Wayne Gretzky went from a talented kid that took his first strides on the rink his dad made for him in the backyard, to one of the greatest athletes in the history of professional sports. Notice that I said any sport, not only one of the greatest in hockey.

Since he was quite small as a kid and never really grow enough to look like a hockey player, Wayne relied on his smartness. He became a decent skater, but what separated him from the crowd was his ability to look one step ahead of everyone else. It didn't even help that many opponents put two guys on him as shadows.

Wayne was just too smart for them. If someone rimmed the puck along the board, Wayne was in the other corner to pick up the puck before anyone else even had understood that the puck was going there.

During his career he reached more highs than any other player in the history of the National Hockey League and even today fans can celebrate Wayne Gretzky's achievements with a wide variety of merchandise. You can find everything from the early Edmonton Oilers home and road jerseys to framed photographs of the Great One.

Wayne Gretzky began producing point from the day he first set his foot on a NHL ice and he has given hockey fans from around the world so much to cheer about over the years.

But how does a player become this great?

My answer to that question isn't that he was more skilled that others (even though he was). If I am to point out one single attribute that made him stand out from the crowd, I would say he reached such success because he was more competitive than the rest of the guys.

You can take any sport, not only ice hockey. The players that become legends are always the ones that are more competitive than the rest.

Wayne Gretzky was one of these guys, he just hated to lose and put a lot of pressure upon him in order accomplish great things out on the ice. And accomplished he did. Big time.

As people saw that he could deliver on a consistent basis and win games and rings to his club, his popularity grew proportionally and it's still unmatched in the NHL.

Today the sheer amount of Wayne Gretzky merchandise available is correlated to this popularity. Fans who want to look like the famous hockey player can find signed jerseys, sticks and photos as well as other Wayne Gretzky merchandise.

While buying any of his original jerseys is expensive, fans can always buy a nice replica jersey with his name on the back. And I think most people agree that having a replica Gretzky hockey jersey is better than not having a Gretzky jersey at all.