Sometimes people ask, 'Are hockey fights real?' I say, 'If they weren't, I'd get in more of them.' - Wayne Gretzky
If we're going to change the game it has to start at eight, nine and 10 years old. When we were that age we'd go to the pond or backyard rink and throw a puck on the ice and play five on five, or seven on seven. You get this creativity and this imagination that comes from within, just having fun on the pond. Now kids are so focused on team play, and the coaches are so focused on positioning. You can't change it at the NHL level. - Wayne Gretzky
It really doesn't matter or concern me what people are saying or who thinks who is the favorite. The bottom line is you have to play. - Wayne Gretzky
Listen, everything I have in my life is because of the NHL and because of hockey, and I love the game and I loved every minute of being a player, I loved coaching, I loved being involved in the NHL. - Wayne Gretzky
Look at guys like Larry Bird and George Brett and John McEnroe; that's what they did in their careers. They all wanted to be the guy under the microscope late in the game or late in the match. So you just take on that know-how that that's part of your responsibility, and you learn that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it fun! - Wayne Gretzky
My best friend had a hockey scholarship at Ohio State, so I would get a couple of pairs at the beginning of the season and send them down to him. They practised two hours a day. He'd skate in them for three weeks then ship them back. - Wayne Gretzky
I'm very proud of our NHL players. I think they all handle themselves extremely well and they all work really hard. - Wayne Gretzky
That's the hardest part of this whole process. The best part is picking the players and the worst part is telling basically five players they are not going to play tonight. - Wayne Gretzky
What you want to do with your best players is, it doesn't matter how many goals and assists they get, but when they get goals and assists. The best players get them at the most important times, and that's when we need those guys to come through. - Wayne Gretzky
When I broke into professional hockey at 17 I was told that I was too small and too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL. Now it's kind of flip-flopped and the sense is I can't be a good coach because I was a great athlete. - Wayne Gretzky
When I played in a 21-team league, there were six or seven goalies who were just average, and the equipment and pads were smaller. I came in the right era. I played for the right team. It was all speed, and creativity and imagination. - Wayne Gretzky
When you're playing an exhibition, you're kind of letting everyone get an opportunity. - Wayne Gretzky
You'll never catch me bragging about goals, but I'll talk all you want about my assists. - Wayne Gretzky
As a player, you have one responsibility, to focus yourself and be ready for the game. As a coach, your responsibility is to get 20 guys ready and have them all on the same page. If you can't get every guy ready every night, you're going to struggle. - Wayne Gretzky
At the end of the day everybody lost. We almost crippled our industry. It was very disappointing what happened. - Wayne Gretzky
Hockey is a unique sport in the sense that you need each and every guy helping each other and pulling in the same direction to be successful. - Wayne Gretzky
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