Brent Gretzky

Brent Gretzky (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who briefly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is the brother of Wayne and Keith Gretzky.

Playing career Gretzky was taught the game by his father Walter. In his youth, he played in the 1985 and 1986 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Brantford.

Gretzky grew up playing minor hockey in Brantford, Ontario for the Brantford Classics of the OMHA. In 1988–89, he played Jr. B hockey for the Brantford Classics of the Mid-Western Junior B Hockey League. He was selected in the 1st round (6th overall) of the 1989 OHL Priority Selection by the Belleville Bulls where he spent three years With the Bulls, he was a linemate of future NHL player Darren McCarty. Gretzky was drafted by the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 NHL entry draft, but did not find the same success as his brother Wayne.

During Gretzky's 13-game tenure with Tampa Bay, he played once against brother Wayne: "We must have faced off 15 times and I won one. I remember chasing him behind the net. I knew what he was going to do and I still found myself looking for my jock. The hardest part was after the game, going and watching ESPN. It was older Gretzky shows young Gretzky how to play hockey."

Together, Wayne and Brent hold the NHL record for most combined points by two brothers – 2,857 for Wayne and 4 for Brent, and are second overall in points scored by any number of brothers (behind the six brothers of the Sutter family who combined for 2,934 NHL points – 73 more than Wayne and Brent, although the Gretzkys' combined totals are greater than any five of the six Sutters.)

Gretzky's selection by an expansion team in an era when established teams were only obliged to leave the bottom echelon of their players unprotected in expansion drafts has led to speculation that he might have never made it onto an NHL roster if he had been drafted by an established team. Other than his brief stint in Tampa Bay, Gretzky was a career minor leaguer, floating between the International Hockey League, the American Hockey League, and the United Hockey League. He played for EC Graz Austria in 1997–98. On June 6, 2006, the Elmira Jackals announced they had acquired his rights from the Motor City Mechanics, but he never played with Elmira; his season with the Mechanics was his last as a professional. He and four other former Danbury Trashers players were served with subpoenas by the FBI in its investigation into owner James Galante's business dealings.

In 2008, Gretzky played six games for his hometown Brantford Blast team in the senior league Major League Hockey, which went on to win the 2008 Allan Cup, after which Gretzky retired from organized competition. He now serves as a police officer with the Ontario Provincial Police.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1987–88 Brantford Classics AAA Midget 40 49 70 119 — — — — — — 1987–88 Brantford Classics MWJHL 14 4 11 15 2 — — — — — 1988–89 Brantford Classics MWJHL 40 29 47 76 57 — — — — — 1989–90 Belleville Bulls OHL 66 15 32 47 30 11 0 0 0 2 1990–91 Belleville Bulls OHL 66 26 56 82 25 6 3 3 6 2 1991–92 Belleville Bulls OHL 62 43 78 121 37 — — — — — 1992–93 Atlanta Knights IHL 77 20 34 54 84 9 3 2 5 8 1993–94 Atlanta Knights IHL 54 17 23 40 30 14 1 1 2 2 1993–94 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 10 1 2 3 2 — — — — — 1994–95 Atlanta Knights IHL 67 19 32 51 42 5 4 1 5 4 1994–95 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1995–96 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 68 13 28 41 40 4 0 6 6 0 1996–97 Pensacola Ice Pilots ECHL 22 9 15 24 4 12 5 8 13 4 1996–97 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 40 5 12 17 8 — — — — — 1996–97 Quebec Rafales IHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1997–98 EC Graz AL 16 6 24 30 28 3 2 3 5 0 1997–98 EC Graz AUT 18 11 16 27 8 — — — — — 1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 6 2 2 4 2 — — — — — 1998–99 Chicago Wolves IHL 39 9 19 28 15 3 0 1 1 0 1998–99 Asheville Smoke UHL 32 28 42 70 29 — — — — — 1999–00 Chicago Wolves IHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1999–00 Asheville Smoke UHL 74 36 92 128 68 2 1 2 3 0 2000–01 Port Huron Border Cats UHL 9 0 8 8 18 — — — — — 2000–01 Fort Wayne Komets UHL 61 16 58 74 22 7 5 3 8 2 2001–02 Fort Wayne Komets UHL 73 21 55 76 35 — — — — — 2002–03 Port Huron Beacons UHL 45 31 29 60 12 3 3 0 3 2 2003–04 Port Huron Beacons UHL 61 43 38 81 10 9 4 13 17 26 2004–05 Danbury Trashers UHL 37 13 25 38 8 — — — — — 2005–06 Motor City Mechanics UHL 66 15 65 80 12 4 1 1 2 0 2005–06 Belleville Macs EOSHL 23 11 15 26 25 4 2 2 4 18 2006–07 Marmora Lakers EOSHL 18 7 23 30 8 5 4 4 8 2 2007–08 Brantford Blast MLH 2 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 1 4 2007–08 Marmora Lakers EOSHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2007–08 Brantford Blast AC — — — — — 5 1 4 5 2 IHL totals 280 70 120 190 179 31 8 5 13 14 UHL totals 458 203 412 615 214 25 14 19 33 30 NHL totals 13 1 3 4 2 — — — — —