Gretzky Worth Every Penny

Wayne Gretzky — as he promised when he arrived five years ago — has truly made Southern California mad about hockey.

Babe Ruth, I always thought, came to the New York Yankees with the World Series trophy attached. I figured it was a package deal from the Red Sox: $125,000 cash and a $300,000 loan to Boston owner Harry Frazee in exchange for a bunch of world championships.

But that's not quite the case. It actually took The Babe four years to deliver his first championship to New York.

In basketball, Wilt Chamberlain did not come to the Los Angeles Lakers from Philadelphia with the NBA title in his duffel bag. It took The Big Dipper five years to make The Big Trade produce The Big Win.

And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it might surprise you, took even longer. That blockbuster deal-to-end-all-basketball-deals which sent Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Junior Bridgeman to Milwaukee didn't result in uncorked champaign in LA for six years.

Which brings us to Hockey's Trade of the Century, the 1988 deal that imported Wayne Gretzky to LA from Edmonton. Instead of going for their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup five years later, the Kings are currently in the finals gunning for their first.

In other words, as blockbuster trades go, this one is right about on schedule.

Many Kings fans, of course, expected an annual invitation to the Cup finals with Gretzky's arrival. They thought Gretzky, like Ruth and Wilt and Kareem, came with the world championship attached.

I mean, didn't Gretzky tuck his hockey sweater into his right hip pad to keep the keys to the cabinet that housed the Stanley Cup from falling out?

Indeed, Kings owner Bruce McNall wasn't buying a player, he was buying the Stanley Cup. After all, four times in the previous five years before The Trade of the Century, Gretzky had delivered the goods to Edmonton.

It figured, then, that this was as straightforward a transaction as buying a rare coin or a Honus Wagner baseball card. If McNall wanted the world's most-expensive punch bowl, he simply had made the highest bid on the one-of-a-kind item No. 99.

It seemed McNall's biggest worry would be borrowing wall space at the Forum from Jerry Buss to hang all the NHL championship banners that were going to be arriving.

Gretzky cost McNall exactly the same as the United States paid France in the Louisiana Purchase — $15 million. He expected the same sort of bargain.

And why not? The record book suggests the entry “Wayne Gretzky” is either a fictional character or else he's really two players. There is simply no way one single player could hold so many records. It's as though the printing press had a stutter: Gretzky, Gretzky, Gretzky, Gretzky ….

Most career points, most career goals, most career assists. Most single-season this, most playoff that. Most hat tricks — single season, career and playoff — while blindfolded.

Gretzky won so many awards he needed three trophy rooms to store them. He all but retired the MVP award, winning it nine times. He was the scoring champ seven years in a row.

Gretzky was so dominating and so consistent that when he didn't score a hat trick (three goals in a game) he was considered to be in a slump almost. Doctors would immediately check his blood pressure and temperature to make sure he wasn't ill.

Well, Gretzky found out what a real slump is this winter. A slump is when you can't sit up straight because of the knifing pain in your back. It's when you can't pick up your newborn baby, never mind carry a hockey team on your back. Thoracic nerve damage is a real slump.

To be sure, Wayne Gretzky's great career seemed in jeopardy this January when he went 16 games without scoring, the longest such stretch of his life. It was like DiMaggio going 16 games without a hit.

Understand, Gretzky used to be able to score a goal a night using a broken broom handle. Suddenly, The Great One was being called The Mediocre One.

Fast forward a few months. Wayne Gretzky is not The Washed Up One after all. His back is healthy and he's got the Kings over his shoulder in the fireman's carry.

Yes, Babe Ruth has the Yankees in position to win the championship, so to speak. After five years, Gretzky has the Kings in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in the franchise's history.

To be sure, Gretzky is doing Babe Ruth things again. He has 14 goals and 22 assists in 20 playoff games this year. He is again Midas on skates. Or Magic. Or Bird. Or Jordan. Or Montana. Greatness. Take your pick.

The Kings are no longer laughingstocks in purple-and-gold sweaters. Rather, they are a Murderers' Row on ice in black and white. Ice Gretzky and his supporting cast.

The Kings used to go on vacation in April. Now here they are unbelievably playing in June. LA's Boys of Summer on ice.

The Kings won round one of the Cup finals 4-1 Tuesday.

It's a best-of-seven series, granted, but Hockey's All-Time Blockbuster Trade of the Century suddenly looks ready to pay off big time in a Babe Ruth way.

Actually, it already has. Win or lose the championship, Wayne Gretzky — as he promised when he arrived five years ago — has truly made Southern California mad about hockey. The Sultan of Slapshots belongs in pinstripes.

By WOODY WOODBURN Scripps Howard News Service