UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE: The Great No. 99 hangs it up in '99 (04/25/99)

UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE

by Ihor Stelmach

The Great No. 99 hangs it up in '99

It was perhaps apt and quite apropos, maybe even a desirable date with destiny, that No. 99 decided to hang 'em up in the year 1999. National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman promptly announced - at Wayne Gretzky's final game, a Rangers' home game against the Pittsbugh Penguins - that No. 99 would never, ever, be worn again by any NHL player.

At age 38, Gretzky has played hockey for 35 years, since the age of 3. Twenty-one of those were as a professional: most notably with the Edmonton Oilers, but also with the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues (briefly) and, for the past three years, the New York Rangers. During that time he scored 894 career goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points, played in 1,487 games in 20 seasons and was on four Stanley Cup-winning teams.

He is the third member of the hallowed hockey trinity that includes two other all-time hockey greats, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.

Yes, Wayne Gretzky (for all those who still doubt his Ukrainian background, he is Ukrainian on his father's side ...) left the ranks of the NHL as of Sunday, April 18. And, the send-off by colleagues, fans, the media and others - including the Canadian prime minister as seen in the message below - was phenomenal, to quote The New York Times: "The Great Goodbye."

* * *

For a while, though, it looked to be about 99 percent certain that No. 99 would still be with us beyond '99.

Several months back Wayne Gretzky told The Hockey News: "I see no reason not to (continue playing into the year 2000). I'm having so much more fun this season than last year's (non-playoff season). The team has done such a nice job of acquiring some talent and depth. I'm still finding it really enjoyable coming to the rink." However, these words were spoken several months prior to Gretzky's neck disk protrusion injury, which sidelined him for a dozen or so games.

* * *

Hockey's Great One has always had a fascination with numbers - and not just the ones on his back. Favorite numerals include 215, 92, 50 in 39, 802, 1,851 ... and the list goes on. He has forced us to become numerologists of some sorts because no athlete has statistically dominated his game like Gretzky has his beloved game of pucks.

"Hey, my dad just told me this," Gretzky went on to say. "The first goal I ever scored was at 18:51 of the first period, 18:51, can you believe that?"

Oh, yeah!

This number is very significant, of course, because it was his 1,851st point on October 15, 1989, - one more than Gordie Howe had in his NHL career - that made Gretzky the league's career scoring leader. Gretzky's numbers are truly magical, and he sees magic in them.

If Gretzky had played in every game in the current 1998-1999 season (he obviously won't), as he managed to do for the past two seasons, he would have moved into the No. 4 spot in career games played. The number? Why, 1,499, of course.

To take this even further and as an aside: if he had played in all 82 games this year and the season (1999-2000), it would have given him 1,581, second only to Mr. Hockey (Howe). Did we say 1,581? An eerie reconfiguration of 1,851, no?

Coincidence? Not for a guy who has always been "dressed to the nines." And none of his numbers have been more karmic than the ones he wears on his back.

Why should we be surprised? Number 9 has traditionally been a special one in hockey. The pantheon of greats who have worn it include Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull. Lest we forget Charlie Conacher, Teeder Kennedy, Johnny (The Ukrainian Chief) Bucyk, Clark Gillies and Lanny McDonald. Today, Anaheim's Paul Kariya is the standard bearer for the game's second-most special number. Gretzky has made No. 99 into its first.

While many players will wear No. 9 as a tribute to one of the greats such as Richard, Hull or Howe, you don't see anyone in the NHL, or just about anywhere else, save kids' hockey, donning No. 99.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but no one wants to attract the kind of attention that comes with No. 99. No one understands that better than Gretzky, who was, at first, reluctant to take "a hot-doggish number." As a kid, No. 9 was always Gretzky's number.

"It was," he said, "for Gordie."

But it wasn't his first number in hockey.

"I was 6 and I made the (10-year-old) traveling team (in Brantford)," Gretzky said. "There was this really good player on the team, I think his name was Brian Queley, and he wore No. 9. I took No. 11. I didn't play more than two shifts a game that year. The next year, Brian moved up and I got my No. 9. I wore it all the way through after that."

He wore it when he played lacrosse. And baseball, too, though Gretzky remembers there was a season or two when as a young pitcher he wore No. 1.

Gretzky was a 9 until he joined the Soo Greyhounds as a 16-year-old. No. 9 wasn't available, because it was being worn by Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, native Brian Gualazzi.

"I always wore No. 9," said Gualazzi, now an assistant crown attorney in the Sault. "I didn't wear it because of Howe or Hull or any of those guys. I wore it because I was born on November 9."

And when Gualazzi joined the hometown Hounds as rookie, he couldn't have it. Veteran Tim Coulis was wearing it. When Coulis left, Gualazzi snapped it up and was wearing it when rookie Gretzky arrived on the scene. The rest of the story has become hockey lore.

Gretzky wore No. 14 in training camp. Greyhound coach Muzz MacPherson suggested he switch to No. 19, which he did to start the 1977-1978 regular season.

"It was a few weeks into the season when Muzz and Angelo (Bumbacco, the Greyhounds' GM) came to me and suggested I wear two nines," Gretzky said. "Phil Esposito was wearing No. 77 at the time, so double-digit numbers were being worn. At first, I said, 'No, that's too hot-doggish.' But they convinced me to wear it."

The Minnesota North Star draftee, who was recruited by Pierre Page for Dalhousie University, remembers it well. "No one ever asked me to give (No. 9) up," Gualazzi said. "Not that I would have. It was no issue. I was a veteran and Wayne was a rookie."

Gualazzi enjoyed his one season with Gretzky - they ended up on the same line in the playoffs - but Gualazzi flourished as a junior player the next season (Gretzky's first in the WHA) when he scored a then-franchise record 75 goals.

After kicking around briefly in the minors, Gualazzi put his efforts into getting a law degree. He moved back home and right into the crown attorney's office. Beyond his hockey-playing days, the No. 9 hasn't held any special significance, though he still wears it when he plays pick-up hockey or with the Greyhound alumni team. "They kept (No. 9) for me," Gualazzi said.

When Gretzky joined the WHA Edmonton Oilers early in 1978-1979, GM-Coach Glen Sather gave him the opportunity to discard No. 99. The late Bill Goldsworthy even offered to give up No. 9 if Gretzky wanted it.

"That was nice of 'Goldy,'" Gretzky said. "And 'Slats' said he was just trying to take the pressure off me. But I told him, 'I don't think it will matter much.' I knew then No. 99 would be my number."

It has become a trademark of sorts. No. 99 figures prominently in the logo for his Toronto restaurant, the address of which was legally petitioned to be changed to 99 Blue Jay Way. The number and Gretzky have become synonymous.

A numerologist could have a field day with Gretzky. Numerology, not unlike astrology, can be manipulated to say just about anything you want. For what it's worth, Gretzky's full name (Wayne Douglas) gives him in numerology what's called a "destiny" number of nine. Nines are generally regarded as multi-talented, compassionate and global.

One wonders what might have unfolded for Gretzky if he hadn't resisted his urge to change numbers after Howe's retirement.

"When Gordie retired there for a while and Gilbert Perreault came on the scene, I was tempted to go back to No. 11," Gretzky said. "I told my dad, 'I should have kept 11.' For kids of my era, No. 11 was a cool number because of Perreault. There have always been numbers more special than others - nine because of Gordie, four because of Beliveau and Orr, and seven because of Espo."

And now 99, because of you know who.

When 8-year-old Ty Gretzky and his 6-year-old brother, Trevor, play hockey at Chelsea Piers in New York City, there's no No. 9 to be found on either of their backs. In fact, there's no last name either.

"We put their first names on the back of their sweaters," Gretzky said. "They don't need that kind of pressure. I asked them what numbers they got. Trevor took No. 5 because that's his favorite. Ty got No. 14 because his favorite player is Brendan Shanahan."

Which is as it should be. There's just one No. 99.

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