Gretzky: Howe the greatest hockey player who ever played

Wayne Gretzky is The Great One, but he believes Gordie Howe was the greatest.

"He was a special person, he was a great ambassador for the game of hockey, he was a great father and great grandfather," Gretzky said on The Dan Patrick Show on Friday.

"To me, he was the greatest hockey player who ever played."

Gretzky recalled meeting his idol for the first time, admitting such an experience can be disappointing, but said Howe couldn't have made a better impression.

"The first time I met him, I was 10 years old, and my dad said to me, 'How was it meeting Mr. Howe?' and I said, 'It was the greatest day of my life.'"

Gretzky compared Howe's legacy to that of another iconic athlete who recently died.

"He went on to do so many great things for so many people and he's going to be sorely missed, as (Muhammad) Ali (was). They're special athletes who were special people and you just don't replace them, so it's a sad day not only for the hockey world but the Howe family, because he was a special man."

Gretzky was inexorably linked to Howe throughout his career, and he passed him on the all-time goal-scoring list in 1989.

Mr. Hockey still holds the record for games played, appearing in 1,767 NHL contests over five decades.

Gretzky later added to his sentiments on Twitter.