Great One Now A Very Good One Gretzky Proves Doubters Wrong With Solid Season

It is probably healthy for Wayne Gretzky that he and his New York Rangers visit the Blackhawks here this afternoon instead of at night, when he might need to drift off into a deep sleep.

This happens when you’re old and decrepit. As it is, critics would suggest that all the props be available for Gretzky at the United Center, just in case. A wheelchair, a water bottle stocked with Geritol, a respirator.

These same Gretzky bashers will tell you they told you so. He has nary a goal in 18 consecutive games, the longest pause of his career. He’s 0-for-1997, a shell of his magnificent self, age 36 and looking like 46.

Those are the hollow headlines, anyway. And then there’s the truth.

The Great One is sticking it to his doubters, and right where it hurts. He is still third in the NHL scoring race, the Rangers are a force, and No. 99 may yet win another Stanley Cup.

How annoying that would be for all those mopes who buried Gretzky. Recall September, when the American team took a 3-2 lead in the deciding game of the World Cup. Shortly thereafter, Gretzky had a glorious chance to tie matters from in close, but he bungled it.

After a stunning upset, a few members at the U.S. victory party cackled about Gretzky’s missed opportunity, and pundits from his native land chimed in, too. He had outlived his usefulness and was ready for prime time no more.

These same windbags then stretched hypocrisy to its outer limits. When Gretzky mused that he might not wish to join the NHL at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, he was harpooned again. How dare he turn his back on his country.

It was almost as though it’s their fault that Gretzky and Mark Messier, in their dotage, are still Canada’s leading horses. Never mind that when these two legends are eligible, Hockey’s Hall of Fame will require a new wing.

Gretzky made the merger with the World Hockey Association work, Gretzky has made the NHL what it is. All those million-dollar players who toil with a backdrop of cacti in Arizona and palm trees in Florida should bow to him.