wayne gretzky (born january 26, 1961 in brantford, ontario) known as "the great one", is a canadian retired ice hockey player. gretzky played in the national hockey league (nhl) for 20 seasons. he was coach and part-owner of the nhl's phoenix coyotes until he stepped down on september 24, 2009. he also managed canada's olympic hockey teams in 2002 and 2006, as well as canada's 2004 world cup of hockey team.