On This Date in Sports October 14, 1978: The Great One Debuts
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Wayne Gretzky makes his professional debut at the age of 17, with the Indianapolis Racers in the fledgling WHA. Gretzky signed a seven-year contract worth $1.75 million in the summer. At the time the NHL had an age restriction at 20. The move was a last-ditch effort to save a struggling team that hoped to be a part of the coming merger with the NHL.
Wayne Gretzky was born January 26, 1961, in Brampton, Ontario. From the moment Wayne Gretzky first learned to skate it was magic. So gifted was he, that by the age of six he was playing on a team with ten-year-olds and was one of the leagues best skaters. This was despite his sweater being too big for him, this led the little Wayne Gretzky to begin tucking half of his jersey into his pants, a practice he would carry with him through his entire career.
By the time he was nine, Wayne Gretzky was already known in most of Canada as genuine hockey prodigy as he shattered all youth level records, scoring over 1000 goals before he even turned 13. This led to him being booed for taking up too much attention. By the time he began playing junior hockey in the OHL professional scouts began looking at Gretzky. After one season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Gretzky was on his way to the big league.
At the time the NHL had an age restriction, requiring all players to be at least 20-years-old. The rival World Hockey Association did not have such age limit. With the league on its last legs and talks of a merger underway, some of the lesser teams in the WHA began pursuing the young hockey prodigy, already known as “The Great One”. Both team pursuing Gretzky, the Indianapolis Racers and Birmingham Bulls had ulterior motives. Realistically they knew, they would not be invited to join the NHL for the merger, but they knew with Gretzky they could stay afloat financially and get some big buyout when the WHA ceased operation at the end of the year. Eventually, it would be the Racers who came away with Gretzky, inking him to a seven-year deal worth $1.75 million.
Wayne Gretzky’s debut came at the Racers home at Market Square Arena against the Winnipeg Jets, one of the top teams in the WHA. The Racers would lose the game 6-3. Gretzky would score his first two career goals in his fourth game on October 20th, as the Racers lost at home to the Edmonton Oilers. Despite having such a generational talent on their team, the Racers were losing $40,000 a game. After just eight games in Indianapolis, Gretzky was sold to the Oilers on November 2nd for $850,000. While playing with the Racers, Gretzky scored three goals and had three assists. The sale kept the Racers in business for one more month, as they folded in December, failing to meet the goal of getting a buyout when the final WHA season ended.
After arriving in Edmonton, Gretzky hit his stride, finishing the year with 46 goals, and finishing third in scoring with 110 points to the win the WHA Rookie of the Year. The Oilers would go on to lose in the AVCO Cup Finals to the Jets who won their third title in four years. Both the Jets and Oilers would join the Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques in the NHL in 1979. Gretzky would go on to become the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with 894 career goals and 1963 assists.