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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.

Wayne Gretzky

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Wayne Gretzky
Age: 63
Born: 1961
Born: January 26
Ice Hockey Coach
Ice Hockey Player
Restaurateur
The Corporation of the City of Brantford
The Great One
Wayne Douglas Gretzky
Whole
Telling
Going
Player
Worst
Five
Picking
Process
Tonight
Part
Players
Best
Basically
Play
Hardest

More quotes by Wayne Gretzky

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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.
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Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don't take the shot.
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I wasn't naturally gifted in terms of size and speed everything I did in hockey I worked for, and that's the way I'll be as a coach.
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Maybe it wasn't the talent the Lord gave me-maybe it was the passion.
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What you want to do with your best players is, it doesn't matter how many goals and assists they get, but when they get goals and assists. The best players get them at the most important times, and that's when we need those guys to come through.
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Look at guys like Larry Bird and George Brett and John McEnroe that's what they did in their careers. They all wanted to be the guy under the microscope late in the game or late in the match. So you just take on that know-how that that's part of your responsibility, and you learn that's what makes it exciting. That's what makes it fun!
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When you're playing an exhibition, you're kind of letting everyone get an opportunity.
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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.
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It's just amazing how many companies suddenly want you to hold up their products after you've held up the Stanley Cup.
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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.
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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.
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I think a lot of parents live their lives through the kids. Because they didn't make it [achieve something], they want their kids to make it. It puts a lot of undue pressure on the kids.
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When I was 5 and playing against 11-year-olds, who were bigger, stronger, faster, I just had to figure out a way to play with them.
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It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what other people think. You have to get on the ice and participate and play and the best team wins.
Wayne Gretzky
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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.
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A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.
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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.
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You miss every shot you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky
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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.
Wayne Gretzky
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And people who know me would tell you that away from hockey I'm really not that competitive.
Wayne Gretzky