Wayne Gretzky (born January 26, 1961, Canada) is a retired hockey player. Nicknamed "The Great One", Gretzky was called "the greatest player of all time" in Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL. He is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the NHL, and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters players, and coaches.

 

Upon his retirement on April 18, 1999, he held forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, and six All-Star records. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively.

 

He is the only player to have his number (99) officially retired by the NHL for all teams. After his retirement in 1999, he was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.