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Wayne Gretzky whispered as he towelled after his post-practice shower. "Look, the coach doesn't like me to give interviews on game day but call me at the hotel a little later and we'll talk," said the National Hockey League's youngest and most precocious player.
Even though this is his first season in the NHL, the Edmonton Oiler center has a firm grip on the rules of the game both on and off the ice. "This team is younger than last year's WHA team and there's five or six guys on the team who are under 21 so we got along great" said Gretzky, 19, in the phone interview later that day. "But once you're out on the ice age means nothing. The same thing goes for pressure. This is a young team and we're doing the best we can."
Last season the easy-going teenager scored 110 points in 60 games with Edmonton and six with Indianapolis early in the season. He also signed a 21-year contract which gives Gretzky an option to leave after nine years. "I like Edmonton. It's a good sports town but if I was going to leave I'd probably go to Detroit because I've always liked the Red Wings," added number 99.
This is Gretzky's third season away from his Brampton home. He played only one year of junior hockey in Sault Ste. Marie where he scored an incredible 182 points.
His first year in Edmonton he boarded with a family despite his phenomenal salary but this year Wayne, his agent Gus Badali and his family felt it was time to go it alone. He shares an apartment with teammate Kevin Lowe.
"Last year it was great to come home to dinner on the table but this year we've had trouble stocking our own fridge," says Gretzky, who can be seen tooling around Edmonton in an ostentatious Lincoln Mark VI. "The owner of the team (Peter Pocklington) has a couple of dealerships so we sort of have to drive his cars."
Gretzky lives on $1100. a month (most of it goes to long distance bills) and sends the rest of his paycheck back to Badali, who manages the teenager's burgeoning financial empire.
"We're on the road a lot and I hate it sometimes in hotel rooms where there's nothing to do except sit around and wait for a game," says Gretzky. "But we had a couple of days in Los Angeles recently and I saw a ball game and had a good time. Really I can't complain. Most kids my age are still in school and haven't done half the things I've done."
That night Gretzky went out and scored two goals and assisted on two others in a comeback tie with Toronto.
The coach would be happy to know that the interview didn't spoil Gretzky's concentration.
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
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