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As well as, they erected a statue of Wayne holding the Stanley Cup that sits outside of Rogers Place arena, where the Oilers play their home games. Embed from Getty ImagesĮdmonton would rename a street after him, which is now called Wayne Gretzky drive. He set numerous records, captured numerous trophies and won 4 Stanley Cups.Īt the start of the retirement ceremony Gretzky was driven around in a truck where he received a standing ovation for 5 minutes. He had the best years of his career (or the best years of anyone ever to play hockey) while he was in Edmonton. When did Wayne Gretzky have his number retired?įittingly, the Oilers were the first to retire Gretzky’s number on October 1, 1999. Gretzky agreed and the legend of the number began! So the coach at the time, Muzz MacPherson, suggested to Gretzky that he wear the number 99. Since it was already claimed, Gretzky as the rookie did not get to take number 9. One of the unwritten rules of hockey is that the veteran or older player usually gets the choice of number first. Marie Greyhounds, which is a junior hockey league team in Ontario, Canada, a player by the name of Brian Gualazzi was already wearing the number 9. However, when Wayne at the age of 17 went to play with the Sault Ste. There is even a famous picture of the boy Wayne with his hero Gordie! So all through his childhood playing career Wayne wore the number 9, because Gordie wore number 9. Let’s take a look at Gretzky’s history of wearing the number and the multiple jersey retirement ceremonies, and the other players who wore the number before the league wide retirement. Gretzky was the most famous player to wear the number 99, but it has been worn by 5 other players. Although, five other players have wore the number 99 in the history of the NHL. The league officially retired the number on behalf of Wayne Gretzky in 2000.

Has anybody else worn #99 in hockey?Ĭan you wear #99 in the NHL? No, you cannot wear the number 99 in the NHL. When you think of the #23 you think of Michael Jordan and when you think of #99 you think of Wayne Gretzky. Certain numbers are synonymous with certain players.