Keith Gretzky
Born (1967-02-16) February 16, 1967
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 157 lb (71 kg; 11 st 3 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Flint Spirits
Rochester Americans
Imatran Ketterä
Phoenix Roadrunners
Ayr Raiders
Winston-Salem Thunderbirds
San Diego Gulls
NHL Draft 56th overall, 1985
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 1987–1993

Keith Edward Gretzky (born February 16, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey executive and former player who served as interim general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, from January 23 to May 7, 2019. He is a brother of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

Playing and coaching career

Keith, Wayne and Brent were taught hockey by their father, Walter. He had a moderately successful career in the OHL with the Brantford Alexanders, Windsor Spitfires, Belleville Bulls, and Hamilton Steelhawks, His best season as a player came in 1986–87 when he recorded 35 goals, 66 assists for 101 points in 64 games with Belleville and Hamilton. In 298 OHL games, he collected 113 goals, 222 assists and 335 points.

Keith was taken in the 3rd round (56th overall) of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. Though he attended two training camps and played in several pre-season games, he never played a regular season game for the Sabres.[1] Gretzky played five seasons in the International Hockey League with the Flint Spirits, San Diego Gulls and the Phoenix Roadrunners (28 goals, 51 assists, and 79 points in 132 games) and two seasons in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans (11 goals, 37 assists, 48 points in 66 games). Gretzky also played one season in the East Coast Hockey League with the Winston-Salem Thunderbirds. He then played two seasons in Europe with Ketterä in Finland's I-Divisioona, and the Ayr Raiders in the British Hockey League.

After retiring from professional hockey in 1993, Gretzky turned to coaching and began his career behind the bench with the Tri-City Americans (WHL) as an assistant coach. After one season with Tri-City, he moved to Bakersfield where he became the head coach of the WCHL's Fog. Gretzky coached three seasons with the Fog (1995–1998) before leaving to coach the Asheville Smoke of the UHL for two seasons (1998–2000). He coached his brother Brent with the Smoke. He was also general manager of the Smoke.

Gretzky joined the Phoenix Coyotes as a scout in 2001, then was promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting for the Coyotes on July 12, 2006, after serving the previous five seasons as an amateur scout for both the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League. In 2013, he joined the Boston Bruins organization as an amateur scout, and in August 2013 was appointed the Director of Amateur Scouting for the Bruins.[2][3]

On August 2, 2016, Gretzky was hired by the Edmonton Oilers as assistant general manager.[4] On January 23, 2019, Gretzky was made interim General Manager (GM) of the Edmonton Oilers, subsequent to the firing of former general manager Peter Chiarelli from the position. The team went 12-14-6 during his interim stint. He served in the position until May 7, 2019, when Ken Holland was appointed GM, and returned to the position of assistant general manager afterwards.[5][6]

Gretzky appeared in two 1981 7 Up commercials with his brother Wayne. Keith had the punchline in one ad: "I taught him everything he knows".[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Keith Gretzky - Director of Amateur Scouting". Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  2. ↑ Joe McDonald (August 20, 2013). "Boston Bruins promote Keith Gretzky". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  3. ↑ "Boston Bruins promote Keith Gretzky, Wayne's brother, to amateur scouting director". Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Keith Gretzky named Oilers assistant GM". NHL.com. August 2, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Edmonton Names Ken Holland as GM, President of Hockey Ops" The Associated Press via The New York Times, May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  6. ↑ "BLOG: Keith Gretzky remaining with Oilers". 12 October 2023.
  7. ↑ McSween, Steve. "Getting to Know the Gretzky's". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
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