Brent Gretzky

Filthy Dangles

Registered User*
Oct 23, 2014
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40,120
How did he only play 13 games in the show? His minor league stats are amazing

Without that last name, he might not have gotten 1 game and possibly not drafted either.

I didn't even know about the UHL until checking his hockeyDb page, but that seems like a pretty awful league and he did most damage in those leagues. he did put up solid numbers in legaues like the IHL and AHL but that doesn't always translate to NHL.
 

Filthy Dangles

Registered User*
Oct 23, 2014
28,562
40,120
Regardless of what his name was, he was definitely gonna get drafted. He was the first line centre for the Bellville Bulls and averaged nearly two points a game in his draft year.

While that was technically his 'draft year' i.e the year he was drafted, it was actually his 3rd year of eligibility, he was an overage 20 year old so those numbers aren't that impressive in that sense. He was eligible for 90 and 91 draft and got skipped on and his numbers the years before that were not impressive.

I don't know, I wasn't around back then so I can't say for sure but my heart tells me his last name played a role in things.
 
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Staniowski

Registered User
Jan 13, 2018
3,517
3,078
The Maritimes
Brent and Keith were roughly the same caliber of player. Keith actually put up more points at a younger age in junior than Brent did, and was drafted in his 1st year of eligibility.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,594
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Behind A Tree
He is 11 yrs. younger than Wayne Gretzky and started in the NHL in 1993 when Wayne was starting to tail off. I guess in spite of all that the pressure of the last name might have set him back a lot.
 
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Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
He was touring with an old timers league last year and I got to see him play. Not the greatest cast of players on the ice, Antropov was there, Rick Vaive was still there, but he was on the team. Of course, if his name was Brent Smith he never is on an old timers team.
 
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The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,223
15,795
Tokyo, Japan
Man, the Lightning have used some terrible, terrible fonts on their jerseys.
You mean this doesn't look awesome...?
8a49ce4dee03d196.jpg


Not only the font is terrible and very unattractive, but the lightning image itself looks incredibly cheap, like something a computer in 1978 would have produced. Yuck.
 

Howie Hodge

Zombie Woof
Sep 16, 2017
4,427
4,037
Buffalo, NY
I thought Buffalo made a shrewd move in the third round drafting Keith Gretzky.

Then I met Keith at Sabres rookie camp. We talked, and were eye to eye.

Then I realized he was wearing skates, and I wasn't. I'm just a shade over 5'8'.
(Listed as 5'9". Not even on skates was he 5'9". Unless I'm 5'11". I'm not...)

Just not quick enough to compensate for his smaller stature, sadly.
 
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Passchendaele

Registered User
Dec 11, 2006
7,731
1,149
Regardless of what his name was, he was definitely gonna get drafted. He was the first line centre for the Bellville Bulls and averaged nearly two points a game in his draft year.
The team who drafted him is the same team who put a woman in front of their net in training camp.

That's good publicity in both cases.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,223
15,795
Tokyo, Japan
Walter Gretzky was a good Junior-B level player, but he also was rather small (about 5'9"). When my mom was a little kid, he played in her hometown for the local team (Woodstock Warriors) for years, and was a decent scorer. Couldn't get higher in level, though, which I suppose was partly due to his stature. Brent and Keith were also relatively short, in hockey terms.

Lost in the Gretzky-family athletic lore, perhaps, is the genetic contribution of Phyllis Gretzky, who was a bit tall, and strong, and maybe contributed to making Wayne taller than the family average! Had he been as short as his Dad or brothers, he wouldn't have had anything like the same career. (His sister, Kim, was probably the second-best athlete in the family, in track & field, but was stopped by a foot injury in her mid-teens.)
 

Sticks and Pucks

Registered User
Jan 2, 2008
2,282
152
Couldn't get higher in level, though, which I suppose was partly due to his stature. Brent and Keith were also relatively short, in hockey terms.

Speaking of Keith Gretzky, it looks like multiple sources have him as born in 1967 and he started his OHL career in 1982. This would mean he started playing at age 15. Does anyone recall the reason for this? Was it because of his last name? His career was pretty unexceptional for someone who entered the OHL at age 15.
 

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