Wayne gretzky biography nhl records

Wayne Gretzky (born January 26, 1961 Brantford, Ontario) known as "The Great One", is a Canadianretiredice hockey player. Gretzky played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 20 seasons.

He was coach and part-owner of the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes until he stepped down on September 24, 2009. He also managed Canada's Olympic hockey teams in 2002 and 2006, as well as Canada's 2004 World Cup of Hockey team.

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Biography

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The Gretzky family comes from Belarus, or more precisely from the Brest region (the village of Ogdemer), from where his paternal grandfather Terenty Lavrentiyovych Gretzky emigrated.

Grandmother Veyna Maria was Ukrainian and comes from Pidhaitsi (now Ternopil region); he and his grandfather spoke Ukrainian to each other. His parents were Walter and Phyllis Gretzky; his father considered Ukrainian his native language.

The family had four other children: Kim, Kate, Brent and Glenn.

Gretzky did not emphasize his Ukrainian roots,