"I've long admired Turner Sports' coverage of the NBA, among other sports, and I'm thrilled to be joining the studio team in their inaugural NHL season," Gretzky said. "This is an exciting opportunity to share my experiences and perspectives on the game I will always cherish, while hopefully informing and entertaining fans along the way."
Gretzky will provide analysis during key moments in the regular season and throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to the network.
He resigned from his role as a partner and vice chairman with the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. He worked in the front office for five seasons after joining Oilers Entertainment Group on Oct. 12, 2016.
Play-by-play commentator Kenny Albert and analyst Eddie Olczyk will call live games televised on TNT and TBS throughout the regular season and playoffs. Each works for NBC, the NHL's current United States TV rightsholder.
"Calling the NHL's biggest games, including the Stanley Cup Final, has been a lifelong dream since I was 5 years old," Albert said. "I look forward to this tremendous opportunity with Turner Sports and can't wait for the puck to drop on the 2021-22 season!
"Becoming a teammate of 'The Great One' and sharing the broadcast booth with Eddie Olczyk, one of the best analysts in all of sports and a longtime friend and colleague of mine, is the icing on the cake."
Albert is the only national broadcaster who has called hockey, football, basketball, baseball and boxing during more than 30 years in broadcasting. He's been the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Rangers since 1995.
Olczyk will be lead analyst for Turner Sports. He played 16 seasons in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1994. He was an analyst for the Pittsburgh Penguins, ESPN, ESPN2 and NHL Radio before coaching the Penguins from 2003-05. He returned to broadcasting in 2006 as lead analyst for NBC Sports and the Chicago Blackhawks.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Turner Sports family and its coverage of the NHL," Olczyk said. "I'm equally thrilled to be on the same team with The Great One for the first time in my career; that's just tremendously tremendous. Thanks to everyone at Turner Sports for all of their efforts in assembling this amazing team."
Gretzky stepped down one day after the Oilers were swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup First Round with a 4-3 triple overtime loss Monday. Edmonton (35-19-2) finished second in the seven-team Scotia North Division to qualify for the playoffs.
"The Oilers, their fans, and the city of Edmonton have meant the world to me and my family for over four decades, and that will never end," Gretzky wrote on Twitter. "Given the pandemic and other life changes, I realize I will not be able to dedicate the time nor effort needed to support this world-class organization."
Gretzky played his first nine NHL seasons for the Oilers, helping them win the Stanley Cup four times, before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988. He retired April 18, 1999, after 20 NHL seasons with the Oilers, Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, as a 10-time Art Ross Trophy winner given to the leading scorer in the NHL, a nine-time recipient of the Hart Trophy voted as NHL most valuable player and two-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as MVP of the playoffs.
Gretzky's No. 99 was retired throughout the NHL prior to the 2000 All-Star Game. He holds or shares 61 NHL records, and is its leading scorer with 2,857 points (894 goals, 1,963 assists). He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 22, 1999.
The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement April 27 that will have regular-season and postseason games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28. It will televise all games in the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027, one conference final series each season, and half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, plus 72 regular-season games per season including the NHL Winter Classic, the annual New Year's Day outdoor game, in each of the seven seasons of the deal.
