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Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NHL's Wayne Gretzky recounts unreal story how he got ‘Great One' nickname.
The post NHL's Wayne Gretzky recounts unreal story how he got 'Great One' nickname. appeared first on ClutchPoints. Before he was an NHL Hall of Famer, Wayne Gretzky was just 10, missing teeth and lighting up the scoreboard with 400 goals. But the nickname that would follow him forever came from a single line in a local newspaper, and his dad wanted nothing to do with it. Advertisement Gretzky recently shared how the iconic 'Great One' nickname originated. It wasn't a planned publicity move. A reporter from the London Free Press came to write a story after Gretzky's amazing season. At the end of the article, the journalist made a bold suggestion: if legends like Gordie Howe were 'Mr. Hockey,' maybe the 10-year-old sensation should be called 'The Great One.' As soon as the article was printed, Gretzky's father pushed back. He didn't want his son carrying that kind of title at such a young age. But no matter how hard he tried to stop it, the nickname wouldn't fade away. It kept coming up until eventually, even Wayne had to accept it. 'We're going to have to live with it,' he remembered thinking. The name came after an almost legendary season—400 goals in a single year. For most kids, that number might sound impossible, but for young Wayne, it was just another chapter in a journey that had barely started. That stat alone had reporters and fans scrambling to find words big enough to match his performance. That same year brought a rite of passage. Wayne Gretzky took a hit, lost some teeth, and burst into tears. His father didn't coddle him; instead, he offered a sentence that stuck just as much as the nickname: 'Well, now you're a real hockey player.' Advertisement Between the missing teeth and the 400-goal season, it was a year that shaped a legacy. 'The Great One' wasn't created in the NHL spotlight; it started in the pages of a local paper, with a kid who couldn't stop scoring and a name too fitting to ignore. Related: NHL fan goes viral for Oilers-Panthers jersey change during Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Related: 3 best destinations for Stars' Jason Robertson amid growing trade buzz
CBC
6 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
45 years later, NHL awards John Garrett 2nd assist on historic Gordie Howe goal
Social Sharing When the big announcement came Friday night during the second intermission of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final, John Garrett had just changed channels to catch the baseball score. "I'm a big Blue Jays fan and, sure enough, during the intermissions, what do you do? I switched to the baseball game. And then all of a sudden my phone started blowing up," he laughed. The calls and texts were to congratulate Garrett, a former NHL goaltender and longtime Vancouver Canucks broadcaster, on being awarding the second assist on a hockey legend's historic goal from 45 years ago. "It was a surprise to me, too," said the 73-year-old Garrett. "I'm quite happy that I'm finally getting the assist on Gordie Howe's last NHL goal." On April 9, 1980, Garrett, affectionately known as "Cheech," was in goal for the Hartford Whalers during an 8-4 playoff game loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Garrett played the puck to Mark Howe, who then passed it to his dad. Mr. Hockey, aged 52, proceeded to score the 801st and final goal of his career. "There was no trapezoid [rule] back then and I was never a very good puck handler so I had to switch hands on my stick," said Garrett. "The puck was in the corner and I went out and threw it around to Mark. And Mark, the great player that he was, made a nice play to Gordie, and Gordie kind of got a fluky goal. But it was still a pretty obvious second assist." Garrett said at the time he wasn't at all concerned about being left off the official score sheet, especially given the shellacking his team endured. But as years passed, it crossed his mind that receiving official recognition for a moment of hockey history would be a wonderful memento. "It was great to have Gordie as a friend and teammate in his last years," said Garrett. "One of the best players on the ice and one of the best human beings off the ice." Enter Greg Shannon, longtime Rogers Sportsnet Vancouver Canucks game producer and Garrett colleague. In 2013, he started the #giveittocheech hashtag on social media and began writing periodically to the NHL to ask for a review. Until Friday's news, the answer from the league was a solid no. It expressed concerns that it had no record of a request for a review right after the game, and that proceeding with one so many years later would contravene NHL rules of the day. The league also said that adding Garrett's assist could lead to an avalanche of demands to examine other historical judgment calls. So why the change of heart now? Even Garrett doesn't know for sure. Part of it, he thinks, has to do with Shannon's persistence. Another factor could be the influence of an old friend in a high place. "I think my buddy [NHL executive vice-president] Colin Campbell and our Peterborough Petes connection — he might have got one last e-mail from somebody and said, 'Well, OK, we can make an exception here and go back 45 years and give Cheech an assist.'"
