When Wayne Gretzky said no to $1 million from James Dolan

By Srihari Anand

Modified Jan 25, 2023 20:42 GMT

Wayne Gretzky retired from the NHL as a player in 1999 at the age of 38. He spent his last three seasons in the league playing for the New York Rangers under the ownership of James Dolan.

On In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Gretzky mentioned that the day before he was going to announce his retirement, Rangers owner James Dolan offered him $1 million to rethink his retirement. A week later, if he still wanted to retire, Gretzky was free to keep the money:

"The day before I was announcing my retirement, Mr. Dolan said, 'Just give it seven days and if you still want to retire in seven days you can keep the money.'"

'The Great One' turned down this generous offer because he knew his time as a player was over:

"You know in good conscience I just can't take your money. Because I know I'm done."

Wayne Gretzky jokingly said, "It was the dumbest thing I've ever done," but praised the New York Rangers for being one of the greatest sports organizations. He went on to remember how well the Nolan family treated him and his family.

When asked if he wanted to make a comeback, Gretzky said the thought never crossed his mind. However, he missed the days when he was a player and wished he could still play, but knew that was not possible at his age.

"Unfortunately, as a professional athlete at the age of 40, you're an old man, but in the real world you're a youngster. Do I miss it? Immensely. Do I wish I could still play? Yeah, but I know I'm not good enough."

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Wayne Gretzky's NHL Career as a Player and a Coach

Wayne Gretzky is the greatest ice hockey player of all time. He played in the NHL for 20 seasons and still holds the record for most goals with 894. When the Edmonton Oilers joined the NHL, Gretzky led the team to four Stanley Cup championships and held many scoring records.

He was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings and helped them reach the Stanley Cup finals once. He subsequently had a brief stint with the St. Louis Blues before playing his last three seasons as part of the New York Rangers.

Wayne Gretzky couldn't stay away from the sport for too long and in 2005, agreed to become the head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. In his first year, the Coyotes made immense improvements from their last season, but under his coaching, the Coyotes never made the postseason.