The Not-As-Great One - hockey player Wayne Gretzky's brother, Brent Gretzky

Hockey Digest, May, 2001 by Paul Post

Brent Gretzky knows he never will approach the career of his superstar brother, but an immense love of the game keeps him out on the ice plugging away

ONLY 11 YEARS SEPARATE Wayne Gretzky from his brother, 29-year-old Brent. But on the ice, the careers of the the most prolific scorer in NHL history and the forward for the United Hockey League's Fort Wayne Komets are virtually light years apart.

However, the two brothers do share something besides a name. They both have a burning love for the game--a love that was forged by strong family roots that placed a high priority on unity, respect, and most of all, winning.

"We're not even allowed to play Monopoly in the house," Brent says. "That's a true story. We're not allowed to play any type of board games, cards, or anything because we all want to win so bad. It doesn't matter who it is ... we'll cheat, we'll steal from the bank, whatever it takes to win, that's our concept."

Gretzky might sound like a hockey bad boy, the kind of player you might expect to lead the league in penalty minutes. In reality, though, this eight-year pro, who had a 13-game cup of coffee with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the mid-'90s, plays with Wayne's style and takes a back seat to no one at the UHL level when it comes to racking up points.

At Asheville last year, where another Gretzky brother, Keith, coached the Smoke, Brent's league-high 92 assists and 36 goals gave him the UHL's scoring title. Brent is among the league's assist leaders again this year, and is approaching the 600-point mark in career scoring.

The Gretzky boys (Brent, Wayne, 34-year-old Keith, and 31-year old Glenn) might be competitive, but Brent says their father, Walter, was equally proud of all their achievements. "It's not just Wayne's medals or trophies downstairs, it's everybody that did something in our family," Brent points out. "[Dad] cherishes all the stuff, whether it's my sister's running medals or my sticks and gloves. That's how it's always been. It's a great feeling to know he cares."

Brent was barely old enough to skate when Wayne left the Gretzky family's Brantford, Ontario, home to begin his meteoric rise to NHL stardom. Still, the brothers maintain close ties.

"We have a great relationship, as best as we can with him moving away at such an early age and living far away all my life," Brent says. "The chances we do get together, whether it's golf or his softball and tennis tournaments, we cherish and have a lot of fun.

"We don't really talk about hockey that much. As far as him helping me on the ice, he didn't help me on the ice. It was all my dad."

But Wayne's influence was always there. "I was probably nine or 10 when I realized Wayne was a star," Brent says. "I remember watching him when he was in Edmonton. We got my dad a satellite so we could watch him play."

Of course that led to comparisons and great expectations for the rest of the Gretzky brothers. Brent could retire independently wealthy if he had a dollar for each time he's been referred to as Wayne Gretzky's brother.

"I think it's unbelievable that Brent's still playing," says ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose, Wayne's coach with the Los Angeles Kings. "That shows how much he loves the sport. No one knows what he went through."

"Anyone who knows hockey knows there's a lot of trash talk going on out on the ice and it's cruel," he says. "He's taken it over the years, being Wayne's brother, and it's just a tribute to him that he loves the sport enough that he went through all that in order to keep playing."

Brent downplays any hardships his famous last name might have presented. "I wanted to be like Wayne for sure," he admits. "As far as people comparing me and my other brothers to Wayne, that's something we grew up with right away. I didn't really feel the pressure, but I knew there were comparisons.

"Whether it's me or my brothers, there's never going to be another Wayne Gretzky."

Maybe not, but Melrose gives credit where it's due.

"I've watched Brent play. He plays a lot like Wayne. He looks like Wayne. [He's] very skilled. He sees the ice very well, he's got great vision. He's not overly big, not a great skater, not a great shot, but he leads the league in scoring every year," Melrose says.

Hugo Belanger of the Adirondack IceHawks was Gretzky's teammate on the East Coast Hockey League's Pensacola Ice Pilots four years ago. "Out of all his brothers I think he's the one who resembles Wayne the most on the ice," Belanger says. "He's a great passer, he's at home behind the net. He kind of plays like Wayne. He's an awesome player."

Brent was drafted by Tampa Bay in the third round of the 1992 draft and scored 20 goals with the Atlanta Knights as an International Hockey League rookie in 1992-93. During the next two seasons, he played 13 NHL games, recording his one and only goal against the Quebec Nordiques.

The brothers had only one chance to meet in head-to-head NHL competition. The setting was St. Petersburg's ThunderDome with about 25,000 people on hand. For once in the franchise's history, lightning truly filled the air.