Talk:Wayne Gretzky/Archive 1

Put this page on the protected list?!?
If you were to check out how many times this page has been vandalized just in the past 2 months, I think we should nominate this page to be protected somehow that would allow legitimate users to continue editing while keeping out the trolls. &mdash; LegolasGreenleaf 01:52, Nov 12, 2004 (UTC)


 * Temporary protection can be used for targets of "Persistent vandalism". Would we call this page a target of persistent vandalism? Brendan62442 14:29, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Rewrite part
I think this portion of the article is very poorly written. I would rewrite it myself but I am not familiar with the facts involved, such as when coaches were fired, etc. It is out of chronological order, and did all that happen in 89? Even if it has, that should be made more clear.

"Gretzky led the Kings to the Cup finals in 1993. He replaced career King Dave Taylor as captain in 1989; coaches Robbie Ftorek and Barry Melrose were fired and teammates Bernie Nicholls and Luc Robitaille were traded. Kurri, Coffey, and Fuhr joined the team"


 * I took a shot at this, removing several names that I thought digressed from the topic -- this a story about WG, not the LA Kings.
 * Rdikeman 22:10, Feb 19, 2005 (UTC)

I agree. I also feel that this page is all about promoting Gretzky with all his good points and not at all like an unbaised encylclopedia which would have the good points and the bad points.

Gretzky's career was not without controversey, and he had many anti-fans as well as fans.

I'm not saying he was a bad guy or a bad player, but if this is to be information on Gretzky, let's not exclude information about the negative things we saw in the media, and let's not prop him up like some diety like North Koreans do with Kim Jong Il. User:Kojangee


 * If you know of a negative point in his career it could be added. It's hard to say describe his accomplishments without sounding like a promotion.--Will2k 03:54, Jun 10, 2005 (UTC)


 * I agree. Throughout his career was one recond broken after another. But one can't row a boat with only one side paddling. You only go in circles. User:Kojangee


 * As far as i can recall, Gretzky has only ever said two negative things in his entire career. One: he called the new jersey devils a mickey mouse team over 20 years ago. Two: he lashed out at the press when he was a manager of team canada only a couple of years ago. It is pretty hard to find fault in the guy. User:Masterhatch

Rewrite All
I think the whole structure of the article is wrong. It should be arranged chronologically, so that "NHL Career" would would look roughly like this:


 * Early Edmonton Years: Gretzky's career as mentioned in present sections "Breaking Records" and "Male Athlete of the Decade" with a note about the 1981 upset of the Canadiens.


 * The Dynasty Years: Surprisingly, this article has one sentence that sums up his career from 1984-1988, and that only covers two records from the 85-86 season. Also, much of his playoff career isn't mentioned, like the Habs series, and the entire Oiler dynasty in general.


 * "Royal Wedding" and "The Trade" should follow that as they happened here in chronology, and seem out of place in the present format which I find disjointed. "The Trade" should just cover the trade itself, immediate reactions, impact on marketing the game of hockey, and perhaps mention the Oilers-Kings matchups of the seasons that followed. Currently his career from The Trade in 1988 to the Heritage Classic in 2003 is under "The Trade"


 * The Other Trade, and the St. Louis Blues: I'm sure someone can come up with a snappier title, or else we can lump it in with the NYR seasons.


 * New York Rangers; Gretzky's Final Years, perhaps the Rangers' final run for the Cup in '97, and definitely the whole Great Goodbye retirement stuff.


 * International Play: "Winter Olympics" doesn't feel right as a title. Gretzky was 37 when he played in his first Olympics, and while the '98 disappointment, and selecting the '02 champions should be mentioned, so should the Canada Cups from '81 to '91 and the World Cup. And the '02 championship should end this section, or begin the next one, or perhaps do both and act as a segueway.


 * Off the Ice: should be cleaned up, but is fine where it is, as are the statistics and quotations that follow.

Yes, I am going to do this, I'd just like to let you have a chance to tell me to leave it as is if you like it this way.


 * MJR 1:06, Jun 03, 2005 (UTC)

Edmonton Ticket Sales
can it be verified that after gretzky left edmonton, edmonton's ticket sales declined? the oilers were still a great team with many superstars. i can't imagine that their attendance would drop too much, if at all.


 * No it can't, so I am removing that part of my edit. I entered it out of recollection from my memory and some posts from BBS's I have read, but nothing on sports news sites, only from peoples' mouths. User: Kojangee

Ticket Sales did decline, but only from 16,957/game to 16,845/game. More notably, LA Kings attendance rose from 11,667 to 14,875 in a 16,005 seat arena, and I think they sold out every game in 1992. --MJR 18:57, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Too long...
I have become over zealous and created a Gretzky page that is way too long. For this, I apologise. At the time, it just seemed like I had more and more and more to say. I guess you can say I got carried away.

Anyways, I thought about how I could shorten it but not take away from the content. I decided that the best way to do this would be to create a ‘new’ page. I will create a page strictly for his records and on the actual gretzky page, I will just summarise the most impressive or important records. I will do this over the next day or two as I get time.

He has 61 (or 62 depending on who’s counting) records and they deserve a page of their own.

Masterhatch@hotmail.com

PS if anyone has any other ideas, don't hesitate to speak up.

Date Discrepancy
"His last NHL game in Canada was on April 16, 1999, and his final game was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 18. [...] Gretzky was named as the first, second and third star of both April 16th and 19th games."

Was his last game on the 18th or the 19th? Can someone correct whichever date is wrong?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wayne_Gretzky&diff=14614200&oldid=14528049


 * The 18th is correct. masterhatch July 4th 2005

Gretzky's Family?
Do we really need to have the entire list of Gretzky's family on this page? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a disambiguation page for Gretzky and then list his family members there along with any other Gretzky's that happen to be out there? Just a thought. Masterhatch 8 August 2005

I agree. We should try to do that in the coming days. I'll try to do it. Newguineafan August 9, 2005 14:32

Ok, I did it. The new page is called Gretzky Family. It does need some improvement though. Newguineafan August 9, 2005 15:04
 * Good Job. Now we can delete his family off the main page and just put a link. Masterhatch 9 August 2005

Gretzky as coach
I think his foray into being an NHL head coach deserves a much greater mention. Right now it is talked about as much as Gretzky's relevance in poker. It definitely deserves its own section. zellin 12:48, 19 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Right now, there isn't too much to say about him being a coach. He hasn't even coached his first game yet. But, of course, if you want to add info about him coaching, you are quite welcome!! Masterhatch 19 August 2005

Featured article
I have a question! Has anyone ever thought about getting this article as a featured one? I have no idea how to do it but the thought crossed my mind. I think, though, in order for it to be a feautured article we would have to do some work to it. Just a thought. Masterhatch 17:42, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Royal Wedding
Someone changed information in the wedding section from Catholic Church to Anglican church. Somehow i don't think that was right. Was it wrong in the first place and is now right? or is it wrong now and was right in the first place? Masterhatch 21:11, 13 December 2005 (UTC)


 * The poster was half-right. The church used to be called St. Joseph's Cathedral, but was changed to 'Basilica' in 1984 before the wedding.  I just reverted that bit.  That being said, I just looked over the Basilica's website, and it mentioned the controversy over the wedding.  Gretzky and Jones did indeed have an Anglican ceremony, but it was held in the Catholic basilica, provoking some protest.  RGTraynor 21:27, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

3RR
Anyone want to give Mr Pyles a heads up on 3RR, of which he's in current violation? I think we have four of us reverting him at this point. RGTraynor 20:21, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

STRANGE BUT TRUE?
I once heard this "strange but true" story about Gretzky. This might be similar to one of those urban legends, so please tell me if someone is pulling my leg.

The story is about how Gretzky got in a bar fight in Cincinnati Ohio when he was in the minors. He left before police arrived, so a bench warrant was issued. Gretzky never appeared in court and apparently never went back to Ohio. He then joined Edmonton the following year and that minor league folded.

The reason that Ohio was always passed over for a new franchise was because the league's best player could not, or would not, ever travel to Ohio. Gretzky retired and the city of Columus was granted a franchise the following year.

Is this true or did someone just make this up?


 * I doubt that't true, also cuz he's a coach now and has to travel to Columbus anyways. Croat Canuck 21:11, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

His traveling to Columbus would not make this story any less valid. I don't think bench warrants expire, but it has been 25 years. Any law enforcement official attempting to arrest Gretzky would look very foolish indeed. If that story is true, Gretzky would probably not be deterred by traveling to Ohio now.

Well in that case it would not make a difference 5 years ago if Gretzky had to go Columbus... I just think the story doesn't have any base. Croat Canuck 22:02, 2 January 2006 (UTC)


 * You are confusing this story. It was Frank Beaton of the 1975 Edmonton Oilers who was charged with Assault against a Cincinnati Gas Station Attendant near the end of the Season. He evaded arrest, and was then arrested the next season when the Oilers returned to Cincy to play the Stingers TrulyTory 01:42, 5 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Fun fact on how Beaton avoided the arrest: he was stuffed in an equipment bag and shipped out on a separate truck, before returning to the team bus just outside of town. He was with the Birmingham Bulls when he was caught the following year.  Ironically, he was bailed out by Stingers head coach Jacques Demers.  (Ed Willes, The Rebel League, p. 122-23) 70.72.76.224 10:01, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

The Loonie
The article states that the loonie at Center ice was Gretzky's doing. The truth is the Salt Lake O.C. hired the best ice maker, who happened to be Canadian, and his team had to mark centre ice with something. The tradition has always been to use a coin. The head ice maker only had Canadian coins on him and so used the $1 coin. He later told the coaches of both the men's and women's teams. It was later credited as a good luck charm. A far as I know, Gretzky had nothing to do with it other than the digging up of the coin. See Loonie --Walter Görlitz 08:08, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Current
Why do people keep taking the current events template down? The gambling investigation is the biggest story in North American sports right now. --djrobgordon 20:43, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame...
Where's the part of the article concerning the top five reasons (according to ESPN Classic's The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... series) you can't blame the Edmonton Oilers for trading Wayne Gretzky?User:TMC1982
 * I'm not sure where the movement to include lists from this fairly obscure show on bio articles comes from. I know there's one on Pete Rose, and I'm not in favor of it either. Maybe it's simply that the type of person likely to edit on Wikipedia is predisposed to lists? I'm not going to get in a revert war if it's added, but I'm not sure it's necessary. I think a better solution might be to reference the show in the bio, and reproduce the list on the show's page (or perhaps make a separate page for the particular episode). I do think it would be useful (or at least interesting) to have all the lists in one place. --djrobgordon 01:37, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Don't add it. It's really not encyclopediac at all, and we're trying to get this to Featured Article status. By the way, TMC, why did you throw in an Expand tag? RasputinAXP  talk contribs 01:40, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm taking that template down, until someone provides a rationale for it here. --djrobgordon 02:06, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Winter Olympic Box
I don't recall Gretzky playing for team Finland at the 1998 Winter Olympics?? To the best of my recollection Finland defeated Canada in the bronze medal game. Mr Pyles 14:46, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Good catch, reverted. Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics RasputinAXP   c  [[Image:Gadsden_flag.svg|25px]] 15:26, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Ancestry
Perhaps his grandfather came from the town that is now in Belarus, but at the turn of the XX century it was all part of the Imperial Russia and the town belonged to Poland before it was partitioned by Russia in the XVIII century. Therefore his grandfather was Polish.

Goldfinger song
There is a song by Goldfinger on the Open Your Eyes album called "Wayne Gretzky". In it, the singer expresses his fascination for Gretzky, and how he would like to make love with him. The lyrics are available here: [link to copyvio website removed]. Perhaps this is worth a mention in the article (when it's unprotected). --Daniel Lawrence 22:09, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, trivia sections lower us all. That said, they're fairly commonplace. --djrobgordon 02:12, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I'd think not. Superman isn't mentioned in Superman, and that was certainly a better known song. RasputinAXP   c  [[Image:Gadsden_flag.svg|25px]] 12:56, 27 February 2006 (UTC)