Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, America and the Day Everything Changed

Description

From his standout youth, where he honed his skills on a backyard rink, to his unlikely jump to the pros at the age of 17, this biography chronicles Wayne Gretzky's ascension to the greatest hockey player of all time to his shocking trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in 1998--an event that rocked hockey fans across North America. This chronicle reveals, for the first time, the true story behind the deal, as well as Gretzky's important role in making the trade happen. From the press conference where the trade was announced and where Gretzky wept, this work notes how the "Great One" could have been crying tears of joy as he realized his life was about to get a whole lot better--playing for more money in a California city that would be a perfect home for him and his glamorous new actress-wife.

Stephen Brunt is a columnist at the Globe and Mail and the author of Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball, Facing Ali: The Opposition Weighs In, Mean Business: The Rise and Fall of Shawn O'Sullivan, Second to None: The Roberto Alomar Story, and The Way It Looks from Here: Contemporary Canadian Writing on Sports. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and in Winterhouse Brook, Newfoundland.