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Wayne Gretzky’s hilarious story about incognito Hall of Fame visit

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Getty Images

TORONTO – Wayne Gretzky has always been a special kind of sports legend. Not just that he’s considered the greatest hockey player of all-time, but because he’s also an unabashed hockey fanboy. His passions for the game’s history are as considerable as his talent playing it.

But when you’re Wayne Gretzky, getting a chance to indulge in that history at a place like the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto can be difficult because, well, you’re WAYNE GRETZKY. Everyone there knows you and, if they don’t, will know you when they see you standing next to a photo of Wayne Gretzky breaking Gordie Howe’s scoring records, and being like, “Hey, that’s Wayne Gretzky!”

So one day, Wayne Gretzky decided to go to the Hall of Fame as a regular guest, and somewhat incognito.

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Hilarity ensued.

Here’s Gretzky, who told this story after being announced as the official Centennial Ambassador for the NHL’s year-long 100th anniversary celebration:

“A couple of years ago I took my son to the Hall of Fame. I had a hat on. We went to the Hall of Fame and told him to just keep your head down. We walked around for about two hours and we saw everything there was to see.

“We went down to the part where you can [play interactive hockey games], and take some shots. So my son goes first, and he’s 4-for-5. He says ‘Dad, try it!’

“So I said, ‘OK,’ and I got up there and missed the first three shots I took. And the young man who was taking care of the line walked over to me and said, ‘Sir, you should move your hand down the stick a little.’

‘I lifted my hat up and I said, ‘Why don’t you go over there and get me one of those pucks. There are 802 of them!’”

That’s why he’s The Great One. Listen to it from his mouth here:

To the random Hall of Fame worker who gave Wayne Gretzky a lesson on how to hold the stick: Congratulations on being in the greatest Tim Hortons commercial never yet made.


Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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