Wayne Gretzky always claimed he became the player he would turn into “right in my own backyard,” stickhandling pucks around Javex bottles his father, Walter, would set up in the Brantford, Ont., outdoor rink the five Gretzky kids all called “Wally’s Coliseum.” In Victoriaville, Que., it was the “Béliveau Forum,” where young Jean learned to stickhandle, Arthur Béliveau building the rink and his wife Laurette laying industrial-strength linoleum under the kitchen table so Jean could keep his skates on while eating.