The Great One

Sports Illustrated followed The Great One's career right from the very beginning. Starting in 1978, when Gretzky was a young phenom playing for the Soo Greyhounds, they had their best writers cover his rise to fame and subsequent dominance of the sport.
His staggering career stats tend to overshadow the struggles he faced in his career -- the early days in Edmonton, when he was establishing himself as the greatest player, but could not lead his team to a cup. The years after the trade that shook the hockey world he spent years trying to lead a new team to glory, only managing to reach the final once more, in 1993, and losing in five games. Covered as well are… Keep Reading