What eventually happens to a fellow like Wayne Gretzky, a hockey player who put up more than 200 points in a few seasons, secured more points (2857) than any other player, and generally is considered to be one of the finest hockey players who ever lived?
What does a Gretzky or more specifically Wayne do once his relationship to the game is over – as it appears it might be? Where does he go with his life?
Does he work the land on a farm in southern United States or move back to Ontario where he can finance and run hockey schools for children?
Wayne Gretzky is Neil Armstrong is Albert Einstein. Each of them discovered or performed something monumental in the earlier years of their lives and then were faced with, ‘alright what happens now’?
Neil has kept a pretty low profile since his moon walk, spending time teaching and involved in various businesses. Albert continued doing research after E=MC2, was well published and offered the presidency of The State of Israel, which he turned down.
But Wayne, he is a hockey player through and through, and one gets the sense that he hasn’t as of yet taken off his skates.
This week he stepped down as the managing partner, director of hockey operations and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes and a lot of people were saying a lot of things about him, now and his future.
As an example, Wayne’s Dad, Walter was quoted in the Toronto Sun http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/hockey/2009/09/25/11109211-sun.html as follows:
“When the phone rang in his Brantford, Ont., home yesterday Walter Gretzky said he had no idea it would be his son, Wayne, telling him he is no longer going to be involved with the Phoenix Coyotes or the National Hockey League. ‘I was stunned,” said venerable 70-year-old Walter, adding he can’t imagine his 48-year-old son, Wayne, not having some connection to hockey. “He’s had it,” said Walter. “That is the impression I got.”
Well is that the case that Wayne will move onto becoming a board of director of a number of multi-nationals? Will he abandon any dressing room in the league and/or decide that the game of hockey just isn’t a part of his life anymore.
Will he indeed do what so many athletes do when their days on the ice or behind the bench are over…spend time with his family? Walter was also quotes as saying: “He said, dad, I am going to spend more time with my family (his 17-year-old son, Trevor, who is a 6-foot-5 quarterback and has to decide whether to go to college for football or baseball).
I find it hard to believe that Wayne will not be back and instead spending 24/7 with his children. I don’t believe I’m discovering America here. Lots of people are saying the same thing. I am simply throwing in my two cents.
Wayne Gretzky would never be happy without being around hockey. Do you remember when he used to talk about the sport during interviews or between periods? He spoke about it as if it was a religion, as if there was something entirely ethereal about the game and it was just another of the Abrahamic religions – minus the patriarch himself (although if one dug enough they might just find the Gretzky Bible on hockey with references to the profits).
His spiritual and undying commitment to the game began when he was a kid as understood through this quote on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky .
“All I wanted to do in the winters was be on the ice. I’d get up n the morning, skate from 7:00 to 8:30, go to school, come home at 3:30, stay on the ice until my mom insisted I come in for dinner, eat in my skates, then go back out until 9:00. On Saturdays and Sundays we’d have huge games, but nighttime became my time. It was a sort of unwritten rule around the neighborhood that I was to be out there myself or with my dad.”
There are those people who are what they do, through and through. Now I don’t know Wayne but I feel, perhaps like you, as if I grew up with him and can read the guy. Wayne is true blue Ontarian. He is what we all dreamed off and hoped to become, or at least many of us.
When we say the ‘pond out back’ that is Wayne. When we say, ‘hook or curve’ — Wayne. When we comment on the Gumper, or the French Connection or the Gardens – we’re talking about Wayne.
Wayne Gretzky = hockey, just like Tiger Woods = Golf. He’s got to come back.
So as you can see, I, like you just don’t know if Gretzky will reincarnate himself in the NHL. He may or he may not. But the real truth is we don’t want him to go. Wayne don’t go.
No doubt there are lots of things you can do in the world of hockey. Be an usher or a ticket man or sell the programs at a Leaf Game. Buy a team or be the general manager. Why not consider launching a new hockey league with men and women playing together or go to another continent and teach them the sport.
But don’t leave Wayne. Life would not be the same without you. Hockey just wouldn’t be hockey. You’re just too young to be a legend. The sunset isn’t ready for you.
Wayne, come on. It couldn’t be that bad!
Wayne Gretzky (2,857)
Mark Messier (1,887)
Gordie Howe (1,850)
Ron Francis (1,798)
Marcel Dionne (1,771)
Steve Yzerman (1,755)
Mario Lemieux (1,723)
Joe Sakic (1,641)
Jaromir Jagr (1,599)
Phil Esposito (1,590)
