Sometimes when you’re watching a game, and it drags to a 3-2 conclusion, it’s easy to reach back into the past and glorify hockey as it used to be played.

The trouble with such nostalgia is that we only remember the very best, and the very worst.  The highs and lows.  We tend to forget the drab, everyday matters, the faceless games that ran into each other, week after week, month after month, season after season.  An uninspired mid-season Tuesday evening game is the same in any decade.

One part of life that appears to have gone by the wayside here in North America is the infusion of colour in the mainstream wardrobe.  Everyone now seems to wear the subdued shades of black and grey, as if we’re all in a collective state of mourning for something we’re not exactly sure about.

There is one aspect of the mainstream 80’s that Retro Nights get right; the parading of day-glo colours, and other wacky, over-the-top pastels that screamed at you then, and scream at you now.  Everyone did seem to dress up as an extra from the “Let’s Get Physical” video or any Culture Club offering.  There were those of us that rallied around the Johnny Cash man-in-black look, but for the most part, that approach was relegated to the shadows.

In the long history of hockey, there probably wasn’t an NHL team that better represented those overly colourful eighties than the Team of that Decade, the Edmonton Oilers.  They won four Stanley Cups in five seasons, and probably should have won five-in-a-row.  If Gretzky had remained in Northern Alberta, then that team could have taken seven Cups in-a-row, easily.

Recently on The War Room, Peter Berce and I were kicking around some great games from the past, games we would have liked to have attended.  One that leapt to mind for me was the 11-9 game between the Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

January 8th, 1986.  At Maple Leaf Gardens.

The lowly Leafs really must have put up a fight that night, scoring nine goals against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Except it was the Leafs who scored the eleven goals.  They won the game 11-9.

That’s twenty goals in sixty minutes of play.  An average of a goal every three minutes.

You wouldn’t have wanted to leave your seat for popcorn in case you missed something.

I was at the Montreal Forum that same January evening, watching the Canadiens beat, ahh, someone.  Trouble is, over the years, I can’t recall who.  We were too busy keeping an eye on the Forum out-of-town scoreboard.  As the digits rose in that game, the hub-bub at the Forum rose in tandem.

To my knowledge, there had never been an NHL game where both teams scored in double digits.  Most of the crowd around me were tickled pink that the Leafs were scoring that many goals on the Oilers, a team not renowned for its defence, but a team that could easily give up five goals and still win the game.  Their offense was that explosive.

A check of the 1985-86 Oilers’s game-by-game record bears that out.

They won a total of seven games when the opposition scored at least five goals against them.  One of those barnburners was a 12-9 win at Chicago on December 11th.  At that point, the gun slinging Oilers sported a 21-5-and-4 record.

This team could play it all ways.  They could squeeze out a tight, defensive victory, such as a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on November 23rd.

They could blow a team out of the arena, such as the 13-0 pasting of Wayne Gretzky’s favourite punching bag, the Vancouver Canucks, on November 8th, or a 12-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on March 14th.

For a team that led the circuit with 426 goals that season (the second highest total in NHL history after the 446 by the 83-84 Oilers), those three games represented the only times they cracked double-digits in goals scored in a game.

Speaking of records, the 1980’s Oilers hold the top five marks for most goals scored in one NHL season.

That 12-9 win over the Blackhawks tied a Montreal Canadiens/Toronto St. Patrick’s game from 1920 for the most goals scored in one NHL game…not counting All-Star Games.

That 11-9 loss to the Leafs is tied with a 12-8 win by the Oilers over the Minnesota North Stars in January of 1984 for the second-most goals scored in one NHL game.

Image that happening today.  Last week, the Tampa Bay Lightning survived a 8-7 arm wrestling contest with the Philadelphia Flyers, and we got all excited about a mere 15 goals in a game.

Back to the 80’s.

During the 1985-86 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs managed to light the lamp a total of 311 times, which was only good enough for the 12th best total in the 21 team league.

The Oilers led the league with 119 points; the Maple Leafs were 19th with 57 points.

On that January night, it shouldn’t even have been close.

A search of the internet brings up the game summary for that contest.  Hold on, it’s gonna get busy.

Every time the Oilers made their way to Eastern Canada, it was a media circus.  Everyone wanted a piece of Wayne Gretzky.  Even back then, there were calls for the Great One to be moved to the Maple Leafs, or the New York Rangers, in the name of getting the NHL more exposure in the eastern-based U.S. media.

That night the Leaf faithful, who were probably bracing themselves for a beating, were just sitting down with their lattes when Russ Courtnall opened things up with a pair of goals, the first at the 2:40 mark of the first period, the second almost five minutes later.

Seven minutes into the game, the Maple Leafs had a 2-0 lead.

Make that 3-0, after Miroslav Frycer potted one on the power play at the 12:25 mark.

Old MLG must have been rocking.

Gretzky got the Oilers on the board at 14:03 with his 29th goal, but that would be it for the big boys, as the Maple Leafs pumped in two more goals before the end of the period.
Steve Thomas and Brad Smith (Brad Smith!!!) got the goals.

5-1 Leafs after one. 

Going into this game, the Oilers had won five in-a-row, and eleven of their last thirteen.  Maybe they were due for an off-night.

So who were the goaltenders for this epic?  The game summary shows that Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr split this one, while the Leafs went all the way with Tim Bernhardt.

With just under five minutes gone in the second period, the 16,282 in attendance must have been feeling pretty good.  Leave it to Wayne Gretzky to put some doubt in their minds. 

His 30th at the 4:58 mark made it 5-2 Toronto.  All still seemed fine for the home team.

In game that featured twenty goals, there was about a six-and-a-half minute stretch where the red lights got to catch their breath.

At 11:19, Raimo Summanen scored.  And then Gretzky completed his hat-trick less than four minutes later.  C’mon, in a game with twenty goals, you knew Gretzky had to have some of them.

That made the score 5-4 Maple Leafs, with five minutes left to play in the second.

Toronto stopped the Oilers’ express with the second goal by Steve Thomas, a mere 24 seconds after the Gretzky tally.  Undaunted, Kevin McClelland responded for Edmonton just over a minute later.

The Oilers finally tied things up, when Paul Coffey got on the score sheet with his 18th goal of the season.

Toronto had blown a four-goal lead, and was going to head into the dressing room tangled up in a 6-6 tie.

Until Wendel Clark scored 33 seconds after Coffey tied it.

Toronto went to the dressing room with an improbable 7-6 lead.  Edmonton had outscored them 5-2 in that second frame, and still the Leafs led the game.

By the time they dropped the puck for the third period, it was probably safe to assume that nobody had left the game early.  Who could be sure what would unfold in the third?  Often these sort of games calm down by the third period.  There was no worry of that happening on this night.

Who knows what the Oiler’s coaching staff barked at their troops during the intermission.  Edmonton came out loaded for bear, and Jari Kurri joined the scoring parade, popping one in a mere 28 seconds into the third.  Less than a minute later, Glenn Anderson scored his 27th goal of the season, giving the Oilers their first lead of the game.

Image the see-saw emotions of the crowd at Maple Leaf Gardens that night.  They watched their team carve out a 5-1 lead after one period, only to fall behind 8-7 less than two minutes into the third.

Maybe that was the point that some of the faithful lost the faith, and beat a hasty retreat to the subway.

They shouldn’t have thrown in the towel so easily. 

That would be the only time the Oilers enjoyed a lead all night, because 45 seconds after the Anderson go-ahead goal, Frycer replied with his second of the game.

And then he completed his hat-trick less than three minutes later, and the Leafs were on top again, 9-8.

But if anyone thought the run-and-gun Oilers were done, they were wrong.  Less than four minutes later…an eternity in this game…Anderson scored again for Edmonton.

With just over a dozen minutes left in the third, things were knotted up at nine apiece.

And then a strange thing happened.  The scoring slowed down considerably.  With nine goals in the first 48 minutes of the game, the Oilers ran out of bullets.

Miroslav Frycer entered his name into Maple Leafs’ lore when he got his fourth goal of the game at the 10:51 mark.  The Leafs had cracked the double-digit barrier for the second time that season.  They had put 10 goals past the Devils in a 10-7 goal marathon on December 4th, so they knew a little bit about these goal fests.

Dan Hodgson got the insurance marker at 18:42, and the Leafs held on for the 11-9 win.

At the Montreal Forum that night, most of the crowd around me were pulling for the upstart Leafs to upend the Oilers, though we all wanted to see Edmonton also get to double digits.

Considering there were twenty goals scored that game, only three of them came on the power play, Toronto with two of those.  Overall, there were only seven minor penalties called all night.

Jari Kurri had a great night, with a goal and five assists.  Gretzky had his usual production, getting three goals and chipping in with three assists.

For the Leafs, Frycer led the way with four goals.  Marian Stastny assisted on the last three Toronto goals. 

Frycer, who defected to the Quebec Nordiques around the same time the three Stastny brothers did, had a couple of good years in Toronto.  His four goals this game represented a career high.  He scored 32 goals that season, also a career high, and retired in 1989 with 147 goals in 415 games, most of them with Toronto, but he also served time with Quebec, Detroit, and Edmonton.

As for shots, the Maple Leafs edged the Oilers 39-31.  Which means there were twenty goals on seventy shots.  Obviously no problem with goaltending equipment being too bulky this game.

Will we ever see a game like this again?  Well, probably not for a while, considering that it took 64 years between 20-goal games.  Then the league had three in short order, but
that’s part of what made 1980’s hockey so invigorating.

The Maple Leafs were unable to build on that game, dropping ten of their next twelve games, including a 10-1 loss in St. Louis a week later.  Two night after 11-9 slugfest, the Leafs lost 9-7 in Buffalo.

How many goals did Toronto surrender that season?

386.  Only the Red Wings and Kings were more porous.

And that team that Montreal beat that same night at the Forum?  None other that their age-old rival, the Boston Bruins.  One would think I would have remembered being at that game, but we were all too busy scoreboard watching…in January.

- Mick Kern

Visit these links for key information on the 2010 Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic presented by Samsung:

Event Schedule / Event Map / Group Pairings

Click here for more information on the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.

We are now accepting registrations for the 2010 Volunteer Group.   The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, presented by Samsung, Canada’s only Nationwide Tour event, will be held at The Georgian Bay Club and the Raven at Lora Bay from July 8th to 11th.

A tournament is only as good as its volunteers, and that is why I am hoping you will join in making this event a huge success.

There are several committees available, such as player registration, transportation, walking scoring, and admissions to name a few. You can also get a group together (friends, golf course, charity group or sports group) and represent your group by Marshalling one or more golf holes.

We are requesting that each volunteer work a minimum of three days due to the schedule requirements of the Nationwide Tour. Each volunteer will benefit from the following volunteer package at no charge:

• One (1) volunteer golf shirt
• Volunteer hat
• Volunteer badge
• 1 tournament guest ticket
• Invite to the Volunteer Appreciation Party (hosted Sunday, July 11)
• Complimentary meal and beverages on scheduled work days
• Complimentary shuttled parking

We invite you to join the excitement. Please feel free to spread the word and invite friends and family to join the volunteer group as we work to make the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic a success. Register Now.

Thank you!

Kelly Dixon
Volunteer Coordinator, Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic

Click here for more information on the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic.

Even The Great One needs to fuel up, and when it comes to vino, he’s not averse to plugging his own vintage at the 2010 Winter Games.  So when Wayne Gretzky showed up at Vancouver’s posh CinCin restaurant for a bite Friday evening, he left a heck of a calling card, reports Top Table Restaurant Group director Shelley McArthur.  Full Story

The two men known respectively as “Mr. Hockey” and “The Great One” are hopeful that Team Canada can win gold at the Vancouver Olympics, but they say it will be a tough competition.

Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky spoke out about the chances for the men’s hockey team when they gathered in Saskatoon for a sports celebrity dinner Friday.

“They’ll win,” Howe said when asked for his prediction in an interview with The Canadian Press before the gala. “Unless they lose,” he quipped.

“But I think they’ve got a strong a port of hockey players.”

Howe said he saw the team practise and thought they were very good.

“They’ve got some of the elderly statesmen who have been around the game for a while and if that rubs off on the younger ones they’ll be doing fine.”

Gretzky’s prediction came before a crowd of more than 1,200 people at the dinner where Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a well-known hockey historian, refereed a conversation between “The Great One” and “Mr. Hockey.” Gretzky said the game will come down to two things.

“One, goaltending. I always told Marty Brodeur ‘You don’t like hearing this Marty but the pressure’s on you’ and he would always tell me ‘I know.’ Secondly, if your best players play at the calibre they’re capable of playing at under high scrutiny then they’ll be fine,” said Gretzky.

Gretzky said Team Canada is a favourite to win a gold medal, but unfortunately will play against some tough teams, including the Russians, the Czechs, the Swedes and the United States.
“Competition’s going to be great and I think it’s going to be exciting and I think it’s going to be great for the country. Hopefully we’re in that gold medal game and get a chance to win gold again.”

“It is our game. It is our country,” said Gretzky.

“This will be the one place in the world that come February 28th will shut down in the afternoon so everybody can watch a hockey game and you just don’t get that in any other country.”

The 40-minute long conversation with Howe and Gretzky was like a dream for hockey fans as the men talked about the future of the game and its past. Gretzky recalled that he was 10-years-old when he first met Howe, his hockey idol. The men would later face off on the ice.

“The first game we played I was 17-years-old and I remember skating around the warmup and thinking ‘Oh my goodness I’m playing against Gordie Howe,”‘ said Gretzky.

“Gordie was over there and he was looking at me, he was winking to me and he was telling me ‘Good luck.’ So the first shift I go down and I lifted his stick up and I got the puck and I’m going back the other way and he came down the ice and he gave me a whack in the hand and I went ‘Oh my goodness.’ And he got the puck and he went back the other way.”

“I said ‘I’m never taking the puck from him again.’ That was it,” laughed Gretzky and the crowd.
Toward the end of the conversation, Harper asked the men about their worst or toughest moment in their long hockey careers.

“My first punch on Rocket’s nose,” joked Howe. “No, not really. I think Rocket was mad at me. I beat him at golf.”

Howe said in the interview that he’s too old to skate for Team Canada now, but joked that “maybe” the team can win without him.

“I hope they do,” said Howe. “If they play well and everything falls in line they’ll do it. If they don’t they should be respected for the effort they’re putting in.”

Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII announces that Hall of Fame forward Denis Savard is the latest legend of the game to be confirmed for the camp, set for March 24-29 at the Bellagio hotel and resort in Las Vegas. Savard – a 17-year NHL veteran and All-Star with Chicago, Montreal and Tampa Bay – joins fellow Hall of Famers Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Larry Robinson, as well as noted tough guy Marty McSorley, as former professionals joining Wayne and other celebrities at this one-of-a-kind hockey experience.

Attendees at Fantasy Camp VIII not only get to skate alongside these greats of the game, but also have plenty of off-ice opportunities to mingle with these professionals and hear stories and tales that any hockey fan would treasure.  Additional professionals and celebrities will be revealed as the camp approaches, so please check back at www.gretzky.com/fantasycamp for the next announcement.

In addition to the on-ice action, Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII also features five days of luxury hotel accommodations, hockey equipment, fantasy camp apparel, special gifts and entrance to VIP events, such as an opening cocktail reception, closing ceremony and a private poker tournament. Space is limited and filling up quickly. Cost for the camp is $10,999. Click here for more information and/or to register.

Don’t miss out on this chance to bring your hockey dreams to life.

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Can somebody please drive a broken composite stick through the heart of that saying that is trotted out every time a big trade is made in the National Hockey League?

You know the saying; whichever team ends up with the best player wins the trade.

Yeah, says who?

Sam Pollock, that’s who.  The legendary general manager of the Montreal Canadiens worked the phones at a time when it often seemed that half of his fellow GM’s in the league approached their job like it was a hobby, something they did for kicks after the dishes were done.

In this day-and-age, despite what the frothing fan base of a particular franchise may feel, every one of the thirty NHL general managers are top notch.  In this instantaneous over-informed society we live in, there is no way a GM not up to the job would last for any length of time.  They would very quickly be exposed.  Bob Pulford should thank his lucky stars he handled the job at a time when dinosaurs such as Bill Wirtz walked the Earth.

When two teams make a major trade, such as the one the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs engineered on the last day of January, some hockey pundit somewhere will bring up that old Sam Pollock saying.

It’s often true; just think of the Montreal Canadiens moving disgruntled goaltender Patrick Roy (along with Mike Keane) to the newly minted Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, and forwards Andrei Kovalenko and Martin Rucinsky (December 6^th, 1995).

But it’s not always the case.

Steve Simmons uttered the Sam Pollock phrase on “The Reporters” on TSN, citing defenceman Dion Phaneuf as the best player in the Flames/Maple Leafs deal.

If that is indeed correct, then why did Flames’ GM Darryl Sutter trade the best player?  Did Sutter bump his head during a weekend trip to Okotoks?

Of course not; Sutter appraised his team, what it needed and what could be sacrificed, all the time keeping in mind the underlying factor of the salary cap, and its often far-reaching implications.

Maple Leafs’ GM Brian Burke did the same thing to his team, and presto, we had a big trade to discuss.

On paper, or at least on a piece of paper dated January 31^st, 2008, Phaneuf is without question the best player in the swap.  But that is a long two years ago.  Since then, Phaneuf has become everybody’s favourite whipping boy, and as the Flames were awash in expensive defenceman, it was pretty clear they would move the underachieving, at times selfish, rearguard.

Time will tell if Phaneuf is the best player in the deal.  Maybe big defenceman Keith Aulie will end up being the best player.  That’s the chance any team takes when it swaps warm bodies.

The Calgary Flames traded Brett Hull to the St. Louis Blues.  The young emerging sniper went on to a Hall-of-Fame career.  The Flames profited from that trade by winning the 1989 Stanley Cup.  Hull would not win a Cup in St. Louis.

The Golden Brett was the best player in the trade in hindsight.  Even at the time of the transaction, the Flames knew they were giving up a future superstar.  Still, who won that trade?

That March 7^th, 1988 trade breaks down as such…Brett Hull, and Steve Bozak to the Blues for defenceman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley.  The Flames were upset that spring by the Edmonton Oilers (Wayne Gretzky’s final hurrah as an Oiler), but Ramage was a key part of the Redwood defence that helped the Flames win it all a year later.

Speaking of blockbusters, how about Gretzky going to the Los Angeles Kings during the summer of 1988?  It put hockey on the map, as the cliché goes, in many non-traditional markets in the U.S. (feel free to debate the pros and cons of that result), but the Kings never won the Stanley Cup.  They lost to Montreal in 1993, while the Oilers won the 1990 Cup, two seasons after trading The Great One.  As for Gretzky, he never won another Stanley Cup after 1988.

Who won that Gretzky trade?  Well, the Kings, even though they never won the Cup.  If anything, that trade was a harbinger of what the NHL would face during the 1990’s; the marginalization of small market teams and the resulting player moves necessistated by monetary concerns.

That August 9^th, 1988 trade breaks down as such…Gretzky goes to the Kings along with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski.  To the Oilers goes Martin Gelinas, Jimmy Carson, 1^st round draft picks in 1989, 1991, and 1993 and money.

Money, because Oilers’ owner Peter Pocklington was beginning to experience the first of his many business/legal headaches to follow.  “I’d Trade Him Again”, indeed.

Gelinas and Carson were key members of that 1990 Stanley Cup winning squad in Edmonton.

Even if either Phaneuf or Aulie outperforms the players sent to Southern Alberta in this latest blockbuster, when a GM makes a trade, he’s looking to improve his team, not worrying about the legacy of the trade.  If his team improves, either short-term for a playoff drive, or long-term, then the legacy issue usually takes care of itself.

Exhibit B about the foolhardiness of investing 100% faith in the Pollock saying also involves the Calgary Flames.

Flames fans were up-in-arms when Magic Kent Nilsson was traded to the Minnesota North Stars on June 15^th, 1985.  Through that trade, the Flames received two draft picks, one which they used to grab Joe Nieuwendyk in the second round (27^th overall) in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft.

When Nilsson hoisted the 1987 Stanley Cup with the hated Edmonton Oilers, many Flames’ fans decried the earlier trade, asking “Joe Who?” about Nieuwendyk, until Joe Who popped in 51 goals as a rookie in 1987-88.

Joe Who was part of the Flames 1989 Stanley Cup team, so when it came time for Calgary to move him along to the Dallas Stars (December 19^th, 1995), they got Corey Millen, and some guy named Jarome Iginla.

Iginla had been the Stars 1^st round draft pick in 1995, and all these years later, the captain of the Flames is a reasonable bet to make the Hockey Hall-of-Fame upon his retirement.

Still, some Flames’ fans grumbled about losing Joe Who to the Stars.  You’d think they’d have learned their lesson; the team that gets the “best player” in the trade doesn’t necessarily win the trade.

The Minnesota North Stars got Nilsson, but he won a Cup with the Oilers.  The Dallas Stars got Nieuwendyk, and he helped them win their only Cup, but they paid a heavy price in giving up Iginla.

Arguably, both teams won that trade.

Then there’s the June 13^th, 1987 swap between the Quebec Nordiques and the Washington Capitals.  Dale Hunter, the heart and soul of the 1980’s Quebec Nordiques went to D.C., and coming back to Quebec was a draft choice that ended up being Joe Sakic.

(The actual trade was Gaeten Duchesne, Alan Haworth and a 1^st round draft pick to Washington for Dale Hunter and Clint Malarchuk).

Perennial playoff failures, the Capitals got a shot-in-the-arm with the inclusion of Hunter on their roster, and they finally won a Game Seven in overtime when La Petite Peste scored on a breakaway against the Flyers’ Ron Hextall the following spring.

The Nordiques entered some very bleak years, before stockpiling high draft picks, and emerging as a young, promising team, led by Sakic.

Both teams can claim to have won that trade, all depending on how you view it.  The Capitals needed to change up their chemistry, and the Nords needed to rebuild.  Both succeeded thanks in large part to that trade.

In reality, the team that really won that trade was the Colorado Avalanche, but no-one had any inkling of that reality back when the Hunter trade was consummated.

A final note.  Even if Dion Phaneuf wins the Norris Trophy, the Leafs/Flames trade is not even close to being a duplicate of the January 2^nd, 1992 trade that brought Doug Gilmour to Toronto, despite what the Toronto-based hockey media has been repeating over and over and over again.

The Flames and Maple Leafs exchanged five players each that day, with Gilmour being the prime asset.  He was a very good player with Calgary (and St. Louis before that), and thanks to a contract impasse with GM Doug Risebrough and the Flames’ brass, Gilmour was shipped out-of-town.

This transaction actually fits the Sam Pollock saying about which team wins a trade.

Even on that day, unless you were a diehard Flames fan, one could see the Leafs “won” that trade.  The inspired play of Gilmour, and the sizeable contributions of the likes of Jamie Macoun, and Ric Nattress, far out shadowed the meager contributions in Cowtown of the likes of Gary Leeman and Michel Petit.

I know, for I had a sprited argument with the Calgary cabbie who was dropping me off at the Calgary airport that evening, as I was returning to Toronto after spending Christmas with the family.  He was convinced that the Gilmour trade would put the Flames over the top, as they were getting 50-goal scorer Leeman.

Leeman would win his only Stanley Cup two seasons later as a role player with the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.  His stay in Calgary was brief and uneventful.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and GM Cliff Fletcher won that trade easily.  It helped revive, on-ice, that franchise, and set up the Leafs to enjoy, for the most part, a rather successful decade.  In both 1993, and 1994, the Leafs were legitimate Cup contenders.

That was a trade that shook up the NHL.  The current Flames/Maple Leafs trade only shakes up those two teams.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp annually features a who’s who of hockey heroes and the eighth camp – scheduled for March 24-29 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas – keeps the tradition alive.

Officially confirmed for Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII are the NHL’s No. 3 all-time goal scorer and Hall-of-Famer Brett Hull, former New York Rangers captain and 2009 Hall-of-Fame inductee Brian Leetch, Hall-of-Fame defenseman and Stanley Cup champion player and coach Larry Robinson and former NHL veteran defenseman and noted tough guy Marty McSorley.

Hull, Leetch, Robinson and McSorley join Wayne and additional former NHL legends and celebrities at this one-of-a-kind hockey fan experience. Attendees at Fantasy Camp VIII not only get to skate alongside these greats of the game, but also have plenty of off-ice opportunities to mingle with these professionals and hear stories and tales that any hockey fan would treasure.

More professionals and celebrities will be revealed as the camp approaches, so please check back at www.gretzky.com for the next fantasy camp announcement.

In addition to the on-ice action, Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VIII also features five days of luxury hotel accommodations, hockey equipment, fantasy camp apparel, special gifts and entrance to VIP events, such as an opening cocktail reception, closing ceremony and a private poker tournament. Space is limited and registration is reserved on a first-come-first-served basis. Cost for the camp is $10,999. For more information and/or to register, please visit www.gretzky.com/fantasycamp.

Don’t miss out on this chance to bring your hockey dreams to life.

Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

Bruce Boudreau said it’s like traveling with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

“I’ve seen a lot of documentaries on the Beatles — and it looked a lot like this,” the Washington Capitals head coach said yesterday, describing what it was like in Vancouver the night before the game.

“The Canucks had just beat us and yet people are 100 deep around our bus chanting ‘Ovie! Ovie! Ovie!’ We couldn’t get up the road.

“I know it was like this with Wayne Gretzky … I’m guessing this was very Gretzky-like.”

Boudreau was asked if he ever thought he’d see this kind of reaction to a Russian hockey player in Canada.

“No,” he replied.

And he says he’s not quite sure if he wants to see it again.

Full Story

Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

Article by Don Schwartz, WG Authentic

Hockey is a sport for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. Yet the young skaters at the Frank Lacroix Minor Hockey Arena in Fort McMurray, Alberta might wonder exactly who would fit inside the giant Wayne Gretzky jersey rising above their rink.

At 10 feet tall and 20 feet wide, not even its namesake would come close to wearing the larger-than-life Edmonton Oilers sweater, which is estimated to be 330 percent bigger than a typical hockey jersey. Originally made as a showpiece for Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp VII last February, the jersey consists of approximately 23 yards of fabric – compared to the less than 3 yards used in a normal sized sweater – and took seamstress Patsy Elmer of Big Time Jerseys in Phoenix, Arizona about 35 hours to complete.

“It was really more fun and challenging to make than it was hard to do,” Elmer said. “This kind of work fulfills a passion I have in creating something out of the ordinary. To see my work hanging in an arena gives me such personal satisfaction.”

The larger-than-life fabric creation first served as an impressive backdrop during Fantasy Camp festivities, hanging high in the WG Authentic offices. Though it was never intended to become a permanent fixture, Camp participant Dale Unruh of Fort McMurray knew he had to have the jersey and quickly realized where it ultimately belonged.

“I asked if (WG Authentic’s Mike Brown) would sell it to me or if I could make a donation to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation,” Unruh said. “His response was ‘Where are you going to put it?’ I told him I would figure it out.

“After thinking about it a while, I thought, why not donate it to Fort McMurray Minor Hockey, so I asked Mike if Wayne would sign it and write a note to our hockey community.”

Signed across one of the 40-inch tall number 9s, the sweater now reads: “To the Gang in Ft McMurray, keep playing hockey, Your Friend Wayne Gretzky.”

“What a great piece of inspiration for all of our minor hockey players, volunteers, and donors,” said Unruh, who coaches the Scottie Upshall Select Atom AA Grizzlies and serves as Treasurer of the Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association. “Coming from the best player and greatest person the hockey world has ever known means so much to every kid that laces up his skates and looks up at this mammoth jersey.”