Wayne Gretzky The Greatest Canadian

People would argue about who was better, Wayne Gretzky or Maurice Richard. Both of
these great players have a long list of achievements and accomplishments. But who was better?
This short essay will explain that Wayne Gretzky is the greater Canadian.
Maurice (Rocket) Richard had a career of 18 seasons 1942-1960. All of which he played
with the Montreal Canadians. During these 18 seasons he won 8 Stanley cups and a Hart
trophy. One of his greatest accomplishments was to be the first player in NHL history to record
50 goals or more in one regular season. He was also the first player to set the milestone of 500
goals over an entire career. The Rocket was one of the few players that had the 5 year
waiting period to get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame waived, being inducted 1 year after
retiring.
Nicknamed "The Great One", Wayne Gretzky has been called "the greatest hockey
player ever" Waynes Career consisted of 20 great seasons, played with four different teams
from 1979-1999. Throughout his 20 seasons he won 4 Stanley Cups, 10 Art Ross trophies, 9 Hart
trophies and 2 Con Smyth trophies. Not only in the NHL did Wayne make an impact, but in the
World cup, World juniors and world championships he claimed a total of 7 medals, 3 being
gold. Wayne was and still is the NHLs all-time leader in goals, assists and overall points. When
he retired he held a total of 61 records and still holds 60 of them to this day. After retiring in
1999, Wayne was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and had his jersey
number 99 retired.
The controversy over the greatest Canadian Hockey player should be over. Between
setting and holding 60 records, 25 overall trophies and the seven medals earned in
international play who could argue. Wayne Gretzky is the greatest Canadian hockey player of all
time!

By: Nick Paiva and Dayton Coutts