Top 112 Quotes & Sayings by Wayne Gretzky - Page 2

I grew up such a fan. It was my life. Everything I did was hockey related and everything I have is because of hockey and the NHL.

Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull and Jean Béliveau probably looked at us in the '80s and said, "These guys are soft. We used to take the train."

Most players go where the puck is. I go where the puck will be.

I think the Americans are ready to play, they want to beat us. I think that players like Chris Chelios and his leadership over there goes a long way.

If I had to pick three players to start a franchise, I'd choose Hasek, Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros.

People talk about skating, puck handling and shooting, but the whole sport is angles and caroms, forgetting the straight direction the puck is going, calculating where it will be directed, factoring in all the interruptions. Basically, my whole game is angles.

I really wanted to write a book [99: Stories of the Game] on the tradition and history of the league, where kids can pick it up and read it and learn things and say, "Geez, I didn't know that. That's pretty cool."

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.

Eight days ago, we were the toast of the town. Eight days later we're Thanksgiving turkeys.

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.

Listen, first of all, my wife is my best friend. My love for her is deeper than anything. The reality is, I'm not involved, I wasn't involved and I'm not going to be involved. Am I concerned for both of them Sure there's concern from me. I'm more worried about them than me. I'm like you guys, I'm trying to figure it all out.

The last year I was playing, I asked the stick boy to get me a Diet Coke and he said, "Really?" But I always had one on the bench because that's what I did in 1979 when there wasn't Gatorade. If you needed energy you went and got a Snickers or a Kit Kat. Nobody knew any better.

Your friends, family, and kids have to understand that's your priority. It's the only way you can be successful.

The greatest thing about playing obviously is winning, and you can't replace that experience with anything.

The only way a kid is going to practise is if it's total fun for him... and it was for me.

A lot of times, I can turn and pass without even looking.

We played in an era where you were taught to hate your opponent. But life changes. I raise my kids differently than my mom and dad raised their kids.

I think the greatest thing about playing obviously is winning, and you can't replace that experience with anything.

I heard people say, 'Why would he want to do this?' My answer is 'Why not?' It is what I love. It's what I know.

Lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time. There's nothing like it. It's the greatest story. In my era, they used to say you couldn't be a superstar without winning one. I remember thinking when I lifted it: "Now they can't say that about me."

I have absolutely no complaints about my life. But people think I got handed everything, all this kind of fell in my lap, that I was just God-gifted with all this talent. I wanted people to realize it's a lot tougher than just waking up one day and you're in the NHL.

He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer.

It's just amazing how many companies suddenly want you to hold up their products after you've held up the Stanley Cup.

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.

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.

I get a lot of parents coming up to me, telling me they are grooming their kids to be professional athletes. I'm really against that. I think it's a great life, and yeah, you can lead them in that direction. I think a lot of parents live their lives through the kids. Because they didn't make it, they want their kids to make it. It puts a lot of undue pressure on the kids.

I wasn't a great skater and I needed my skates to be perfect - really tight around the ankles. But I couldn't break in new ones because my feet would hurt so much. I wore a size 9 shoe and a 6.5 skate - my foot was really crunched.

The best players in the game want the responsibility of being the best player. The reality is the game has changed from now back to '87. It's a lot tighter checking. The players are better today. So, that makes it harder for him just in that fact. We can't rely solely on Mario [Lemieux] to carry this team. We're not relying on that.

My answer is, why not? ... It's what I love, it's what I know. Glen Sather was the best coach that I had and what made him good was his confidence in what he did. I believe that I'm going to be a good coach.

Hullie's a lot like a garbage can. You step on the pedal with your foot and the top opens up.

Competitive spirit is still at a premium. The more you win, the better you play, the more money you make, so they all have that in mind.

Nothing can replace the Olympics. I love the Olympics. I was so proud when I played in '98 and I was so proud when we won in 2002.

At the end of the day everybody lost. We almost crippled our industry. It was very disappointing what happened.

We feel fortunate [with Canada hockey team]. We have got a lot of guys who love to play, but they also love to win even more. We are pretty happy. Although we are young, we like our group of players.

You miss the ball you do not hit 100%

In one sense we are a favorite because we won a gold medal in 2002.

It's really hard. And it's harder today because of the salary cap. It starts in September at training camp - getting every guy on the same page, being as mentally and physically as focused as you can be. Then in April and May, you basically spend eight weeks practising, watching video and playing games. That's your life.

Skating alone is an art. Doing it on a substance? I don't know. That's got to be tough.

When people come up to me and say, "I was at your Game 7 in the playoffs in Toronto," or, "I saw your first goal in the NHL," that triggers memories. But I don't sit around my kitchen table and tell my kids, "You know, one year I got 92 goals."

Canadian players have started to put more of an importance on the World Championships in the sense that as soon as they lose, they are called, they want to go play and they don't go only on the basis of if they are injured.

When emotions are high, things are said, things are done. Ultimately, these players want to play. I know too many of them love the game too much.

I have recall. I don't know why or how. I had a guy once who said he played against me in novice [league, for kids under nine], for the Detroit Lasers. And I said, "Oh yeah, we beat you in the tournament, 8-1 and I think I scored seven goals, and the goalie was left-handed." And he was, "Oh my God. I was the goalie!" .

I miss 100% of the shots I don't take.

I can't remember the last time I went to a game and there was a fight. I think they fight more in baseball now than they do in hockey.

We're in a tough situation because of teenage children, and then we have a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, so my family and my responsibilities is sort of a juggle.

Good players skate to the puck. Great players skate to where the puck is going to be.

But in my mind, I don't think there's any question Sidney Crosby is the best all-around player in the game. His hockey sense is so strong and so solid, combined with his God-gifted talent of being able to see the ice, see the entire picture in front of him. And, most importantly, I don't care how good you are, if you don't have a work ethic, it doesn't matter. There's no question that each and every game, he's one of the hardest-working guys on the ice. In my mind, he's the best player in the game today.

I love everything about hockey.

I miss all the shots I don't take.

One of the key qualities that you need to be a great hockey player is fantastic anticipation and feel for the game - if you know where the puck is going before it is hit, that is half the battle.

The 2002 (Olympic) team was a great team, we won the gold medal, they deserved all the accolades that they got. But this team seems to have a little more depth and maybe a little more talent to pick from. So it makes the job of picking the right 23 guys even more difficult.

Kids don't fight in minor hockey anymore. There's very few fights in junior and college hockey. So growing up, all these guys are not fighting.