“He Was Winking at Me”: Idol Gordie Howe’s Bizarre Act Made Wayne Gretzky ‘Excited’ During Their First Battle, Revealed in 2016

For aspiring hockey players, Wayne Gretzky stands as an inspiration. Even though many from today’s time have not seen him play, nonetheless, the feat that he achieved in the field still today remains a benchmark. There are many who hail Wayne as their inspiration, but when he was young and still mastering the art of hockey, there was one person who he always aspired to be like.

For little Wayne, Gordie Howe, aka Mr. Hockey, was an idol. Thus, for him to join his idol in the ring was a huge honor. Talking about that famous encounter back in 2016 when Wayne joined Conan on TBS, the hockey legend went candid

Wayne talked about his first encounter with his idol Howe

Wayne was just 18 years old when he, for the first time, played against Howe. Mr. Hockey, during the said time, was 50 and was playing for New England Whalers. Recalling the moment, Wayne said, “I was in the warmup [and] I was so, so excited to play against Gordie Howe, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is something really cool.'”

Narrating the story further added, he revealed that while he was skating around the rim for warmup, every time he went past Gordie, as he quoted, “he was winking at me.” This got Wayne “excited” for the game. Moreover, the young player was super happy, and he hurried back to the locker room to share other’s the incident.

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As Howe narrated the whole incident, his teammates were quick to correct him that Howe was not, in fact, winking at him and that he got a blinking problem. Everyone ended up in a good laugh and the moment forever got engraved in Wayne’s mind.

Wayne Gretzky eventually beat his idol’s record

Later that day, Wayne gave a tough competition to his idol. In the same interview, he shared how he took the puck off Howe’s stick. For doing such a thing, he even got a thorough warning from Howe. But eventually, the two went to share a great bond. Leaving behind his favorite’s 801 goals, Wayne soon registered the highest in NHL history with 894 goals.

Wayne holds Howe with the utmost respect. He considered him the “greatest hockey player.” For hockey fans, having had the opportunity to share the two greats playing opposite each other was an even greater gift. Even though those days are long past, the memories remain afresh in everyone’s mind.

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