No skill there; any dough-head can do that.
Absolutely. Its why some of the nonsense happens with team usa. After the Olympics are over team usa administrators and coaches have to go back to their Canadian bosses throughout the league. They would all rather be the noble loser that didn't rock the boat.
Hockey is too expensive. What one pays for a stick today outfitted me with the total package as a kid. I feel for those parents that have to pay the astronomical costs of letting their kids play such a great game. Thank the hockey gods for pick-up hockey.
Totally agree. I remember buying top of the line stuff from head to toe in the early 90s for $1000 total. Now you're lucky if you can get skates and a composite stick at that price.
I know right! When I was a kid you went to the local shop and got a $10 Sherwood or Koho. Now you have to have a composite stick, well 2 to 4 of them because even kids break those things. I would have needed a saw to break my Sherwood.
either you have never played hockey, or you have never watched hockey from the 90's. hockey today is so boring to watch because of how systematic it is
Antility TV It's better now than it was during the expansion Era with the trapping, the clutching and grabbing. However, the free wheeling of the late 70's and 80's it only a memory. The ice just seems smaller now.
So true. The 90's was the last decade of real tough guy Hockey. Everything is so watered down today and the goalies are so cookie cutter. They are all the same just sliding around in the butterfly.
6 foot + tall goalies with much bigger equipment. Makes it tougher to score. But perhaps this balances out the faster bigger players with composite sticks. Back in the day everyone used fiberglass enhanced wooden sticks.
YA well this Mike Jackson clone would make it even F'in worse!!! ORR or MESSIER would be a better choice, somebody who actually threw a check,punch or went in the corner! "grapes" would have been good( but he's too senile now and too one-sided against Europeans) but he was right on about that hit on grizzly.( the dope deserved it! by moving stupidly) it will be interesting to see how he does tonight. if underdog blues take it,it's gonna be well deserved.ya hafta love the goon coach BAR-ROOM-ME!
@pippin , you are absolutely right. Bettman is a great businesman and has grown and expanded our game into markets we never thought possible. Canadians should show him more respect. We now have more markets that we can beat our chests to and gloat "this is our game". . . why? because of Bettman.
Wayne is a very thoughtful intelligent person and I agree with everything he says, but to drive home some points he makes let me just say that I also feel the NHL games are too expensive and I can't even go to any of them. This is tragic. It shuts out something beautiful and just like everything now it's all for the rich people. The players nowadays are like the players when I first followed the sport in the 90s they are getting abused by evil Bettman and they are slaves to a system- Gretzky uses the word "Systematic." I think he should be Commissioner. I know I'm not alone.
Psfif That is true on many teams, fortunately it wasn't true on mine. He was my coach from when I was 5 yrs old (in 1970) until I was 17. He even knocked his own son back to third line for a season because he wasn't playing well.
I used to do security work for Wayne at the Celebrity Sports Classic in Brantford. Dropped some stuff off at his Grandparents place outside Brantford once, when I went out back to put it in the yard, Janet was laying in a bikini sunbathing....Wayne, you lucky bastard!!!!
I am 62 and boy I can remember when the City put the boards and lights up in our park in November and we had ice by Dec 1st. We went just about every night until 9 pm no matter how cold it was. We even brought our shovels from home to shovel the snow off. I can still smell the odd time when someone left their mitts on the coal stove in the warming shack too long and you would get a burnt smell. those days are replaced now with PS4 AND XBOX and the cell phone...its a shame!
Damn straight. We had a local place called Sportsmans Lake and when it froze we all went down to play. I even had a stump I found someone probably cut for firewood once and lost, and I used to sit on it to change from shoes to skates, and at the end of every year I'd hide it under a bush... and the following year there it would be. Did that for many years until I knew one year it would be the last time probably, so I took the stump home with me. I still have it. Funny the mementos we keep.
Wood butcher I could really see those visuals as I read your comment sounds like it was an amazing time. Also gotta say your RU-vid handle can double as a tough hockey name on the back of a jersey. Hockey really is the greatest game of all time
There will never be an athlete with as much class and humility as Wayne! Truly the Greatest of all time and a hell of a role model for kids of his era. It is shameful the types of personalities that exists in professional sports today. The world of sports would be a lot better with more guys like the Great One!
@@canucks4961 Maybe you'd prefer your children following pieces of trash like Ray Lewis or Colin Kaepernick that are total divisive losers only out for themselves
Maybe you should WAKE UP ..do you watch the same show over and over , do you listen to the same song every day, my point is ENOUGH of Wayne and let;s talk about the players today.. As per these other NFL players you brought up Kaeperick lost everything for something he believed in ... OUT FOR HIMSELF ....GET EDUCATED... As per out for themselves why was the league paying Wayne 8 million a year to coach his own team , are you kidding me, and since you want to bring in family , how about his wife gambling with his coach , over 2.5 million in 8 months and WAYNE had no idea. THAT"S NO CLASS
@@ShermBASS Get your facts straight about Colin because he lost everything for something he believed in , as per Wayne I cannot say what i feel about him, because RU-vid now tells every one what they can or cannot say, how you should feel or how your beliefs are wrong,, like by saying a women who killed her children should be executed is bullying,,, WHAT A JOKE
I'm was raised on a tobacco farm in St Williams Ont, Canada about 3/4 of at an hour, from Gretzky's home town of Brantford, back in the 70's my dad would spend the time and flood the Pond painting line's and bringing out the whole team from Simcoe to practice and he wasn't even the COACH !
yeap, I was saying, players these days are all too strong, too fast, to good of cardio, they have been specifically training to be hockey players since they were like 13. the defense is too good, its all systematic and its boring to watch now. 80's and 90's hockey was way more exciting
This really gives you a good insight into Wayne's thoughts on hockey in general and the fact that he came from a humble background is definitely apparent. When he said it was hard for his parents to buy him a hockey stick for $3.99 and that they wouldn't be able to support him in today's world was really an eye opener. He's definitely a humble guy to begin with, even on TV he's the quiet one in a group of commentators, he'll listen and smile a lot. Great guy and hockey ambassador for sure.
Wayne you've done an amazing job selling our sport and fostering it's growth. When I was a kid growing up in NJ in the 60s and 70's I'm pretty sure my best friend and I were the only kids in our school that liked hockey. That's all changed
I'm sitting here watching this at 39 years old in Italy while traveling the world. Grew up in Canada, played junior hockey, then played college hockey. The one person in this whole world that I would love to meet for 5 mins is Wayne. I remember every Saturday night that Edmonton played my dad would let me stay up for the first period. (Late Game in Ontario) and tape the rest. During intermissions when they played the early game against TO, MOntreal Etc, I would go downstairs and shoot pucks against the woodpile my dad set up. I literally almost always tear up when I see him speak. I'm sitting here traveling with my wonderful wife all over the world, experiencing things that are truly unbelievable and the one thing I have not done is meet my childhood idol, Wayne Gretzky. One day.
Orr was just before my era but I feel very fortunate to have seen Wayne's entire career. Those 80's Oiler's team were magnificent to watch. He was an absolute magician on the ice. Best offensive forward the game has ever seen. His creativity and anticipation on the ice was unmatched. He could visual plays develop before anybody else an execute them to perfection.
Gretzky was amazing and it is too bad you missed Bobby Orr because he was amazing too, as amazing and maybe more so, the only defense-man to win an NHL scoring championship and Orr did it twice. Orr came within a hair of scoring 50 goals as a defense-men as well...unheard of...he had over 5 hundred point seasons I believe also unheard of and amazing, and for a good part of Bobby's short career he did it on one good leg and one bad leg. Richard, Orr Lemeiux and Wayne...the greatest!
@@sportsdogs7927 Orr first, always. HOFers Gordie Howe, Milt Schmidt and Red Fisher saw 'em all from the '40's, '30's and 'early '50's respectively - and each of them said Orr was the best player they ever saw. Yes, I respect their collective opinions more than those of biased fans.
He’s spot on about the loss of “pond hockey.” When I was a kid in the 80’s the outdoor rink was a meeting place for kids in the Winter. All of us who played hockey were up there of course, but the coolest thing back then was that so were kids from the neighborhood who didn’t play organized hockey. Those kids weren’t as good as us, but it didn’t matter because they still knew how to skate and would play in the games we’d put together. It was the same as in Summer when I’d join in on basketball games at the playground court, even though I didn’t play the game, or baseball or football. What was great back then was that even though those kids weren’t considered “hockey players,” they were still connected to the game. I don’t see that these days.
I love hockey and I wish I was put through as a kid. but its was too much money. played soccer got pretty good but I still love the sport. maybe when I'm older I'll find an adult house league and try playing
I learned to skate when I was 10 and played hockey from 10 to 15 years old. NORCAL in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would love to play in an old timers league. Ice skating is one thing but to be able to skate and have a stick and a puck and stick handle and take a slapshot or two. Aww, there's nothing else like it.
I was shooting a magazine story and Wayne dropped by the subject house I was photographing and I got to meet Wayne. Very nice man. He has no ego and is just like a normal guy.
Here is what I call not having an ego. Never met the guy and him and his wife were super nice and engaged in a pleasant conversation and we did not even talk about hockey. The same can be said for Henry Winkler. Met him at an event and started a 15 minute conversation about the foods he likes and is an expert about all cheese’s. Never talked about the Fonz. Super nice people who are well known and do not think they are better than the next guy. I have worked with many celebrities and I know what a big ego is. It is was not pleasant to work with those people. Just did my job was nice to them and I moved on.
It's true hockey is expensive as hell. Hence why I'm 24 just now affording it. Sad because I think I would be a lot better at this age if I started younger.
Man, some of these guys in rec leagues have hands for days. Interesting to think how many guys were meant to be in the nhl but just couldn't afford it when younger or have parents to get them around to all their games. Money and parental support are key to becoming a NHLer. It's not like nba where you can just buy a ball, practice almost anywhere, make your highschool team and get noticed.
Yeah, it's expensive. And, at least where I lived, games were always _early_ in the morning (cheaper rink renting time). Even hockey isn't so much fun when you have to get up at 4 in the morning on Saturday to play.
I'm not easily starstruck in that I see a celebrity or athlete and I want their autograph or tell them how much I admire their work, but in the case of Wayne Gretzky, I would love to meet him, if just for five seconds, and get his autograph. Oftentimes we find out out favorite athletes are not necessarily likable people or the types you'd like to emulate or have your kids emulate. Wayne's hockey acumen is at least rivaled by his humility and the positive example he sets as a human being. There are some celebrities and athletes who are role models both in their workplace and in life, but none more so than Wayne.
Wayne is so right. As a youth hockey coach...in Phoenix (thanks to Wayne's efforts bring hockey to the west) the game gave me the opportunity to teach boys, and a few girls, life lessons. Dedication, responsibility, work ethic, teamwork, loyalty. Something I think that was most important was not only how to win but how to lose and how to learn for failures so that you can improve. How to respect your opponents even when they might shellac you! I even worked to teach kids how to eat healthy and boy...did moms love their kids eating their veggies and turning down soda pop! Hockey is a mirror of life. It's hard, cold and brutal but... when you defeat your opponent playing through pain... and then you can shake the hand of the guys you clawed and scrapped against and say...good job, man! Great game! You are a man that will be responsible, honorable and can meet any challenge. God bless hockey, God bless Wayne! The Great one on and off the ice!
Yes sir . We are paying attention to and heeding the words of The Great One Almighty . We see the wisdom in his methodology to sellout the Canadian game to the American controlled NHL . Allegiance to the Hockey God who is known as The Great One . Long live The Great One . May The Great One live long .
Wayne is the best... I didn't like him while he was playing (because he wasn't on my team!) but now I can admit, he is a class act. A great Canadian role model.
This man is so insightful about hockey, life, Canadian sociology, it gives me chills. In spite of his deference he could still dominate the game if he were to regenerate to 26 and get out there among the robotic, boring, break-neck, frenetic, systematics of today. The game today has great athletes but it is not better. Its robot hockey. Today's game is soulless. Gretzky's humility and empathy are remarkable in this age of spoiled prima donna show-offs.
Spot on, in the 70's if you wanted to play youth Hockey it was not out of reach. Many rinks were natural ice, the parents/community members(volunteer) coached, maintained ice.If you didn't have skates/equipment it was borrowed/loaned from family or pooled from the community. coach made sure everyone had what they need to participate for minimal investment. The rinks were focal point of winter activity. Before satellite,cable, Saturday night meant watching Hockey night in Canada! So many fond memories of those times.
As a player and someone who works at a hockey shop I'll say there is a monopoly. With Bauer and rbk\ccm dominating the market. Price's are getting crazy 1s or ultra tack for a grand? The 300 one pieces albeit it's the wizard not the wand yet skate's will give two identical player's an extra stride.... I love Hockey i just wish they'd cap some prices three hundred dollar bucket's? like the react 100 or CCM 3ds.. crazy yet everything must be hecc certified and mouth guards and keeping our heads up really prevents concussions, plus no buddy passes or slew foots lol
When I was a kid the top line skates were CCM Tackaberrys, made from KANGAROO leather, no less. I finally got a pair when I was about 15 - before that I had skates that were crap. After a few years in the Tacks, which were completely worn out by then, I got some Bauer Supreme 91's. I wore them for many years and gave them to a young player here in Christchurch, New Zealand. On a trip to Canada, got some Bauer Supreme 100's - at the time about $300. Again, kangaroo leather on the main part of the boot. I still have those battle-scarred old veterans, and still skate regularly, at 67 years old. I was in Canada last year and looked at skates in a sport shop - I was flabbergasted!!! A THOUSAND DOLLARS for a pair of skates??? Are you kidding me?? No wonder parents don't want their kids to play hockey!! Gloves?? 300 BUCKS!! Shinpads, shoulderpads, pants, helmet, etc. etc. You're looking at at least a couple of grand to outfit your kid with gear that he or she is going to grow out of in a year or so - then what??? And heaps of money for a STICK!!! The whole thing is bananas!! Kids here in New Zealand play rugby - now THAT'S a tough game!!
allansbullet I've put two kids through hockey and that was expensive enough years ago but my sister in law has triplets that all want to play.....she'll have to remortgage her house.
BombasticLove87 These kids only have gym class a couple times a week and the Toronto school board has banned kids from tossing even a tennis ball around at lunch or recess. Pretty soon they'll have to wear helmets in class so they dont get a boo boo. Drive around any subdivision and see how many kids are playing street hockey? None, hockey in parts of Canada is sadly dying. I'm out in the country and have a pond so when my kids feiwnds come over they think it's heaven.
Left Canada in 1978 so I missed his playing. However I saw a special on CBC when he was ten years old and he had scored something like 350 goals in Pee Wee. Fifteen years later a College friend of mine came to visit me in the Caribbean and I asked what had happened to the child prodigy-and he said that he was now called the Great Gretzky. I am sorry that I was not around for most of his career. I used to be a hockey fanatic and thought that Bobby Orr was the greatest hockey player I had seen. I was fortunate to be in the time Beliveau, Howe Mikita and Hull. I agree with Gretzky about the play being too regimented!
The best players are still not really on the ice. Money is a factor and the creative players get crushed by the big grinders... Need to protect the creative players with big players and most players in the big league are power forwards - strong grinders who skate a strong system... Would love to see fun games again... European players have a beautiful skating creative game... Canadians dominate on other levels and have a few hockey stars that can still be as creative. But it is ever changing in Canada. The Great One is correct on many levels.
Saw him once in a mall in southern California. It was just after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He was sitting in the mall having a coffee . Thanked him for coming to Vancouver . A real gentleman, a great Canadian .
But we started out playing street hockey, pond hockey- that's the whole point, that's where the creativity comes from. It's funny, parents can have thousand-dollar phones to play Candy crush, pay hundreds of dollars in cable and satellite, they can afford their toys, hair salons, nail salons, but I spent the majority of my kids school years doing all that fundraising for all those parents to drive those fancy cars, while I was the one that raised the money for their kids to be on the ice rinks. Hockey's gotten so expensive, because pathetic Americans in particular have turned our society over to lawyer liar leeches. I don't want to hear how expensive hockey is when I see these people living in homes and driving cars they can't afford What I learned is if hockey practices after school with a bus? Lots of parents do it. But it's before school, parents actually have to get arses out of bed, that's the biggest difference It's called, priorities
I'm an American and grew up in Texas. We have football baseball basketball hockey racing, etc. My time in Canada on a business trip of 4 months last year taught me that in Canada there is hockey and then there's everything else. They live it and breathe it, and that's why Canada Remains the center of the hockey universe
I cant believe Gretzky is 60, it seems like he will be forever young, lighting up the game like never before and never since, and yet he is still that humble small town Canadian kid in his heart.
In 1998 during Nagano Olympic games. I was a kid living in the Czech Republic and we were watching quarter and semi final games in school instead of class. Great memories
The problem is that, naturally, when someone creates a systematic strategy that works, someone else will find a way to break that system. Over the decades this has accumulated and created the modern state. Strategy has been refined to the point there really is no way to break anything any more. You setup a system and hope your players can play the system better than the opposition. Most teams are equal in that aspect, so then it comes down to the bounces and calls going your way a.k.a Games are less exciting. Perhaps the only way to get around this is to go 4 on 4.
There's a book that's come out where a statistician went out and studied sports and found that out of all professional leagues, the NHL is the one where luck plays the biggest factor. That's not to say skill isn't important, but with frequent line changes, and your main players like Sidney Crosby only playing over a 1/3 of a game, how a team plays in the system becomes more important than the skill and creativity of the individual. It's why we tend to see teams like the Chicago Blackhawks win 2 Stanley Cups and then eventually this year not even make the playoffs still having some of their most important players. It's sad to watch because out of most professional sports, I feel like hockey players posses some of the most skill, but yet can't always win games.
The truly great ones will always light up the ice. It was the speed and the accuracy and the enthusiasm of the 80's Oilers that made the thing happen. Thry didn't have a team of supermen, they had a team of guys who were crazy skilled and willing to do what needed to be done at the time. It can't happen every night, or even every year. Watch and wait. Babe Ruth or the Yankees from his era or the fifties and sixties doesn't happen every year. Bobby Orr and his Bruins are simply who they were. If they happened every year, it wouldn't be as good as it was.
Wayne Gretzky, the best hockey player ever, i still practice the famous rap around on the out door rink, i really miss the Great One, thanks for all the wonderful memories.
I agree, mixed feelings too. The game has gotten much more skilled. Everyone can skate now. All goalies are good (along with bigger bodies and bigger pads). Coaching is better. But it makes the game boring to watch at times. Dump and chase. Put it into the corner and hope for a turnover. Lack of breakaways down the middle, lack of creativity. I agree it is expensive for kids - both to go and to play. I started playing in 1995. $10 got you either into an NHL game or it got you a wooden Louisville stick. Now $10 MIGHT pay for pickup, but you need $400-$600 (or more) for skates, and now the cheap sticks are $80! And to get into an NHL game is probably at least 4-5x as much (haven't been since 2007).
@@aronmaddocks2736 its not like that forever. Sticks, gloves, yes. But I still have the same shin pads I bought in 1995. I am sure I have played well over 1000 times in them.
The southern US hasn't been a stranger to hockey for a long time. I remember around 1974 when the Virginia Wings (AHL Detroit Red Wings affiliate) played the Richmond Robins (AHL Philadelphia Flyers affiliate) played at sold out Norfolk Scope (9,000+). At the same time, just a couple miles away, over 6,000 were on hand at the Hampton Roads Coliseum to watch the Hampton Gulls play in the Southern Hockey League. Some always portray the southern areas as ignorant about hockey but that is really not the case so much. Didn't The Great One himself start out with the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA?
The only country sport combo I can come up with that might compare to Canada and their hockey would be maybe Brazil and soccer or New Zealand and rugby?
I recall in 72 we didn’t get out of school. They brought tvs into the classrooms. I didn’t see this kind of devotion until I worked in an industry with Europeans and South Americans and it was the World Cup. I had never actually heard of it but once I saw the fanaticism of the Brazilians and the Italians I recognized it right away.
I thought this was a clip from a longer interview and maybe he was crying in the previous segment. Might be the lighting or his eyes bothering him but it looks like he was teary-eyed about something.
What a class guy, from his illustrious career, but way beyond that. Extended professional rapport, the way he treated a friend of mine, ( Ace Bailey ). He is the greatest in more ways than the obvious. Thanks Wayne
