NHL Celebrates Its Centennial Celebration With "The Great One"
- Hannah Furniss
- Sep 28, 2016
- 1 min read
Number 99 is scheduled to represent the NHL's hundred year anniversary in January 2017.
On Tuesday, the NHL publicly announced that Wayne Gretzky will act as the face of professional hockey's triple-digit birthday. As the most decorated hockey player of all time, the league could not be more thrilled to have Gretzky attend the various celebratory events the NHL has planned during the upcoming year.
According to NHL's official website, NHL's commissioner Gary Bettman was quoted at the Centennial announcement on Tuesday: "A century of great players, great plays and great moments deserves a year-long celebration, and we invite everyone to join our party in 2017."
The commissioner similarly represents the league's enthusiasm in their choice of ambassador. "There’s simply no way to measure [Gretzky's] intangible contribution to our league and our sport." Humbly, Gretzky considers himself one of hockey's biggest fans, stating at the Centennial press conference that he "owes just about everything in his life now to the sport."
On January 1st, The NHL Centennial Classic kicks off with The The Detroit Red Wings facing the Toronto Maple Leafs in an outdoor arena at BMO field. Later in the month, the top 100 players of all time will be honored--Gretzky undoubtably among them as the league's all-time leading scorer.
Throughout the year, the league plans to continue their celebration with events across North America. The sequence of scheduled events--both confirmed and tentative--are available on NHL's official website.
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