The Great One
Why Wayne Gretzky is regarded as the greatest hockey player of all-time
BMW. Ferrari. Two splendid cars. Can’t really go wrong with purchasing either one. Both will get second looks from friends and family. While their looks differ aesthetically, both will garner roughly the same amazement from onlookers (with Ferrari having the slight edge perhaps because it’s a sleek sports car). Not much difference on the outside, right? Correct. So, then where does the difference begin to emerge? The engine.
For all of its amazing prowess, even a Ferrari wouldn’t be held in such high regard if it came with the engine of a 2014 Toyota Camry. The engine, at the end of the day, is what gives rise to our adulation and respect for not only a car like a Ferrari, but also the person driving the car. So exactly how does this analogy regarding car engines tie into the life story of one of the greatest hockey players in the world, Wayne Gretzky?
Actor Matt Damon (he of the Bourne trilogy movies among many other blockbusters) once remarked that when he was playing a round of golf with Gretzky, the greatest hockey player in the world stated that his favorite player, in any sport, was Larry Bird, who played for the Boston Celtics in the 1980s. Damon being a Boston native and a die-hard Celtics fan immediately perked up when Gretzky mentioned this because it’s not every day that a hockey legend admits he respects and adores a basketball legend (a basketball legend Damon probably grew up watching). Gretzky explained that the reason he admired Bird so much was for one simple reason: Larry Joe Bird, in Gretzky’s view, was his favorite athlete because of his work ethic and because of what he does with what he has.
Gretzky goes on to add to Damon that while he achieved many great feats in hockey (many records which will never be broken again), if he had fellow hockey legend Mario Lemieux’s (pronounced l.eh.m.y.oo) body, then Gretzky would have been the greatest hockey player ever. Damon, laughing in disbelief at Gretzky’s words, retorted, “They call you ‘the great one,’ man. It’s because you are.” And, Gretzky goes, “no, no — if I was in Lemieux’s body, I’d be even better.” This is where the engine analogy I alluded to earlier comes in. Gretzky believes (and others corroborate this) that he had the average body type for a hockey player, meaning he had a decent enough framework to work with (i.e. a BMW engine). But, Gretzky points out that Mario Lemieux, had a stronger, fitter, and generally better body type than his. In essence, Lemieux had the Ferrari engine. Therefore, Gretzky is saying “if everyone thinks I was able to do ‘great’ things in my own (limited) body, then if I had Lemieux’s body, think of all that I could have accomplished then.” But, the reality of the situation is that what Gretzky accomplished with his own (limited) body is already staggering and jaw-dropping. The rest of this post will examine a few key reasons why Gretzky was able to craft a Ferrari-esqe career out of a BMW-esqe potential.
Recently, I had the chance to read Al Strachan’s biography on “the Great One” called “99: Gretzky: His Game, His Story” and I took away many pieces of wisdom from his writing. But, after finishing the work, I found five key quotes that helped me understand what made Wayne Greatzky great.
- He is a better human being than he is a hockey player. And, everyone says he is the best hockey player to ever play.
When Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, the opening game was seventy tickets short of being a sellout. Gretzky bought the seventy tickets and donated them to an orphanage. That information came from team owner Bruce McNall. Gretzky never mentioned it. (Strachan, 6)
2. His mental acumen for hockey was unparalleled.
Like many youngsters, Gretzky worked to develop his hockey skills, but it appears to be his mental approach to the game that set him apart. First of all, at every stage of his life, he was determined to succeed in his chosen field. But he also had an inutitive sense about the game, an awareness that can’t be taught. (Strachan, 28)
3. He had astonishingly deep recall that came from years of studying and deep attention to the sport. (NOTE: Sather was Gretzky’s head coach when he played for the Edmonton Oilers.)
“If you ever stop and talk to him about a game, he can recall every play,” Sather said. “He could tell me not only where everybody on our team was on the ice at any time, he could tell you where everybody on the other team was on the ice. He always knew. He was like a human video-tape machine.”
Gretzky laughed when I mentioned Sather’s observation to him. “It was fear,” he said. “I was always the smallest kid on the ice. I wanted to know where everyone was so that I could stay away from them. People say I’ve got great peripheral vision. It’s just awareness. I was always so much smaller than everyone else, I had to be alert.” (Strachan, 29)
4. What he accomplished will most likely never be replicated by any other NHL player. Recall, he did that with an average body, so think of what he would have accomplished had he been given Lemieux’s Ferrari body…
Over the course of his career, Gretzky had four seasons with more than two hundred points. No other player has ever reached two hundred. (Strachan, 48).
5. He made the most of what he had. (NOTE: This quote is by Steve Ludzik, a player who grew up with Gretzky and played on opposing teams when they both became pros.)
“All along, people had been saying, ‘He’s too skinny…he’s scared…he can’t skate…he can’t shoot.’ I always say he’s the greatest player ever because he wasn’t strong. As a matter of fact, he was kind of weak. He wasn’t fast. He was just an average skater. His shot wasn’t that great. He wasn’t quick. There was no one thing you could point at and say, ‘That’s what makes him great.’ But he could put it all together like nobody else ever could. He had the heart of a lion.” (Strachan, 33).
I found it sort of insightful, but a bit comical, that Gretzky thought if he had Lemieux’s Ferrari body type, he would have been even greater because what Gretzky fails to mention is that while Lemieux and others had the better, faster, and more agile bodies, they did not always have the better, faster, and more agile minds (which Gretzky definitely had). That was the key difference between the Lemieuxs and the Gretzkys of the hockey world. Wayne Gretzky may have very well had a BMW engine body, but he more than made up for any limitations that come with that body type by possessing and cultivating a brilliant Ferrari engine mind. That mental prowess of his, in my view, was able to compensate for many of his physical shortcomings and his mindset was what ultimately prompted him to ascend to heights that very few others in the hockey world have been able to reach.
But, Wayne Gretzky’s cultivation of the mental side of his hockey game really touched me because, like him, I realized early on that I don’t have the Ferrari engine (or the natural talent) for Computer Science (my field of study in college and future career). While I still can do well and learn the material, it is undeniable that CS has never come easy for me. There are always new things to learn and intriguing concepts to understand. For some, this learning process is expedited because of their natural talents for the subject matter and also their hard work in building up those skills. For me though, just hard work is not enough when it comes to CS.
What I mean is that drawing, for example, is a natural talent for me. And, I have to work hard at it to make sure it is constantly morphing into a skill. However, if another person doesn’t have my talent for art, then, even if they put in the hard work, they won’t get the same progress that I would in the same amount of hours. So, time and talent are the limiting factors in play. But what isn’t limited is my ability to become mentally aware and increasingly sharper. That can always be fostered through both hard work and smart work.
So, the idea of lacking a “natural talent” for CS never fazes me any more because when I read about how Gretzky made his mind sharp enough to make up for the physical or natural talents he lacked, that tidbit served as the substantial inspiration I needed to do the same. So, while I may not be “naturally talented” at CS or pick up things as easily as I can with another skill like drawing, lacking the “natural talent” hasn’t deterred me from doing absolutely everything I can to grow and learn more about CS. I have a BMW engine (where CS is concerned) and I’m happy to have even that to build on. More importantly, I have the opportunity to also build the Ferrari engine mind and mindset just like Gretzky.
In essence, the story of Wayne Gretzky is centered around one key theme: A man’s attempt to do astonishing and mesmerizing things on a hockey rink while only given an average framework to work with. Just like his favorite athlete Larry Bird, Gretzky worked to squeeze every ounce of potential he could out of what he had going for him. At the end of my working life, I want to be able to say that I was able to do the exact same thing.
Works Cited
Strachan, Al. 99 Gretzky: His Game, His Story. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
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