The NHL couldn’t have invented a better player, ambassador and icon than Wayne Gretzky.
The skinny kid from Brantford, Canada, set 61 league records in a career that led him to spend eight seasons in Los Angeles, where he triggered a hockey boom that outlasted celebrities’ sudden fascination with the game and exists today at the youth and fan levels. The children and grandchildren of people who became fans when he arrived in Los Angeles in 1988 are now fans of the game or play it, a remarkable legacy.
Appealing and approachable, Gretzky became the face of hockey in the United States and was one of the few players able to transcend the sport and become a national celebrity.