It’s kind of ironic when I broke in at 17, I was told I was too small, too slow and I wouldn’t make the NHL.
WAYNE GRETZKYAnd people who know me would tell you that away from hockey I’m really not that competitive.
More Wayne Gretzky Quotes
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I think that from the time you start playing sports as a child you see that your responsibility to your team is to play the best that you can play as an individual. And yet, not take anything away from being part of a team.
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That’s the hardest part of this whole process. The best part is picking the players and the worst part is telling basically five players they are not going to play tonight.
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I don’t think any one person will ever be bigger than the game.
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I wasn’t naturally gifted in terms of size and speed; everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that’s the way I’ll be as a coach.
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Thankfully, in my youth I had the best financial advisor a son could ask for: my dad Walter. When I got that first signing bonus in 1978, Dad took my cheque, announced, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ and bought an annuity with it.
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Maybe it wasn’t the talent the Lord gave me-maybe it was the passion.
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The day I stop giving is the day I stop receiving. The day I stop learning is the day I stop growing. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
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Skating alone is an art. Doing it on a substance? I don’t know. That’s got to be tough.
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No matter who you are, we’re creatures of habit. The better your habits are, the better they will be in pressure situations.
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Kids don’t fight in minor hockey anymore. There’s very few fights in junior and college hockey. So growing up, all these guys are not fighting.
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I grew up such a fan. It was my life. Everything I did was hockey related and everything I have is because of hockey and the NHL.
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We feel fortunate [with Canada hockey team]. We have got a lot of guys who love to play, but they also love to win even more. We are pretty happy. Although we are young, we like our group of players.
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I think a lot of parents live their lives through the kids. Because they didn’t make it [achieve something], they want their kids to make it. It puts a lot of undue pressure on the kids.
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I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
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Hockey is a unique sport in the sense that you need each and every guy helping each other and pulling in the same direction to be successful.
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If I had to pick three players to start a franchise, I’d choose Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.
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People in general want to build somebody up and then try to knock them down. They always root for the underdog.
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Most players go where the puck is. I go where the puck will be.
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Your friends, family, and kids have to understand that’s your priority. It’s the only way you can be successful.
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The game is played out of instinct, but everyone on the ice has habits – good and bad. So the key to the game is to exploit the bad habits of your opponent.
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I played everything. I played lacrosse, baseball, hockey, soccer, track and field. I was a big believer that you played hockey in the winter and when the season was over you hung up your skates and you played something else.
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And people who know me would tell you that away from hockey I’m really not that competitive.
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In one sense we are a favorite because we won a gold medal in 2002.
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What you want to do with your best players is, it doesn’t matter how many goals and assists they get, but when they get goals and assists. The best players get them at the most important times, and that’s when we need those guys to come through.
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One of the key qualities that you need to be a great hockey player is fantastic anticipation and feel for the game – if you know where the puck is going before it is hit, that is half the battle.
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It’s just amazing how many companies suddenly want you to hold up their products after you’ve held up the Stanley Cup.
WAYNE GRETZKY