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Wayne Gretzky Reveals Early Origin of 'The Great One' Nickname

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Jun 15, 2025 7:50 AM ET

As unbelievable as it sounds, Wayne Gretzky was “The Great One” way before he legitimately became the greatest NHL player of all time.

Gretzky was just another 10-year-old kid from Brantford, Ontario, lighting up scoreboards by the time he got his nickname.

He was so good that he went on to score 400 goals in a single season, in a rather big sign of things to come later in his professional career, including breaking many records, winning multiple Stanley Cups, and ultimately making it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

As Gretzky revealed before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, that 400-goal year caught the attention of a reporter from the London Free Press, who came to write a story.

.@WayneGretzky first got the "Great One" nickname when he was 10-years-old from a reporter because Wayne scored 400!! goals that season pic.twitter.com/LPIS5Fu8sl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 14, 2025

Right at the end of the article, the reporter made a suggestion that ended up sticking for life.

“I was 10 years old," Gretzky said. "A reporter from the London Free Press came down and did a story on me — I scored 400 goals that year.

"At the end of the article, he said, ‘NHL guys have one nickname — Mr. Hockey, the Golden Jet. And he said, ‘We should just call him The Great One.’”

Right then and there, however, Gretzky made it sound like his father wasn't thrilled with his kid getting labeled as such.

“Well, my dad tried to kill that right away,” Gretzky said. “And it just kept coming back and coming back.”

At the end of the day, the nickname fit Gretzky like a glove, and the reporter got vindicated for his early take on the young phenom's talents.

By the time Gretzky retired in 1999, he held 61 NHL records, including scoring 894 goals and 2,857 points, as well as hoisting four Cups, appearing in 15 All-Star games, and many more accolades.

“Finally, I just was like, ‘Well, we’re going to have to live with it,’” Gretzky finished.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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