Lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. There’s nothing like it. It’s the greatest story. In my era, they used to say you couldn’t be a superstar without winning one. I remember thinking when I lifted it: “Now they can’t say that about me.”
WAYNE GRETZKYI’m probably the only guy in hockey who can win a scoring title and everybody is saying I had a bad year. I don’t worry about it.
More Wayne Gretzky Quotes
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I really wanted to write a book [99: Stories of the Game] on the tradition and history of the league, where kids can pick it up and read it and learn things and say, “Geez, I didn’t know that. That’s pretty cool.”
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In one sense we are a favorite because we won a gold medal in 2002.
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The Power of WHO provides great lessons about how to succeed in business and in life. If you surround yourself with quality people and great friends, the sky’s the limit.
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I couldn’t beat people with my strength; I don’t have a hard shot; I’m not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.
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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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The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.
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Most people marry their mother. I married my father.
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When I played in a 21-team league, there were six or seven goalies who were just average, and the equipment and pads were smaller. I came in the right era. I played for the right team. It was all speed, and creativity and imagination.
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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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You’ll never catch me bragging about goals, but I’ll talk all you want about my assists.
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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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As a player, you have one responsibility, to focus yourself and be ready for the game. As a coach, your responsibility is to get 20 guys ready and have them all on the same page. If you can’t get every guy ready every night, you’re going to struggle.
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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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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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It doesn’t matter what I think. It doesn’t matter what other people think. You have to get on the ice and participate and play and the best team wins.
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There’s no perfect coach in the world. Coaches are human, too. Mistakes are made. But, fundamentally, if you’re sound, you eliminate as many mistakes as possible.
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Competitive spirit is still at a premium. The more you win, the better you play, the more money you make, so they all have that in mind.
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Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.
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Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don’t take the shot.
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I can remember hockey. It was my life, my passion. It’s what I love the most.
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When people come up to me and say, “I was at your Game 7 in the playoffs in Toronto,” or, “I saw your first goal in the NHL,” that triggers memories. But I don’t sit around my kitchen table and tell my kids, “You know, one year I got 92 goals.”
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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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I can’t remember the last time I went to a game and there was a fight. I think they fight more in baseball now than they do in hockey.
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I heard people say, ‘Why would he want to do this?’ My answer is ‘Why not?’ It is what I love. It’s what I know.
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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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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.
WAYNE GRETZKY