Wayne Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach.Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Gretzky honed his skills at a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers. Despite his unimpressive stature and strength, Gretzky's intelligence, stamina, and reading of the game were unrivaled.

He played 20 seasons in the NHL for four teams from 1979 to 1999.  Gretsky has been called the greatest hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, the NHL itself, and by The Hockey News, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. As of 2021, Gretzky is the all-time leading goal scorer, leading assist producer and leading point scorer in NHL history, and garnered more assists in his career than any other player scored total points. Another record still held in 2021, he is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive, both feats unsurpassed records as of 2021. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records. 

Almost immediately after retirement, several NHL teams approached him about an ownership role. Fast forward to October 2016, Gretzky returned to the Oilers as a partner and vice-chairman of the team's parent company, Oilers Entertainment Group.