Wayne Gretzky ruled the hearts of millions of fans, for more than two decades, but a tough spot pulled him down in 1995. Time became so cruel that the legendary player struggled to score a single goal.  While the Great One bounced back, that tough season played a lot with his mindset.

Gretzky’s dry patch came when he was playing for the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky had built a reputation as a match winner and his ongoing season wasn’t justifying the title during that time. The blank box of goals in front of his name was adversely impacting his confidence. 

Wayne Gretzky felt like the weakest performer on the team

The Great Gretzky blamed himself for the poor performance of the team as well. According to Sports Illustrated, he told reporters, “I’m the weak link on this team.”. The statement came after the White Tornado failed to score a single goal in 10 consecutive matches in that season. 

Eventually, Gretzky started thinking about retiring from the sport once and for all. After a streak of poor performances, he told his wife Janet, “This is the end of the end. I never ever dreamed I could play this bad. “

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Bad Form leading to Bad Decision

The below-par performances forced Gretzky to make some out-of-the-box decisions. To improve the team’s performance Gretzky wanted to include his old mates from the Edmonton Oilers in LA Kings. Gretzky thought that the OG combination of him and right winger Jari Kurri (one of the few to have scored 500 goals in the history of the NHL) could help the team’s overall performance. He even convinced the team’s owner Bruce McNall to pay a whopping amount of $850, 000 per year to Kurri. 

In the process, Los Angeles traded their crucial center and point man. While the decision looked appealing in the beginning when Kurri scored a hat trick, the same performance didn’t continue as the newest member scored only two goals in the upcoming matches. 

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Clearly, even the greats go through a bad phase. What matters is that despite these setbacks, Gretzky’s name has endured in the history of the sporting world at large. What do you think of the Great One’s revelations? Tell us in the comments.