Hockey Club Journal Entry

Journal Entry #1

Wayne Douglas Gretzky

January, 1999

Dear Journal,

My years as a hockey player are over. With forty seasons and fifteen playoff records under my belt, I’d say it’s been a pretty good run. In my retirement I believe I’ve been very successful. It’d be a good time to jot down all I’ve done and talk about how I’ve gotten here, with my retirement and all. I now hold a total of sixty-one National Hockey League records. Just a few of them include eight-hundred and ninety-two goals in one thousand four hundred and eighty-five games, one hundred and twenty-two more goals including playoffs, ninety-two goals in one season, most assists in a single season, and most assists in a single game, just to name a few. Other successes including

I’ve also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player, The Lady Byng Trophy five times, was a first-team all-star eight times and a second-team all-star seven times. Not to mention, I was on four Stanley Cup-winning teams. I’ve broke records - by a lot. Only four times has a player broken two-hundred point barriers in a season. It was me all four times. My highest being two-hundred and fifteen points in a season, and second highest being two-hundred and twelve points in a season. Winning all these awards may make me an amazing hockey player, but I have never let it get to my head. I don’t ever lose focus or sight on what’s important - the people that got me to where I am today. Not only my family, but my fans as well. I currently still hold records for fan support and attendance. They mean the world to me. I wouldn’t be who I am today - or where I am today - without the fans! I’ve played for so many teams, and I’ve had so many true fans follow me wherever I went. I can’t help but think back to when it all started - skating on the frozen river in my grandfather’s backyard in Brantford,

When I was ten, I scored three-hundred and seventy-eight goals in a season. That’s around five goals per game. An Ontario newspaper had nicknamed me “The Great Gretzky,” which ended up staying with me over the years. When I was just fourteen, I moved to Toronto, Canada. My family continued to support me, even though I had to move away from them at such a young and fragile age, all for hockey. I ended up living with a teammate and played for a Junior B league, playing with men up to twenty years old! I still fit in well there. When I reached the age seventeen, my good friend, John F. Bassett began to help convince the National Hockey League to allow younger and promising players to play hockey, even if they were under twenty years of age. He couldn’t quite convince them yet. Who I really owe my jumpstarting Hockey career to is Nelson Skalbania. The date was June 12, 1978, when he signed me on board with the Indianapolis Racers with a seven-year personal services contract. The contract was worth a whopping 1.75 million dollars! I ended up only playing a total of eight games for the Indianapolis Racers, the