It was almost four decades ago that hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky was in Connor McDavid’s skates: The child prodigy making the move to play with the big boys in the NHL.
Yet the parallels are still there. The media spotlight. The fans’ hopes. The comparisons to previous stars. The questions about whether he’ll cut it.
“I remember them comparing me to Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy, then there was another kid who came along named Mario (Lemieux). Then it was Crosby,” Gretzky reminisced this week while in Edmonton shooting a TV commercial.
“Before you blink, they’re comparing some new 18-year-old to you,” the former Edmonton Oilers star added.