Wayne Gretzky before and after NHL career: What to know about differences in appearance for TNT analyst

Wayne Gretzky has been in the public eye for the vast majority of his life.

“The Great One” is widely considered to be the best player in league history, which means that the public has seen him age for over four decades. Obviously, Gretzky looks different now than he did in 1984, but fans have started to see the former Oiler, King and Ranger show his age more in recent years.

That is, in part, due to Gretzky’s constant appearances on the TNT broadcasts, as more people have been watching him on TV over the past few years. Gretzky is now in front of a camera more often than he has been since he left coaching in 2009, or even when he retired in 1999.

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Here’s a look back at Gretzky’s appearances since playing in the league.

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Wayne Gretzky’s appearance through the years

1984

Gretzky entered the league in 1979 with the Oilers and immediately became one of the biggest stars in the league. In 1984, he won his first Stanley Cup, sporting long flowing hair with the youth of a young superstar.

1999

Corbis

After a 20-year NHL career, Gretzky retired from the league in 1999 with the Rangers, looking like the grizzled veteran he was at the time. Gretzky had much shorter hair and was 39 years old when he called it a career, and he looked closer to his age when he held his retirement press conference.

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2005

Sports Illustrated

Six years after retirement, Gretzky got his first and only head coaching opportunity with the Coyotes, at the time looking similar to what he looked like at the end of his career. However, after four years in that role, Gretzky was fired and didn’t return to coaching, ending the possibility that he would age with the stress of NHL coaching.

2017

After leaving coaching, Gretzky largely stayed out of the consistent spotlight but appeared in front of cameras here and there as necessary. In 2017, he served as the NHL’s centennial ambassador, showing his age a little bit more, only this time with longer hair. 

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2025

Gretzky’s all-time scoring record lasted in the NHL until Alex Ovechkin broke it in 2025, and “The Great One” was all over the coverage of the milestone. Gretzky was in New York when Ovechkin broke the goal-scoring record against the Islanders, and he has started to show his age more and more over the past few years while working for TNT.

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