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50 free Wayne Gretzky trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Wayne Gretzky trivia starts on a backyard rink in Brantford: Walter's Wally Coliseum, 378 goals at age ten, the tucked-in jersey, the boos that drove him to Toronto at 14, and the Sault Ste. Marie teammate who kept number 9 and gave the world 99. Then the WHA: Nelson Skalbania's $1.75 million contract, a proposed backgammon match for his rights, the flight to Edmonton, Peter Pocklington's birthday deal and a line with Gordie and Mark Howe. The Oilers years follow: the Calder he could not win, Marcel Dionne's tiebreak, 50 in 39, 92 goals, 215 points, four Cups, nine Harts, the Gretzky rule and the greatest team ever voted. Then The Trade of 9 August 1988, McSorley and Krushelnyski, $15 million, effigies in Edmonton and hockey booming in California, followed by Howe's 801, the Blues and Rangers, the last game against Pittsburgh, 61 records, the Hall of Fame's waived wait and 99 retired league-wide. International and later questions cover Lemieux in 1987, the Nagano shootout snub, Salt Lake gold, the Vancouver cauldron, the Coyotes, Janet Jones's 'Royal Wedding', Dustin Johnson, the Blue Jays offer, SNL, the Argonauts and TNT. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's article on Wayne Gretzky, with the supporting sentence attached to each question. Easy questions suit any hockey fan; the expert tier reaches Nelson Riis and Muzz MacPherson.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which Ontario city was Wayne Gretzky born and raised?
Brantford
The family chose their house on Varadi Avenue partly because the yard was flat enough for a backyard rink.
Q 02What was the nickname of the backyard rink Walter Gretzky built for his sons?
The Wally Coliseum
Walter's advice was to 'skate where the puck's going, not where it's been'.
Q 03How many goals did the ten-year-old Gretzky score in one season for the Nadrofsky Steelers?
378
He added 139 assists; the Toronto Telegram profiled him in October 1971.
Q 04Why did the young Gretzky tuck his jersey into his pants on the right side, a habit he kept for life?
His sweaters for older boys were far too large
He played on a team of ten-year-olds at age six.
Q 05Why did Gretzky wear number 99 rather than his hero's number 9?
A Greyhounds teammate already wore 9
Coach Muzz MacPherson suggested doubling it up when Brian Gualazzi kept the 9 at Sault Ste. Marie.
Q 06With which junior team did Gretzky first wear number 99?
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
Two teams passed on him in the 1977 draft; the Greyhounds took him third despite his father saying he would not move north.
Q 07Which WHA team signed the 17-year-old Gretzky to a seven-year personal services contract in June 1978?
Indianapolis Racers
Owner Nelson Skalbania paid US$1.75 million; the NHL would not sign players under 20, but the WHA had no such rule.
Q 08What game did Racers owner Nelson Skalbania propose playing with Winnipeg's owner to decide who got Gretzky?
Backgammon
Michael Gobuty declined, and the plane carrying Gretzky, Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll landed in Edmonton instead.
Q 09Which Oilers owner signed Gretzky to a ten-year personal services contract on his 18th birthday in 1979?
Peter Pocklington
Worth CA$3 million with options for ten more years, it was the longest contract in hockey at the time.
Q 10With which boyhood idol and his son did Gretzky play on a line at the 1979 WHA All-Star Game against Dynamo Moscow?
Gordie and Mark Howe
Their line scored seven points in game one of the three-game series in Edmonton.
Q 11Why was Gretzky ineligible for the Calder Trophy as top rookie in his first NHL season, 1979–80?
His previous year of WHA experience
He tied for the scoring lead with 137 points but lost the Art Ross on goals, and won the first of eight straight Hart Trophies.
Q 12Who won the 1979–80 Art Ross Trophy despite tying Gretzky on 137 points?
Marcel Dionne
Dionne had 53 goals to Gretzky's 51, and had played one more game.
Q 13Whose 35-year-old record of 50 goals in 50 games did Gretzky smash in 1981–82, scoring 50 in 39?
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard's
Q 21What was the 'Gretzky rule' the NHL introduced in 1985?
Offsetting penalties no longer created four-on-four play
The Oilers had feasted on the open ice; the rule was reversed for 1992–93.
Q 22Which team was voted the greatest in NHL history during the league's centennial celebrations?
The 1984–85 Edmonton Oilers
Between 1982 and 1985 the Oilers averaged 423 goals a season when no team had ever scored 400.
Q 23On what date was Gretzky traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 'The Trade'?
9 August 1988
Mike Bossy had tied the mark the season before.
Q 14How many goals did Gretzky score in the 1981–82 season, still the NHL record?
92
He added 120 assists for 212 points, the first 200-point season in history.
Q 15What is Gretzky's single-season points record, set in 1985–86?
215
He recorded 163 assists that year, also a record.
Q 16How many times did Gretzky total over 200 points in a season, a feat no one else has managed once?
Four
He is also the only player with more career assists than any other player has total points.
Q 17In which year did Gretzky and the Oilers win their first Stanley Cup?
1984
Three more followed in 1985, 1987 and 1988; the Oilers won a fifth in 1990 without him.
Q 18Which team swept the Oilers in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final, a year before Edmonton's first Cup?
New York Islanders
The Islanders were three-time defending champions in 1983.
Q 19How many Hart Trophies as NHL most valuable player did Gretzky win?
Nine
Eight came in a row from 1980; he also won ten Art Ross Trophies and two Conn Smythes.
Q 20Which award for sportsmanship did Gretzky win five times, fitting his outspoken opposition to fighting?
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
He led the league in assists 16 times and in goals five times.
He learned of the plan from his father two hours after winning the 1988 Cup, and Kings owner Bruce McNall called him on his honeymoon.
Q 24Which two teammates did Gretzky insist must join him in Los Angeles as a condition of the trade?
Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski
McSorley kept playing enforcer for him in LA as he had in Edmonton.
Q 25How much cash did the Kings send Edmonton as part of the Gretzky trade?
$15 million
Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas and three first-round picks also went to the Oilers; Pocklington was burned in effigy.
Q 26Which politician demanded the Canadian government block the Gretzky trade?
Nelson Riis of the NDP
Gretzky got a long standing ovation on his return to Edmonton and insisted, 'I'm still proud to be a Canadian.'
Q 27Which two NHL franchises arrived in California during Gretzky's time with the Kings, a sign of his impact on the Sun Belt?
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and San Jose Sharks
He led the Kings to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and is credited with popularising hockey in California.
Q 28Whose career goal-scoring record of 801 did Gretzky break in the 1993–94 season?
Gordie Howe's
He finished with 894, a mark Alexander Ovechkin chased for three decades.
Q 29Which team did Gretzky join in February 1996 in a brief, disappointing stint before signing with the Rangers?
St. Louis Blues
The expected chemistry with winger Brett Hull never developed.
Q 30Which former Oilers teammate did Gretzky briefly reunite with on the 1996–97 Rangers before he left for Vancouver?
Mark Messier
The Rangers reached the 1997 conference finals, Gretzky's last playoff run.