“My Name Probably Wouldn’t Come Up”: Wayne Gretzky Once Revealed the Downside of His Greatest Skill

NHL star Wayne Gretzky has numerous ice hockey titles and records to his name and is known as one of the pioneers of the game. NHL without Gretzky is incomplete. However, despite all these achievements, the legend once believed he would not be in the “top four” of an elite list.

Besides, Gretzky also blamed a unique game skill of his, due to which he could never make it to the said list. Here is a shocking confession the hockey legend once made.

Wayne Gretzky is not just a goal-scorer

In his memoir – The Great One: The Complete Wayne Gretzky Collection, the hockey legend has shared various memories and his time on the rink. While Gretzky has discussed his various accomplishments in the book, the hockey player also revealed he was not a great goal scorer.

He contributed to goals by setting them up and not scoring them. Hence, he said, “If you sat down and said, ‘Name the four best goal scorers in hockey,’ my name probably wouldn’t come up. My playmaking has probably overshadowed my goal-scoring a little bit.”

During his NHL career, Gretzky became the all-time assist leader with a total of 1963 assists. However, it is not that Gretzky did not score goals. In fact, even after retiring in 1999, Gretzky is also the leading goal-scorer [894 goals] in the NHL.

Regardless, “The Great One” believed he was not a goal-scoring machine. “Some guys are just pure goal scorers. I don’t know if I was a pure goal scorer. I didn’t have a very hard shot. I still don’t have a very hard shot,” confessed Gretzky.

Read More: Wayne Gretzky Proved Why He Is ‘The Great One’ With Honest Take on Alexander Ovechkin in 2021: “Be One of the First Guys to Shake His Hand”

Many might not agree with Gretzky on this. But one thing is for sure, nobody in the NHL had a presence of mind in the rink like the “Einstein of Hockey”. Many believed he had eyes in the back of his head.

Was Gretzky a player or a magician?

It is no secret that Wayne Gretzky was a maestro of ice hockey. But, what shocked the audience more was his ability to track the player’s movements even before they moved.

The hockey legend had once revealed that he always had a feeling about what a player’s next step would be. Hence, could read the game better than others. But Gretzky’s talent did not just end with players. He could also track the puck and reach its destination even before it. Gretzky could also perfectly pass the puck to a teammate without turning his head to locate them.

Watch This Stoy: Wayne Gretzky spends some quality time with Coachella valley firebird coach-cum-friend and the team

As a result, many believed Gretzky might have an extra pair of eyes on the back of his head. It is not surprising that, to date, Wayne Gretzky is the one and only GOAT of the NHL.