Wayne Gretzky's wife Janet shares a throwback video of the hockey legend discussing his preparation and mindset for games

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet shared an excerpt from an old interview that captured his mental toughness and professional attitude. In the clip posted on Saturday, Gretzky explained how his father had a huge influence on the development of his mental approach to the sport.

“He never put undue pressure on me if he though I couldn’t succeed," Gretzky said. "If he thought I didn’t prepare and then I did fail he would be disappointed in me.

“He never got mad at me but his big thing. My dad’s biggest thing in life is he always used to say to me, ‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.’ He told me that when I was nine years old and I remember thinking wow, so true.”

Wayne Gretzky speaks about his mental approach to hockey. (Credit: Instagram/@janetgretzky)

Gretzky also recalled when he was 10 years old his father taught him the lesson of always being ready to give his all on the ice — a lesson that Gretzky never forgot.

He is widely considered to be the best hockey player of all time. Gretzky played in the NHL from 1979 to 1999 and still holds over 50 league records.

The original reel was shared by Instagram user @identity_shift_hockey, a mental and performance coach. He said that he shared the clip to teach young players a valuable lesson about mental preparedness and maintaining a winning mindset.

“Because what it means to TRULY prepare for games is changing…⁠Players are working on mechanics.⁠ They are working on the Mental Game⁠. They are refining their Hockey IQ⁠,” @identity_shift_hockey captioned.

He also invited comments and discussion on the issue from coaches, players and experts.

Wayne Gretzky would make a great governor of Canada, says Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday once again talked about the notion of making Canada the 51st US State. Speaking at a press conference held at his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago, Trump jokingly suggested that Gretzky would be his choice as Canada’s governor.

"I was with Wayne Gretzky (and) I said, 'Wayne, would you like to be the governor of Canada?’ Trump said, via C-SPAN. "I can't imagine anybody doing better than Wayne.

"Wayne was not too interested. But he probably would have liked statehood. He's a friend of mine. He's a great guy. He's the great one. We call him the great one, right? He's a great hockey player."

The Gretzky family’s close relationship with Trump has been in the spotlight recently. Wayne, Janet, their son Trevor, eldest daughter Paulina and her husband golfer Dustin Johnson attended a party Trump hosted at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 7, during election night.