More than four decades ago, in the pages of his late father’s book, “Gretzky: From Back Yard Rink To The Stanley Cup,” the Great One turned back the years to remember the rink that froze his fingers and toes yet set his heart afire with a love of hockey that he has to this day.
“In 1979, I told a reporter that my dad and I would be on the rink four hours a day,” Gretzky said in reflection. “And I was quoted, accurately, this way: ‘Honest to God, it was so cold that I’d come in the house crying.’ Now I can just see a bunch of kids coming in crying and hearing their dads say: ‘Get back out there! Wayne Gretzky froze. He’s sitting in a penthouse in Edmonton. Where the heck are you?’
“But they missed the point. They say to me, ‘You practiced four hours a night,’ and I say, ‘Yeah, I guess I did.’ But looking back at it, I wasn’t practicing. If I’d thought I was practicing, I’d probably never have done it.
“I did it because that was what I had fun doing. I never thought, ‘Well, I’ll practice four hours a day today because if I do that, I’ll have a chance to make the NHL. It never entered my head. We did it because we enjoyed it.
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