“Going to Be a Lot Better”: Wayne Gretzky’s Son Ty Once Got ‘Smack-Talked’ on Following Father’s Footsteps

One of Canada’s most celebrated and loved hockey players, Wayne Gretzky, is considered one of the greatest athletes. Gretzky is one of the few players in America whose jersey number was retired by the league itself. After Gretzky’s retirement in 1999, people expected his sons to carry forward his legacy. Ty Gretzky was one of Gretzky’s three sons often compared with Wayne, which made Ty pressurized simultaneously. 

In his long 20-year hockey career, Wayne Gretzky performed brilliantly in four teams. He was also the highest goal scorer in many instances. After his retirement, he became the coach of the Canadian national team. Presently, Gretzky is happily working as a sports analyst and has multiple brand collaborations. 

Wayne Gretzky’s son experienced comparison in his childhood

Wayne Gretzky’s eldest son, Ty Gretzky, experienced great comparisons with his father in his childhood. He was the only child of Gretzky who picked up hockey at a young age. However, his enthusiasm for the sport did not go well. Ty was a part of his school team in 10th grade in Shattuck-St. Mary’s School. Being the son of the greatest hockey player in the country, coaches and media people scrutinized his way of playing. 

According to the NY Times in 2006, Ty, in only his second season of competitive hockey, scored four goals and six assists in 29 games as a center for the lowest level of the four upper-school boys teams. The scrutiny of coaches and media was pressurizing Ty. However, he hoped to improve his performance eventually. In an interview with NY Times, the 15-year-old Ty told, “I get smack-talked all the time on the ice from other players.”He continued, “Just like, ‘I thought you were going to be a lot better,’ stuff like that.”

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Despite all the media attention, the young Ty chose to ignore it. However, he knew that the pressure of becoming the best like his father would not go away so soon. He continued to work on himself. 

Why did Ty Gretzky quit playing hockey?

Being the oldest son of Wayne Gretzky, it was hard for TY to match up with his father. In one of the interviews, Ty revealed that he never wore his last name on his jersey while playing. Still, people would come to know his identity. He shared with ‘Thousand Oaks Acorn;’

“Somehow people in the stands would just find out who I was and yell, ‘You’ll never be as good as your dad in hockey,’”

Although Ty enjoyed the sport, the pressure became too much for him to handle. He eventually quit hockey and pursued his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Arizona State University. Currently, he is the founder of the Gretzky Hockey School in Idaho. 

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