Gretzky admits he has had Gordie on his mind

Sporting News, The, March 7, 1994 by Larry Wigge

Since netting his 780th goal, Wayne Gretzky has saved every stick he has used to score. he plans to place them on a wall in his Toronto restaurant. That's how much breaking Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals means to Gretzky.

Gretzky holds single-season NHL records with 92 goals and 215 point--along with 58 other records. Breaking records has been Gretzky's life, but smashing a Gordie Howe record is especially important to the Great One because Howe has always been his hero.

"Each game I think about it," Gretzky says. "I normally don't think about records until I get close, but this one has been on my mind for a long time."

Gretzky was four goals short of the record entering this week, with games Monday against Montreal, Wednesday in Hartford, Thursday in Boston and Sunday in Chicago.

If you're looking for irony, the Chicago game would be the one because Gretzky's first NHL game came in venerable Chicago Stadium four days before he scored his first goal. But when Gretzky gets a sniff of a record, he usually glides into high gear and smashes the record in dramatic fashion. For instance, he returned to Edmonton to break Howe's record of 1,850 points on a goal with 53 seconds left in regulation, then won it for the Kings, 5-4, with another goal 3:24 into overtime.

It seems like yesterday that he brought his magic to the NHL with his first goal. It was against Vancouver's Glen Hanlon on October 14, 1979, at Edmonton.

Gretzky from Brett Callighen and Blair MacDonald.

It gave the Oilers a 4-4 tie with 69 seconds left. But then, important goals have been a Gretzky trademark. He has scored 78 winning goals, 20 tying goals, 72 shorthanded goals, 178 power-play goals and the first goal of a game 71 times.

Still Gretzky thinks Howe was the best, even though he will break in 15 seasons Gordie's record, which took 26 seasons to set.

"There should be an asterisk next to this record," he says. "If Gordie were playing today, he would have about 1,100 goals because of his size and power and with the way the game has become more offensive."

Howe has always been bigger than life for Gretzky.

"My best Christmas ever, I was 5 years old and my dad--I mean Santa Claus--brought me a Gordie Howe sweater," Gretzky says. "I wouldn't take it off, even though it itched like crazy."

He had to have a Gordie Howe haircut, too.

"I told the barber to scoop it back here, then scoop it back there, but the barber said he couldn't do it," Gretzky says. "The barber was my father."

Don't expect Gretzky to quit going for records after he breaks this one. He no longer talks about retiring, as he did after the Stanley Cup finals last spring. In fact, he has two years left on a three-year, $25.5-million contract, which he plans to fulfill.

"I was figuring a little while back that if I get 50 more assists this season I would be 170 away from 1,850," he says, thinking about getting as many assists as Howe had points, believe it or not. "I think that's reachable, just like I think 900 goals is possible."

The guy who wears two 9s on his jersey may not have started out to be twice as good as Gordie Howe, but he is.