950-Pound and Nine Feet Two Tall Wayne Gretzky Statue Was Once Moved Away From Its Iconic Place After Nearly Three Decades

The NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky evidently rewrote the history of the sport, when he played for the Edmonton Oilers. Playing under the same color for a decade, the Great One led the Oilers to win four Stanley Cups as a captain. Owing to his prominence, two statues were unveiled in his hometown of Brantford, Ontario.

The statue, where an older Gretzky is seen hoisting the Stanley Cup, sat outside Rexall Place for nearly three decades. But in 2016, as the Oilers relocated to Rogers Place, they wanted to take the statue with them. Though the people reluctantly got away with the change, a controversy occurred when a child found the wrong inscription under the new one.

The relocation of the Wayne Gretzky statue

The statue has been sitting outside Rexall Hall since 1989. It was there to remind the townspeople about the legacy of the Great One. Significantly, Rexall Place served as the address of the Edmonton Oilers for about 42 years. But the new residence of the Oilers, along with the statue, changed to 104 Avenue. It was a 950-pound bronze figure that stood 9’2” tall.

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Late sculptor, John Weaver, from Washington, designed the figure and executed it with the help of Bronzesmith Don Begg. The Molson Breweries funded the statue and gifted it to the City of Edmonton to hold on to the legacy of Gretzky.

Before the placement, the authority cleaned the #99 tribute to the Great One. And then it was all set to stand in a public area, on the 104 Avenue sidewalk, outside the Oilers Hall of Fame Room. It quite piqued the interest of people, when a boy found some massive mistakes that ultimately led to a dispute.

It welcomed a controversy

A sharp-eyed boy once noticed something off with the engravings under the figure. He observed some unusual names like Oprah Winfrey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rocky Balboa, and Oscar Wilde listed as veteran hockey players.

The saga of controversy rose to the flame when he found out the last name of Canada’s hero written as “Gretzsky”. Even the name of his team in 1998-99 was Detroit Red Wings. Evidently, there was more to the list. While facing the enraged fans, the head of the authority stated that the mistakes were unintentional and would soon be rectified.

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The controversy, the placement of the figure, and even the keen eye of the small boy all lead to the same path – the never-ending legacy of the Great One.