Hockey Great Wayne Gretzky Retires – Source: Getty

Wayne Gretzky retired in 1999 at the age of 38. He played 20 seasons in the NHL where he broke more than 50 records. But those numbers could have been a lot less were it not for a certain intervention 11 years back.

In Sept. 2017, Gretzky appeared on the Valuetainment YouTube channel. The Great One opened up about the time he made up his mind to shorten his career. In 1988 Gretzky was going through a phase where he felt mentally exhausted from the grueling season.

Having been traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings that year, he felt that he would be done playing within the next five years. But interestingly his wife took him to Billy Blanks who changed his life’s course. Blanks was the founder of Tae Bo a fitness program in the United States that gained popularity in the 1990s.

“In 1989 I met a gentleman by the name of Billy Blanks who kind of changed my whole mindset, and my wife grabbed me by the ear and said we’re gonna go down and work out with Billy.”, said Gretzky.

“I never skated in the offseason because you mentally need a break from skating every single day but you know bike riding or running or rowing or tae-bo he sort of changed my whole mindset and when I was like 28 and 29 I though I might play 3 or 4 more years … I ended up playing in another 11 years.”

Wayne Gretzky opened up on his retirement decision 25 years ago

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Great One leaving the game. In 1999, Gretzky retired after three seasons with the New York Rangers. The 63-year-old opened up about how he arrived at the decision after a brief chat with his wife.

“I had kind of decided in January or February of that year that I was going to retire,” Gretzky said via NHL.com in April. “The only person who knew was my wife. We talked about it, and she quietly said some things to try and maybe talk me out of it. It was really just a husband and wife chatting about it with no pressure.”

Gretzky returned to the rink, albeit on the bench, starting his coaching career with the Pheonix Coyotes in 2005 leading them out in four seasons before stepping away from the role because the club filed for bankruptcy. He has since then appeared in numerous broadcasting roles.