Wayne Gretzky: My grandfather was Russian—he'd be really happy that a Russian broke my record.

The great Canadian hockey player said this back in April, just before the Washington Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin broke Gretzky's long-standing record of 894 goals in the National Hockey League.

More recently, on November 5th, Alex Ovechkin scored his 900th career goal, making him the first player in NHL history to reach that milestone.

"Happy for Alex. My grandfather was Russian, he'd be really happy that a Russian broke my record. So, good for Alex.,"

Gretzky told The New York Times in April.

Wayne Gretzky's grandfather—Terentiy Gretzky—was born in 1892 in the village of Ogdemer, Grodno Province of the Russian Empire (now in the Grodno region of Belarus). He emigrated to Canada at the beginning of the 20th century. It is interesting to note that Terentiy Gretzky himself, when asked if he was Russian, would usually answer: "No, I am Belarusian." This fact is cited in many publications.

📷The photos feature Wayne Gretzky with Vladislav Tretiak in the 1980s and with Alexander Ovechkin today.

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