When Wayne Gretzky met his future wife Janet Jones at a Lakers game

Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones is one of the most iconic celebrity couples in the world. The story of how they met is just as fascinating as their enduring marriage. In a classic case of ‘Sports meets Hollywood’, Gretzky and Jones first met on the set of Merv Griffin’s TV program Dance Fever. However, it wasn't until a few years later that they started dating, and it all began at a Lakers game.

It was 1987 when Wayne Gretzky and Janet Jones ran into each other again at a Los Angeles Lakers game. The encounter would mark the official start of their love story. After the game, the two had dinner together. Jones later said,

“We’ve never been apart since.”

Despite their undeniable chemistry, Gretzky and Jones were both in relationships with other people at the time. From 1985 to 1987, Jones was in a relationship with tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis, while Gretzky was in a relationship with Vicky Moss. While the two would have brief run-ins from time to time, neither was available to date, and they were simply left as fleeting encounters.

However, they would cross paths again at the Lakers game, and this time, they were both single. From that moment on, they were inseparable.

The following year, Wayne Gretzky proposed to Jones over the phone. She said yes and they got married in a lavish ceremony at St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton. The Canadian press dubbed the event “The Royal Wedding”. While it was not an event at Buckingham Palace in London, the glamor, hype, and celebrity status attached to the wedding made it no less than a royal one for all Canadians.

Interestingly, Jones was four months pregnant with their first child, Paulina, at the time of their wedding. Nonetheless, she wore a glittering $30,000 gown to the event.

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Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet Jones was severely injured during a hockey game

In 1997, Wayne Gretzky's wife, Janet Jones, was struck by a shattered Plexiglas pane during a hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks. The game was poised to be a historic one for Wayne, but it quickly turned into a nightmare as his wife was taken away in an ambulance from Madison Square Garden.

The pane hit two unidentified women and Jones, knocking her unconscious and causing a cut on her lower lip. Medical personnel quickly responded to the incident and Jones was eventually stabilized. It was a scary moment for Gretzky and his family, but thankfully, Jones made a full recovery.