Wayne Gretzky: On the Ice With... (7 page)

All the personal triumphs, records, and awards seemed meaningless to Wayne now that this big moment had arrived. A look of
pure joy covered his face underneath the sweat, tears, and champagne. He and his Oilers were now Stanley Cup champions.

For Wayne and seven of his teammates the offseason celebration was cut short. Oilers coach Glen Sather was chosen to coach
Team Canada in the 1984 Canada Cup. Several of the Islanders were also members of the team. Number 99 led them in scoring
as Canada rebounded from their 1981 failure and reclaimed the Canada Cup.

The Oilers’ focus now turned to defending their Stanley Cup championship. In the eyes of the hockey world, an unsuccessful
title defense by Edmonton would make their 1984 victory look like a fluke. After all, the Islanders had won four Cups in a
row. They had also won back-to-back titles in 1974–75. The Oilers had to prove they were more than a one-Cup team.

During the off-season, centerman Ken Linseman
was traded to Boston for the six-feet-two-inch two-hundred-pound left wing Mike Krushelnyski. Krushelnyski joined Wayne and
Jari Kurri on the Oilers top line. The threesome clicked almost from the start of the 1984–85 season.

Fresh from their Canada Cup success, Edmonton broke from the gate fast with a fifteen-game (12-0-3) unbeaten streak. Wayne
had a sixteen-game point-scoring streak of his own. Kurri racked up 18 goals. Paul Coffey led the defense in one outstanding
game after another. The dynamic duo of net-minders, Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog, were as solid as ever.

After 35 games Wayne was averaging 3 points per game. Then, on December 19, 1984, during game 424 of his career, he tallied
his 1,000th NHL point. The Great One needed just under two minutes to accomplish the feat.

“I saw Wayne break for the net,” said Mike Krushelnyski. “I started over to congratulate him and ended up following the initial
shot that he hit the post with. I went after the rebound and it glanced off my skate and in.”

Wayne continued to mount up the points as the
night went on. He scored his sixth shorthanded goal of the year. He set up Glenn Anderson for a power play goal. He started
a play up the ice with a pass to Jari Kurri that resulted in a goal by Paul Coffey. He picked up another assist on a Dale
Hunter tally, then finished the game with his second goal on a blistering 35-foot slap shot.

Two goals and 4 assists for a total of 6 points for the night; 390 goals, 625 assists, for a total of 1,005 points for the
career!

While Wayne was well on his way to breaking most of his own records, expectations haunted the Oilers every step of the way.
The inevitable happened. The Oilers slumped late in the season, winning just 3 games, losing 5, and tying 3. Considering that
the core of the team had played in the Canada Cup, then reported to training camp in early August, it was not a surprise that
they looked tired.

Even so, Edmonton closed out the regular season with the league’s second best record. In the first round of playoff games
against the Los Angeles Kings, the Oilers swept 3 straight, 2 in overtime and the third clinched by a Kurri empty-net goal.
Wayne was held goalless, but did collect 5 assists.

The Winnipeg Jets, who had beaten the Oilers three straight times in the regular season, were their Smythe Division finals
opponent. Wayne broke from his scoring slump with a pair of goals in a 4–2 win in Game One. Paul Coffey then took over Game
Two with 2 goals and 3 assists for a 5–4 triumph. Another tight 5–4 battle followed in Game Three with Wayne bagging the winning
goal. The fourth game turned into a rout as the Great One tied his single-game playoff record with 3 goals and 4 assists for
7 points.

In the Campbell Conference finals, the Chicago Blackhawks were humbled twice in Edmonton, 11–2 and 7–3. But back in Chicago
Stadium the Hawks got even, winning 5–2 and 8–6 in Games Three and Four. Home again, the Oilers got back on track with an
offensive onslaught led by Wayne Gretzky. The Oilers prevailed 10–5 in Game Five.

The series clincher was played in Chicago. Wayne assisted on all four of Kurri’s goals for an 8–2 win. Wayne’s 4 goals and
14 assists during the matchup set a single-series record.

But the struggle toward the Cup wasn’t over yet. This year, the finals would feature a brand-new opponent.

The Philadelphia Flyers had ended their regular season with 4 points more than the second-place Oilers. So far, they had swept
the New York Rangers, stopped the New York Islanders 4 games to 1, and outlasted the Quebec Nordiques 4 games to 2. They were
in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1975.

Both teams were geared up for a war. The first battle, in which Wayne was held without a shot on net, went to the Flyers 4–1.
Edmonton responded with a hard-fought 3–1 victory in Game Two, bringing the series back to Edmonton.

Game Three turned out to be Wayne’s show. Despite being shadowed continuously, he scored twice in the first two minutes. The
first was a backhander on a centering pass from Jari Kurri. Then, a mere fifteen seconds later, he rerouted a brilliant pass
from Paul Coffey to the short side of the Flyers’ goalie.

Before the first period ended, he added a third goal with another short-side backhander. Not content with simply making a
first-period hat trick — his seventh in playoff competition — he plugged in a fourth goal, to tie his own playoff record,
and 2
assists. He also helped out on defense by beating out the Flyers’ center in a face-off that could have tied the score in the
game’s last seconds. The Oilers were victorious, 6–5, and one giant step closer to winning the Cup.

But the Flyers hadn’t come so far to be defeated easily. Game Four saw the Oilers in a 3–1 deficit until Wayne Gretzky took
control. Showing his usual determination and concentration, he scored the game’s final two goals, leading his team to a 5–3
win. The series stood at 3 games to 1. The Oilers were one game away.

Eager to win the coveted Cup in front of their own fans, the Oilers started fast and did not let up. Wayne set up Kurri for
an early goal with a blind backhand pass. It was the first of 7 goals the team would earn in the first two periods. Wayne
assisted on 2 more goals, first by sending the puck to Paul Coffey, who took it straight to the net, then by snapping a pass
to Mike Krushelnyski in the slot. Wayne also contributed a goal of his own.

The Flyers just couldn’t keep up. At the end of the night of Game Five of the Stanley Cup finals, the scoreboard read Edmonton
8, Philadelphia 3.
Mission accomplished for Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton boys, two-time Stanley Cup champs!

Wayne achieved personal championship status as well. His 7 goals in the finals tied an NHL record, and he had broken his own
playoff points record with 47. He also set a new standard for assists, with 30. As a result, Wayne captured the Conn Smythe
Trophy for the Stanley Cup playoffs’ Most Valuable Player, adding it to his sixth straight Hart Trophy (league MVP) and fifth
Art Ross Trophy (leading scorer).

He was all of twenty-four years old.

The Oilers had twice broken a fundamental hockey convention: that an offensive-minded team couldn’t win a Stanley Cup.

After a relaxing off-season, the 1985–86 Edmonton team came back even stronger than the year before. Wayne Gretzky might have
had his best year ever. He
¹
shattered his single-season assist mark by 28, finishing with an unbelievable 163. That mark — better than 2 per game — could
stand in the record books forever. Twice he had 7 assists in a single game. Even with his goal total down to 52, Wayne still
broke his all-time single-season points record with 215. It was his fourth 200+ point season. He won his seventh straight
Hart Trophy, sixth straight Art Ross Trophy, and seventh All-Star Game.

As a team, the Oilers scored 400+ goals for the fifth straight year. They also matched their 1983–84 regular season by regaining
the league’s best record
with 119 points. The Stanley Cup playoffs appeared to be just a formality.

In the opening round of the 1986 playoffs, the Oilers dominated Vancouver. The Canucks were swept in 3 games by a combined
score of 17 — 5.

The Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers replayed the “Battle of Alberta” in the Smythe Division finals. The Flames shocked
the Oilers in Game One, 4–1. The next four games seesawed back and forth between the two bitter rivals. Trailing 3 games to
2, the Oilers had to win the sixth game against Calgary to stay alive. They did just that: a 5–2 victory brought the series
back to Edmonton for the deciding seventh game.

In that contest, the Flames played a close-checking game. The Oilers fell behind 2–0. But they rallied in the second period
with a goal by Glenn Anderson on an assist by Wayne and a breakaway shot by Mark Messier to tie things up.

The combatants stood deadlocked at 2–2 into the third period. Then, with time winding down, Oilers rookie defenseman Steve
Smith — pressed into service when Lee Fogolin was injured — tried to make a cross-ice pass from behind his net to defense
partner
Don Jackson. Instead, the puck hit goaltender Grant Fuhr on the back of the leg and dribbled into the net. That agonizing
turnover gave the Flames a lead they wouldn’t lose.

Wayne did his best to rally the Oilers, but Calgary netminder Mike Vernon stopped the Oilers cold. Through the game’s final
minutes, Vernon made several outstanding saves. When the final buzzer sounded, the score read Flames 3, Oilers 2. There would
be no third consecutive Stanley Cup for Edmonton. That glory would eventually fall to the Montreal Canadiens.

Smith was inconsolable in the locker room. “The guys worked so hard, they deserved better,” he said, taking full blame for
the defeat. Coach Sather disagreed.

“We lost as a team,” he said. “We had lots of time to come back.” Many felt that the Oilers had beaten themselves by trying
too hard to finesse a play rather than simply dumping the puck in when they had the chance.

As heartbreaking as the loss had been, the stunning seventh-game defeat inspired Wayne and the Oilers to buckle down for the
1986–87 season.
Coach Glen Sather helped the cause by adding highly skilled defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen to the team. The acquisition would
prove to be an important one. Ruotsalainen meshed in effectively with the Edmonton style, while taking some of the pressure
off Paul Coffey. In addition, Finnish left wing Esa Tikkanen blossomed as an imposing all-around threat in only his second
full season.

A highly motivated Oiler squad was clearly back on a mission during the 1986–87 season. To regain their status as Stanley
Cup champions, the Oilers concentrated on playing better defensively; as a result, they allowed 26 fewer goals (284) than
the previous year.

For Captain Wayne Gretzky it was another brilliant season. His 62 goals, 121 assists, and 183 points signaled the end of his
astonishing four-year streak of 200+ points-per-season, but his overall statistical year suffered only in comparison with
his one true competitor: himself. Quite simply, nobody could touch him.

Wayne also reached the first of his numerous career milestones on November 22, 1986, scoring his 500th goal versus Vancouver.
The goal itself was a
long shot lobbed into an empty net, and was just 1 of 3 he would score that night. He was particularly pleased that he reached
that record in an at-home game. His 100-, 200-, 300-, and 400-goal marks had all been scored on the road.

“I guess to me the most important thing is it’s close to a goal a game,” Wayne said of the record. “That and the fact that
I set the record at home in front of Edmonton fans.”

The regular season behind them, the Oilers found themselves matched up against the Los Angeles Kings in the opening rounds
of the Smythe Division semifinal series. Game One ended in defeat, 5–2, but the loss proved to be all the motivation Edmonton
needed. They came back to embarrass the Kings 13–3 in Game Two. Three straight victories later (the opening Stanley Cup round
was now the best of seven), the Oilers were on their way to the Smythe finals against the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets played their best in each game but in the end were no match for Gretzky and his Oilers. Edmonton rode a four-game
sweep and an eight-game playoff winning streak into the Campbell Conference finals.

Four wins later, the Oilers sent the Detroit Red Wings packing.

Captain Gretzky and his Oilers were back in the Stanley Cup finals. They were four wins away from banishing the painful memories
of the previous spring’s failure.

Standing between them and the coveted Cup were the Philadelphia Flyers. It would be a rematch of the 1985 finals.

Before the game, Wayne Gretzky had been held without a goal for five straight. In Game One, Number 99 ended this rare offensive
slump with a goal in the first period and an assist to Paul Coffey for the game-winning goal in the third. Noticeably excited,
Wayne later commented that the goal had taken “a lot of pressure and tension off” him. The Oilers won, 4–2.

The pressure was back on in Game Two, but again, Wayne came through. In a three-cornered passing play six minutes into overtime,
he shot the puck to Paul Coffey, who sent it to Jari Kurri for the winning goal.

The Flyers rallied back to take the third game, then fell to the Oilers in Game Four. They had tried
a tough double-teaming defense on Wayne, but Number 99 exhibited his usual poise and discipline, and waited for the right
moment to pass the puck out of danger. The game ended 4–1 and the Oilers now had a 3-games-to-1 lead.

The Flyers weren’t ready to lie down, however. They survived Game Five 4–3 and returned the series to Philadelphia. In Game
Six, Flyer goaltender Ron Hextall — later named the Conn Smythe MVP — slammed the door on the Oilers 3–2.

The series stood at 3 games apiece. Not since 1971 had the Stanley Cup come down to one game to determine a champion. The
tiebreaker would be played in Edmonton.