Wayne Gretzky 'Has Nothing But Faith In Peyton'
DENVER (CBS4) - Wayne Gretzky is impressed with the coaching performance so far by Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche, but the hockey great also was interested in talking about the Broncos in an appearance in Denver on Wednesday.
Gretzky appeared at the Cherry Creek Mall in a promotional event. He said he spends lots of time during the offseason with Broncos general manager John Elway and has some inside knowledge about the state of the team.
"(Elway) has nothing but faith in Peyton. And I still think that they're going to have a successful year," Gretzky said. "Peyton is the one guy that's going to have to look in the mirror and say 'Okay, am I done or not done,' and it's going to have to come down to his decision."
Gretzky said when players ask him about when the time is to retire, he said his advice is "Play as long as you can. Make them rip the jersey off your back."
"You only get to do it one time," Gretzky said.
But with Peyton Manning, Gretzy said the quarterback will know when is the right time to leave the game.
When it comes to Roy and Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic, Gretzy said he feels the team has a good core of people running the organization, and that filters down to the players.
"The passion and the dedication they have to make this team better makes those guys become better players," Gretzky said. "It's exciting to watch."
