Wayne Gretzky before he made the NHL, 1977: CBC Archives | CBC

[@peters6119]

It was funny how he said, "Oh, I'm definitely going to university", and how turning pro was "a long way away". It's as if he still didn't understand how great he was. He had 182 points that year as a 16 yr. old in major junior hockey!! He never played 2 years in the Soo and he never even finished high school, let alone went to university. He was just too good at hockey. He turned pro the next season and the year after that he was the leading scorer in the NHL at age 18 and never looked back. Even his parents were just talking very modestly about hoping he just got his education out of hockey and that would be good enough. Nobody realized yet how legendary he would become and how much he would dominate the NHL. The greatest! This was a fascinating look back at this earlier time.

[@bullsleafs]

Excellent old clip of the greatest!!! Thanks

[@lloydyellowbird6282]

This is pretty cool. Im from Edmonton and I've watched this team grow back in the 80's. Thanks for sharing

[@lostvlog6857]

Wow! So young...

[@scottlucidi6476]

Wayne is a beast!

[@miles6593]

The Great Gretzky and The Great Gzowski . When Gretzky retired from the NHL , it was the end of an era . When Gzowski retired from the CBC , it was the end of an era . The League didn't get better , nor did the CBC . In the memory of the best interviewer of all time , I salute you Peter Gzowski . Peace and good health to you all ... Miles from Canada .

[@christopheroliver2465]

Agreed: Two very fascinating people. Both Peter Gzowski and Wayne Gretzky were tops in their respective crafts.

[@robertsprouse9282]

No, the NHL today may have better athletes, but it does not have better hockey thinkers and thus, players. The '90's with the 150 Eastern Euros filling up teams cancelled out any watering down which the NHL of the '80's(17-21 teams after most WHA MERGER guys were out of the NHL) and post-2004(POST-'04-05 LOCKOUT/STRIKE cancelling competent, depth-filling vets' contracts, and post-2008 when the new KHL then, kept solid, if not superstar-quality, depth-filling Russians and Czechs closer to home with bigger money) went through, and is in the midst of going thru now thanks to two more teams added in the last five seasons when talent is mostly in a down- cycle. Yep..

[@stefanobernardo9761]

When he said “get my grade 12” I just heard Ricky trying to get his grade 10

[@gastondeveaux3783]

I believe that was the wonderful Peter Gzowski, who wrote an amazing book, The Game of Our Lives. Superb hockey book.

[@aberamagold7509]

I wondered who he was, he looked familiar.

[@jamesanthony5681]

Peter Gzowski was a real talent not only as a writer, but as a radio host and interviewer, whether it was interviewing a 16 year-old Wayne Gretzky, or a writer such as Mordecai Richler. A genuine talent. Even though Wayne had success at every level he played at prior to turning pro - from tyke to pee-wee to bantam to major junior A (2nd in scoring) - there was not a single sportswriter or scout as far as I can recall who gave him any chance of making it in the NHL. Even very early on in his NHL career, a number or writers (e.g., Frank Orr, Toronto Star) were negative. The talk was, "he won't last, he'll get killed", or "he'll be skating on his ankles by Christmas." Gretzky broke the mold. He was not 6'2", 210 lbs who could bench press 350 lbs. They never looked past his size. Reminds me of the William Goldman quote, 'noboby knows anything.'

[@miles6593]

Your information is accurate James . Despite young Wayne's unheard of scoring stats , the team owners and scouts were concerned about Wayne's size and strength ... which is the main question which Gzowski explores in the interview he conducted with Wayne and his parents at the Soo Greyhound Arena . Also , I could not agree more with your description about Peter Gzowski's talents . Gzowski was the best at what he did . Peace and good health to you ... Miles from Canada .

[@jamesanthony5681]

@@miles6593 Thanks and good health to you as well.

[@joepalooka2145]

The smart people bought Wayne's 1979 O-Pee-Chee rookie cards, one of which just sold recently for $3.75 million. It was the highest price ever paid for a hockey card. Back then when Wayne got picked up by the Indianapolis Racers and was in the news, I knew an NHL player who said he didn't think Gretzky would make it in the NHL because he was too small. LOL!

[@karmaleglass2168]

I was lucky enough to get one of the Indiama Racers hockey card of Wayne's. At first I wasn't sure if it was a real card.

[@dpayne6567]

Wow, I had that haircut and amazingly someone didn't shoot me.

[@robertsprouse9282]

Sad isn't it?

[@gunman462]

So cool when Walter said If Wayne could get schooling out of it then they will be happy. No entitlement to the millions and the fame.

[@ayashin19]

The great one nobody will ever touch gretz numbers

[@dpayne6567]

BTW the Walter Gretzky interview and part of Wayne's take place at the old Peterborough Memorial Centre. Back when they had standing room and good sight lines to the ice.

[@miles6593]

BTW ? What are you talking about ? Peter drove up to Sault Ste Marie to interview Wayne and his parents inside the Soo Greyhounds Arena in early November 1977 . This video is only an excerpt from the entire interview which was broadcast on Peter's old television show called " 90 Minutes Live " . Why do you make up stories ?

[@webstersempire]

Pretty good player.

[@zeroceiling]

This is funny. I remember seeing Wayne that year..in his first game in Oshawa...wearing...that very number 14 you see here....lots of acne at the time. My brother played in that game for Oshawa...and was a witness to a big Gretzky night...with Gretzky flipping a puck into the lap of his Oshawa shadow John Liprando...sitting on the bench after Gretzkys third goal....the kid was both humble and cocky even back then.

[@TheRantingCabbie]

Station Mall in the background. That ugly green garage in front of it is long gone.

[@MrDuds1984]

Try to think where the puck is going to go, he was saying that as a teenager.

[@miles6593]

He was saying that at six years old .

[@SubPablum]

It was shortly after this he did, once and for all.

[@danieltheavatarmusic]

He looks like Owen Wilson with that hairdo lol

[@canaori]

A young Gretzky playing for the Soo Greyhounds..

[@holoholopainen1627]

Surely Put Soo - on The World MAP !

[@ColoradoRockies1976]

Hamilton vs the Soo. Not sure if they were the Steelhawks back then.

[@RM-gn2nj]

get my grade 13 go to university LMAO !!

[@eddiegoof]

imagine being so good at something you leave home at 13

[@markdemell8056]

The old Ottawa civic centre.

[@rmartin7558]

Next Bobby Orr? Did Wayne start out as a defenceman?

[@richards555]

He was a defence man scored 400 goal has a kid lol

[@miles6593]

Good question R Martin . richards555 is correct .

[@Libertyjack1]

I wonder what kind of rink you could maintain more than a week, in Brantford, Ontario...even in the 60s. That's tobacco country!

[@ayashin19]

Dumbest comment on here

[@miles6593]

@@ayashin19 Libertyjack1's question is a legitimate question to ask especially if you did not grow up in southern Ontario in the 1960s . And he's right ; Brantford is situated on the northeastern limits of the Norfolk Sand Plains where the best tobacco in Canada is grown .

[@leafyutube]

I don't think he'll amount to anything. haha

[@Mr500248]

who said that?

[@kimmilliner7300]

Work it ....

[@us-Bahn]

Uh oh, big time big city pressure in the Soo!

[@martindavis9930]

Who the punk?

[@RecoveringGenius]

Too bad he was a bust and didn't turn out to be very good.... Consummate career Journeyman...

[@majorsmythe1]

Over rated. I liked him but They never hit him. The one time a team did, he was crying on the bench after a Leaf caught him with a check. Of course the Leaf mysteriously never played again. Sorry but Howe was hit, Orr was hit,,,,this guy was given a free pass. Thats just fact.He made to much $$$ for the league so no one would hit him.

[@shooter1973]

900 points more then 2nd place in scoring, that's a career. I can't even comprehend saying he's overrated

[@RushFan84]

No athlete has ever dominated their respective sport like Wayne dominated hockey.

[@alspencer3826]

majorsmythe1 I agree that he was given a free pass. One time a player from the bruins hit him, i think it was john blum during the 1984-85 season. He was lying on the ice like a seal. He would complain every time someone even thought about hitting him. Every other star in the league took their lumps, i don't know if i would say he was overrated, but definitely a cry baby! Hey, if anyone disagrees with me, hitting is part of hockey, and the other stars both dished out punishment and received it.

[@Libertyjack1]

He was good enough for the League to alter the rules to suit his game. That says something. He was brilliant, and players of that stature do affect the game. That being said, I was never his greatest fan. There's just something about him that never appealed to me, starting from when he and his dad petitioned the Toronto league to change their age rules for him, in the mid '70s. Since then, I seen him, amongst the richest men in hockey, advertise mostly for big companies, like Ford. I kind of see him like Jay Leno, another wealthy 'nice guy' who used his raise to fame for self promotion, making money from corporate promotion. Mind you, Gretsky made hockey what it is today; a big thing. That's good for the NHL. That's good for Bob Bettman and the owners. That's good for elite hockey athletes hoping to make a fortune in the game. But has this been good for fostering the sport amongst the youth, in general, or in Canada particularly? As satisfying as it was seeing him dress up alongside Super Mario for Team Canada, my thoughts of him as captain the Olympics Team back in the 90s, is one that lost for Gold Medal contention and then, very arrogantly, didn't even try to win the Bronze. Canada only won Olympic Gold after Gretzky left the game. Mind you, he captained a hockey dynasty for the Edmonton Oilers, the last Canadian team that had such success, ensuring a future for hockey in that small market, but Gretzky's name did more to establish an International fan base, most especially in the United States, encouraging top World athletes to pick up the sport, drove ticket prices for professional hockey through the roof, and made hockey increasingly unaffordable for the average kid. Ironically, after his tearful farewell from Edmonton, Gretzky got the majority of his fame and fortune, but he never again won the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, during his time in the sport, the game went from being a somewhat unstructured and hickish affair, with organs and horns blaring, signs rampant, fights frequent, applause spontaneous and game times determined by penalty minutes, to a highly structured and planned affair, right down to the time the fans should clap and chant 'GO TEAM GO!' on a giant monitor. To me, this is amounts to a mixed legacy.

[@jeanmarcks6269]

Joe M I think it was an unwritten rule. He was/is the best