Wayne Gretzky reveals his father Walter wanted to do away with 'The Great One' moniker extremely early in his hockey career

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Jun 15, 2025 14:55 GMT

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Wayne Gretzky shared that his father, Walter Gretzky, did not like his famous nickname, "The Great One." In Saturday's broadcast of NHL on TNT's Face Off, Gretzky said he first got the nickname when he was just 10 years old.

At that time, he was a young boy from Brantford, Ontario, scoring many goals in hockey. That year, he scored 400 goals in one season. A reporter from the London Free Press came to write a story about him.

At the end of the story, the reporter suggested a nickname for Gretzky. He said NHL stars had nicknames like "Mr. Hockey" and "The Golden Jet." The reporter wrote that Gretzky should be called "The Great One." But Gretzky said his father tried to stop it right away. Walter did not want his young son to carry that nickname. Still, people kept using it, and it stayed with Gretzky for life.

"They said, "we should just call him 'The Great One'," Gretzky narrated. "Well, My dad tried to kill that right away -- It just kept coming back."

Over time, Wayne Gretzky and his family had to accept the nickname.

"Finally, I just was like, ‘Well, we’re going to have to live with it,’” Gretzky said.

The nickname followed him throughout his career. Gretzky later became one of the best NHL players in history. By the time he retired in 1999, he held 61 NHL records. He scored 894 goals, collected 2,857 points and won four Stanley Cups. His nickname, "The Great One," stayed with him from childhood to retirement.

Wayne Gretzky says Oilers looked cautious in Game 5 loss to Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers lost again to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers started slow and fell behind 2-0 in the first period. Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett scored early for Florida. Edmonton only took three shots in the first period. Florida played smart and controlled the game.

Wayne Gretzky, speaking on TNT’s broadcast, said the Oilers looked nervous and did not create good scoring chances.

"Right from the get-go, Florida played a really smart, intelligent road game," Wayne Gretzky said. "We could see the first 10 minutes — they looked like the better team. Edmonton looked cautious. They were on their heels. They weren't making plays. They weren't getting pucks to the net — really no threat offensively in the first period."

Edmonton’s forwards only had 11 shots in total. Florida blocked many shots and kept Edmonton away from the net. The Florida Panthers won 5-2 and now lead the series 3-2.