“No. F***Ing. Way.”: NHL Legend Wayne Gretzky Instantly Dropped an Infamous Tradition Because of His Daughter in 2005

Wayne Gretzky is a hockey legend who helped the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup four times in a row. At the age of 13, Gretzky already had more than 800 career points in hockey, creating history. Once, Gretzky also spoke about how his teammates were worried about his small size when he was young.

In the year 2005, Wayne Gretzky became the coach of the team Coyotes. Taking charge of guiding the team, it became Gretzky’s responsibility to motivate the team. He also started an odd tradition to encourage the team to perform well in upcoming matches.

Wayne Gretzky’s infamous tradition and why he stopped it 

Before a match in Michigan, Gretzky noticed that the woman singing the national anthem was very beautiful. This gave him an odd idea. Wayne told the team that whoever shot the winning goal would get her number. Later, the team won the match in Detroit city.

Afterward, before the team’s match against Texas, Wayne again said that the player with the winning goal would get a number of the pretty national anthem singer. The Coyotes won the match at Dallas too. 

Before the match in Arizona, Wayne thought of continuing the same odd tradition. However, he then saw his daughter, Paulina Gretzky. She was going to sing the national anthem. Richard Tocchet then tried to encourage Gretzky to continue the odd tradition they had begun. Wayne, however, refused.“No. F***ing. Way”, he spoke firmly. His daughter’s concern finally made him discontinue this tradition.

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A philosophy of Wayne’s was to keep reasonable expectations from the team members and not overburden them with unreasonable demands. “My concern is execution, getting my team ready and getting the focus of the players to be on a team philosophy”, Wayne expressed. 

What is the NHL ‘Great One’ Doing at Present? 

Recently, Wayne has launched a partnership with BetMgm, an online sports betting platform. The hockey champion is also currently working as a commentator for NHL matches, gaining huge popularity. 

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Though Wayne has taken retirement from playing hockey, he’ll always remain a legend for fans. The incident where his daughter’s concern made him stop the tradition shows how he learned from his mistakes. As hockey fans, we eagerly wait to see Wayne’s future actions.