Wayne Gretzky retires 1999

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Robert Richardson

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MOMENT IN TIME – Gretzky retires

NW-MIT-GRETZKY-RETIREMENT-0415
New York Rangers Wayne Gretzky pauses by the boards under a fans sign asking him not to retire during the pre-game warmup to what was rumoured to be his last Canadian NHL game in Kanata, Ontario Thursday April 15, 1999. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson) 
Wayne Gretzky announces his retirement
April 16, 1999: After a Rangers game in Ottawa, a fading 38-year-old hockey superstar hinted at retirement, saying it would take a “miracle” for him to change his mind. One day later, no supernatural phenomenon having occurred, Wayne Gretzky officially called it quits after 20 seasons in the National Hockey League and one (as a 17-year-old phenom) in the World Hockey Association. “Sunday will be my last game,” hockey’s all-time leading scorer and one of Canada’s greatest natural resources confirmed at a New York news conference, after a week of skating around the question. “I know in my heart I’m making the right decision.” His general manager, John Davidson, had tried to get Gretzky to reconsider, but arguing against the instincts of such a sublime playmaker and cerebral athlete was a mug’s game. Two days later, the product of a backyard rink in Brantford, Ont., played his last contest, tallying one assist in a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden, after which he shed tears and his home-blue uniform. The man they called the Great One was done.– Brad Wheeler

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