Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic
Celebrity Bios
These great celebrities will be attending the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung:
(Celebrities subject to change).
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, (born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently part-owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Nicknamed The Great One, Wayne is often referred to as "the greatest player of all time". Wayne set forty regular-season records, fifteen playoff records, six All-Star records, won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and won nine MVP awards and ten scoring titles. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in a season — a feat that he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points a season for 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. Wayne is the only player to have his number (99) officially retired by the National Hockey League for all teams.
He retired from playing in 1999, becoming Executive Director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics. Wayne also became part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes in 2000 and following the 2004-05 NHL lockout became their head coach.
Janet Jones-Gretzky
Janet-Marie Jones (born January 10, 1961) is an American actress, dancer, and aerobics instructor. She is married to ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky.
Janet performed as a dancer in Annie (1982), Staying Alive (1983), and Snow White Live (1980), and had a bit part in The Beastmaster (1982). Her big break came in The Flamingo Kid (1984), which was followed by the film version of A Chorus Line (1985). Later in 1986, she appeared in American Anthem, co-staring gymnast Mitch Gaylord. In 1987, she appeared in the March edition of Playboy.
Four months before her wedding, Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988) was released. Other credits include A League of Their Own (1992), and hosting an infomercial for Jackie Chan's Cable Flex. She served as the "master instructor" for a workout video produced by The Firm. She and daughter Paulina were featured in the movie Alpha Dog.
Janet met Wayne when he was a judge on Merv Griffin's show Dance Fever in 1984. Later, they ran into each other at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 1987. On July 16, 1988 Wayne and Janet were wed at a lavish ceremony at St. Joseph's Basilica in Edmonton broadcast live across Canada. Janet and Wayne have five children: Pauline, Ty, Trevor, Tristan, and Emma. Her mother has been their nanny since 1988.
Walter Gretzky
Walter Gretzky, CM, O.Walter Gretzky, (born October 8, 1938 in Canning, Ontario, Canada) is the father of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky.
Walter is the son of ethnically Polish immigrants. He played ice hockey for much of his youth, but never made it beyond juniors. Walter met his wife Phyllis Hockin (October 14, 1941 in Paris, Ontario - December 19, 2005), at a wiener roast at the Gretzky farm when she was 15 and he was 18. They married in 1960, and moved to Brantford, Ontario. Unlike Walter, who did a variety of commercials with Wayne, Phyllis mostly refused to embrace the celebrity that sprang from their son's exploits. The Gretzky family would grow to include Wayne, sister Kim and brothers Keith, Glen and Brent.
Walter worked as an installer and repairman for Bell Canada for 34 years, retiring in 1991. A work-related injury he suffered in 1961 left him in a coma, and resulted in deafness in his right ear. Five days after his 53rd birthday in 1991, he suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm which destroyed his long-term memory. His physical therapist, Ian Kohler, married his daughter Kim in 1995. His ordeal is the basis of the CBC movie ‘Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story’. Walter spends his time helping charities and fundraisers and coaching youth hockey.
Rideau Hall recently announced too that Walter is to receive Canada’s highest honour; the Order of Canada. The Nation’s highest civilian honor for Walter’s various work with a wide host for charities and foundations.
Brett Hull
Brett Hull was born on August 9, 1964 is Belleville, Ontario, Canada. He played collegiat hockey with the University of Minnesota-Duluth and was drafted by the Calgary Flames in 1984 in the 6th round.
Brett got his first taste on the NHL being called up by Calgary for the 1987 playoffs. The following season after tearing up the AHL with the Moncton Golden Flames he was called up by Calgary and appeared in 52 games, scoring 26 goals. The following year he was traded to the St. Louis Blues where he really blossomed becoming one of the most prolific goal scorers in NHL history.
Brett had 3 straight 70+ goal seasons with 72, 86 and 70 goals in 1988-89,1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. He won the Hart Trophy (league MVP) in the 1990-91 season. Brett finally reached his goal of winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 scoring the championship winning goal with the Dallas Stars. After three seasons with the Stars he signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent and again won the Cup in the 2001-02 season.
Brett retired in 2006 after playing only 5 games with the Phoenix Coyotes. When eligible he will be a shoe in for the NHL Hall of Fame. Brett ended his career with 741 goals, third all-time behind NHL greats Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe.
Brett is now the General Manager of the Dallas Stars.
Charles Barkley
"Sir Charles" established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Claude Lemiuex
Claude Lemieux last played for the San Jose Sharks before announcing his retirement on July 8, 2009. He is one of only ten players in Stanley Cup history to win the Cup with three different teams. Throughout his career, Lemieux was noted for playing his best games during the postseason. On three occasions, he scored more goals during the playoffs than he did during the regular season (1985–86 with Montreal, 1994–95 with New Jersey, and 1996-97 with Colorado). Lemieux retired with 80 career playoff goals, ninth all-time in the NHL. He was a finalist on the 2009 season of Battle Of The Blades.
Craig Simpson
Craig Simpson is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played 10 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and the Buffalo Sabres. He is currently a broadcaster, involved in Hockey Night in Canada telecasts. He scored a career high 56 regular season goals during the 1987–88 season, and won two Stanley Cups with the Oilers, in 1988 and 1990. He also captured the title during the 2009 season of Battle Of The Blades alongside partner Jamie Salé.
Darren Pang
Born 2/17/64 in Meaford, Ontario, Darren Pang is a television color analyst for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Darren played goalie for three seasons in junior hockey with Belleville and Ottawa before playing professionally with the Chicago Blackhawks. He retired in 1989 and in 1990 started his broadcast career doing the Blackhawks post game show. He was part of the broadcast team for CBS, working as an ice level reporter for the men’s hockey at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and for NBC at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Before joining the Coyote broadcast team Darren spent 12 seasons working National broadcasts of the NHL for ESPN as an NHL game analyst and worked for the network and worked with the network for over a decade including NHL playoff contests on ESPN and NHL telecasts on ABC Sports.
Eddie Mio
Eddie Mio (born January 31, 1954, in Windsor, Ontario) was a professional ice hockey goaltender in the WHA and NHL and is currently Director of Player Development for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Over his NHL career, he compiled a record of 64 wins, 70 losses and 30 ties and a 4.06 goals against average over 192 games played with the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.
Eddie Mio put himself on the map of professional hockey when he agreed to attend Colorado College from 1972–76. During that time, he established himself as a standout, winning first- and second-team all-star awards and making the NCAA West first all-American team two years in a row.
In 1974, the NHL's Blackhawks and the Blazers of the WHA drafted him. He played for neither club, wending his way instead through the minor leagues with Tidewater, Erie, and Hampton until he surfaced with the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA.
Mio had his first winning season in 1980–81 before being traded to the Rangers.
In New York, Mio backstopped the Rangers for two seasons before rounding out his career with the Red Wings in 1985–86.
Gino Reda
Gino Reda (born 1960 in England) is currently host of TSNs That's Hockey since 2001 after being on Sports Centre for the previous fourteen years. He joined TSN in the summer of 1988 as a reporter covering the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea.
Moving to Canada in 1964, Reda worked as a freelance play-by-play announcer for the Humber College Hawks, Junior B Hockey, Junior A box lacrosse, the Canadian National Soccer League and the Canadian National Gymnastics Championships between 1983 and 1987.
Reda also serves as a host of Junior Hockey Magazine, a weekly syndicated radio show covering the weekly stories from the Canadian Hockey League.
Gino Reda is now in his sixth season as host of Canada's #1 daily hockey magazine show, Molson That's Hockey, keeping viewers up-to-date on all the latest headlines from the world of hockey.
Reda has also covered various events and shows on TSN, including NBA Tonight, FIFA World Cup, Canadian Hockey League, That's Golf, Rugby World Cup and TSN's overnight studio shows for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens.
Reda devotes much of his time to numerous charitable organizations. For the past 12 years, he has worked closely with World Vision Canada, raising money and awareness for children living in impoverished countries. Recently, Reda traveled to Tanzania and Malawi in Africa to host TV specials for World Vision Canada. Reda is also a member of the newly established Sick Kids Foundation Constellation of Stars, which celebrates celebrities who continue to show a long-term commitment to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In 2005, Reda was awarded the National Volunteer of the Year award by Special Olympics Canada.
Grant Fuhr
Grant Fuhr was born in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada on September 28, 1962. He has worked as the goaltending coach since July of 2004.
Grant Fuhr played 19 seasons in the NHL with six different teams (Edmonton, Toronto, Buffalo, LA, St. Louis and Calgary). He began his career and had his greatest seasons with the Edmonton Oilers (1980-81 to1990-91) where he won 5 Stanley Cup Championships. In his time in Edmonton he also won the Vezina Trophy (NHL’s best goalie) and finished runner-up several times. He also finished runner-up for the Hart Trophy (MVP) to teammate Wayne Gretzky.
In 866 games in his Hall of Fame career he was 404-295-114 with 25 career shutouts. He ranks 6th on the NHL all-time wins list and 6th on the NHL all-time games played list. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 (his first year of eligibility) and is now the goaltending coach of the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes.
Marty McSorley
Martin James McSorley (born May 18, 1963) is a Canadian former professional hockey player in the National Hockey League and former head coach of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League (2002-2004). He has also appeared in film and television roles.
In the NHL, he played as a defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, and Boston Bruins.
He won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers in 1987 and 1988, scoring twice during one game in the 1987 championship series.
During the 2005-06 NHL season, McSorley worked for Fox Sports Net West in Los Angeles, providing in-studio analysis of games involving the Los Angeles Kings or the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He provided commentary for the San Jose Sharks games on FSN Bay Area during 2006-07 NHL season.
Mike Keenan
Mike Keenan is a former head coach in the National Hockey League, most recently with the Calgary Flames, and former General Manager of the Florida Panthers. The 1994 season saw Keenan become the first to coach two different teams to a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final, having previously coached the Flyers in a losing effort against the Edmonton Oilers in 1987. He was followed in this feat in 2009 byMike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings.[1] In winning the 1994 Cup final, Keenan managed to avoid becoming the first coach in NHL history to lose a Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals with two different teams.
Nick Kypreos
Nick Kypreos (born June 4, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional Hockey left winger. He played 8 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nick Kypreos's NHL career began as a member of the Washington Capitals. He immediately became known as an enforcer. A native of Toronto, Ontario, his best year was with the Hartford Whalers where he scored a career season high 17 goals and led the league with 325 penalty minutes. In 1994 Kypreos was a member of the Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers. Winning the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994 was his career highlight. He made his final stop for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kypreos retired finishing with 442 Games Played, 46 Goals, 44 Assists, 90 Points and 1210 Penalty Minutes.
He currently works as a hockey analyst for Rogers Sportsnet in Canada. Nick also co-hosts Hockey Central at Noon on The Fan 590 in Toronto and simulcast on Sportsnet.
Scott Thornton
Scott Thornton was born on January 9, 1971 in London, Ontario, Canada. He plays left wing for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
Scott was drafted 3rd overall in the 1989 entry draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Scott has been in the NHL since the 1990-91 season and has played for 6 different teams (Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Dallas, San Jose, LA).
During his 18 year NHL career Scott has scored 144 goals and had 141 assists. Scott is currently a member of the Los Angeles Kings.
