THE Great One played with eyes in the back of his head.
He'd never skate to where the puck was, he'd skate to where the puck was going to be. 
So you ask the world's greatest ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, whom Sports -Illustrated labelled the most dominant athlete of any sport ever, if he can see a day when Australians spend their weekend watching ice hockey?
"I can see our game is growing, it's expanding, it's getting bigger and so there's no question in my mind that I can see games being played in Australia," Gretzky said.
"It's baby steps. You're not going to change the culture in one day. You know what the favourite sports for Australians are and you're never going to overtake that.
"The LA Kings in LA, there's a way for them to be successful, but they're never going to be the LA Lakers or the LA Dodgers because those sports have been there for -hundreds of years.
"You have to understand the artistry of our sport and the beauty of it is what sells it." And sell it Gretzky will when he arrives in Sydney for the first time in   June to promote the Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey Classic.
The sporting coup from Destination NSW will pit arch-rivals the USA and Canada in a series of matches across the country.
Sydney's All Phones Arena is set to showcase some of the world's best players from the National Hockey League on   June 25.
Gretzky, 55, who held or broke 60 NHL records during his career, will spend four days visiting the Harbour City.
"I don't know a lot about Australia. I know of Mick (Crocodile) Dundee," he said.
"One of my best friends is from Perth and I'm going to try and learn as much as I can from him about the country."Shane Warne I know is a great athlete in Australian -history for his sport."