Wayne Gretzky Quotes

I miss all the shots I don't take.

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

You miss 100 percent of the selfies you never make.

I don't like my hockey sticks touching other sticks, and I don't like them crossing one another, and I kind of have them hidden in the corner. I put baby powder on the ends. I think it's essentially a matter of taking care of what takes care of you.

I think sports for kids is the greatest thing in the world because it teaches you how to share, about winning and losing and pressure. But I don't think you should force your kid to become a professional athlete.

I'm very proud of our NHL players. I think they all handle themselves extremely well and they all work really hard.

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.

Everything I did in hockey, I worked for.

The biggest difference between L.A. and Edmonton was that instead of people looking at me I was looking at them.

Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.

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.

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!

One hundred percent of shots not taken don't go in.

Most people marry their mother. I married my father.

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

You miss every shot you 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.

It's kind of ironic when I broke in at 17, I was told I was too small, too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL

You'll never catch me bragging about goals, but I'll talk all you want about my assists.

I couldn't beat people with my strength; I don't have a hard shot; I'm not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.

I'm probably the only guy in hockey who can win a scoring title and everybody is saying I had a bad year. I don't worry about it.

My kids are no different than anyone else's - they tend to disagree with everything I say!

The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.

Maybe it wasn't the talent the Lord gave me-maybe it was the passion.

By no means could I play at the level of these kids who play in the NHL now but as 50-year-olds go, I feel really good and I feel blessed that I'm still healthy.

Sometimes people ask, 'Are hockey fights real?' I say, 'If they weren't, I'd get in more of them.

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

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

Ninety percent of hockey is mental and the other half is physical.

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.

People in general want to build somebody up and then try to knock them down. They always root for the underdog.

The Power of WHO provides great lessons about how to succeed in business and in life. If you surround yourself with quality people and great friends, the sky's the limit.

You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take.

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.

Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don't take the shot.

I missed 100% of the shots I didn't take

I knew at a young age, whether I was playing baseball or hockey or lacrosse, that my teammates were counting on me, whether it be to strike the last batter out in a baseball game or score a big goal in a hockey game.

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

I think that from the time you start playing sports as a child you see that your responsibility to your team is to play the best that you can play as an individual ... and yet, not take anything away from being part of a team.

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 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.

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'm not sure Mario is going to get accolafes he deserves, especially from outside the game. But from within, the players, the people who follow closely, realize exactly what he's broughtto the table, exactly what he has done. People tend to forget ... hockey was dying in Pittsburgh before he got there. I played there. It was almost dead. I'm sorry, but the NHL would not have a franchise in Pittsburgh today had Mario not come along. Think about it, no hockey in Pittsburgh.

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

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 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 skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

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.