Great One played hard in every game but one

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aaron vincent elkaim / the canadian press Wayne Gretzky received the Order of Hockey in Canada on Monday. (CP)

TORONTO -- As he received yet another award honouring his career, Wayne Gretzky said he had no regrets about leaving hockey.

No, he isn't returning to the sport he conquered -- not now, anyway. Instead, Gretzky was content to say he did all he could for the sport during his career.

He recounted his last game as a 10-year-old when his team was beaten 8-1 to cap a season he scored 400 goals.

"On the car ride home my dad asked me if I was OK and I said, 'Yeah, I'm fine.' And he said, 'Well, you ruined your whole year ... people are going to come and watch you play. You have to play hard every night,"' said Gretzky.

After that, Gretzky said he tried to play hard whether he was in an exhibition game or in the Stanley Cup final.

"I had a lot of bad games like every other player, because you can't play well every single night. But I know I tried hard every game."

The Great One was one of five people to receive the inaugural Order of Hockey In Canada on Monday for being an individual who made a significant impact on the sport in the country.

Gretzky was joined by Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who captained Canada's women's team to a pair of Olympic gold medals.

Campbell-Pascall said the award showed "a tremendous amount of legitimacy and respect for our sport of female hockey."

Gord Renwick, who helped establish what is now known as Hockey Canada and spent two decades as a board member with the International Ice Hockey Federation, was also honoured.

Hockey legends Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe were also given the award, although neither were present.

Gretzky, Campbell-Pascall and Renwick were surrounded on stage by members of Canada's under-18 women's team and the senior women's team. Both teams were awarded rings for capturing gold at the world championships.

Future classes will include just three people honoured annually for the award, which is voted on by a 12-member selection committee.

"For us to be the first ones, it's a great honour," said Gretzky. "Everyone's tickled to be here and be part of this. This is a wonderful night for all of us."

Gretzky retired from the NHL in 1999 after a long career that included four Stanley Cups and later an Olympic gold medal as manager of Canada's men's team at the 2002 Winter Games.

But he was still thrilled to share his latest award with Beliveau and Howe, two of his childhood heroes.

Gretzky said he was home Sunday visiting his father when he found one of the few pictures he has of meeting Beliveau.

"So I brought it up to show my son and I think my dad thought somebody was stealing it. He immediately took it back downstairs and put it back," said Gretzky.

He added that a return to hockey "isn't in the cards."

But that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.

"Everything I have in my life is because of hockey and everything I have in my life is because of the National Hockey League," he said. "It's the greatest game in the world."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 26, 2012 D2