The Great One Says Goodbye

Slowly circling the rink, soaking in the farewells from his fans, teammates, even opponents, Wayne Gretzky didn't want it to end.

Smiling through tears during four final laps Sunday, the greatest player ever made it easy for everyone to say goodbye.

He skated slowly enough for plenty of souvenir photos to be taken. Whenever he noticed a youngster's extended hand from the crowd, he touched it. He even played to the fans, donning a blue Yankees hat, then a red Rangers beret.

Then, almost as suddenly as word had come last week that he was retiring, No. 99 was gone.

"I'm devastated I will no longer be a hockey player," Gretzky, his eyes still red, said more than an hour after his final skate. "I will miss every part of the game, because I loved every part of the game.

"But I've made the right decision."

Gretzky's grace and skill could bring tears to the eyes of anyone watching him perform. On the last day of his unparalleled career, it was Gretzky who cried the most.

"I broke down a couple of times, once at the end of the game and once when I saw Ulfie," he said of former Rangers defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, who like several of his ex-teammates attended the festivities. "They were tears of joy, because I was thinking about all the fun things that happened."

After the game, the player who shattered hockey's most revered records skated one lap around the rink with his teammates in tow, followed by an encore, as a lone spotlight followed him around the ice and Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" blared throughout.

Perhaps the most excruciating moment for him came as he fought the tears, occasionally looking down at the ice, while posing for one last photo with teammates, who all wore No. 99 caps.

"I'm going to miss this game," he said. "It's going to kill me not to play."

The 38-year-old Gretzky ended his career with an assist, setting up a second-period goal as his New York Rangers lost to Pittsburgh 2-1 in overtime.

On the final shift of his 21-year pro career, with all the fans at Madison Square Garden on their feet cheering as if a Stanley Cup title was imminent, Gretzky did nothing special. That was rare, particularly on this day when he set up a dozen good scoring chances and for his unparalleled career.

During a Rangers timeout with 40.4 seconds to go in the third period, his wife, Janet, started to cry as the fans began a long, final salute to her husband. Gretzky acknowledged it with a nod, then a wave, then by raising his stick in the air.

"When John called timeout, it hit me that I was done," he said, his eyes watering once more. "Then is when it hit me that I had only 30 seconds left."

Moments after the timeout, he nearly had a breakaway, but Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso, who had a sensational game, beat Gretzky to the puck.

"Yeah," Gretzky said with twinkle in his eye. "I thought I might have one there."

Appropriately, as if his career just wasn't supposed to end now, the game went into overtime. But it ended abruptly when Jaromir Jagr, hockey's dominant player these days, scored.

"Maybe it's only fitting that the best young player in the game scored the winning goal," Gretzky said.

The crowd and the Rangers seemed stunned, but only momentarily. Then everyone remembered why they'd come to an otherwise pedestrian matchup.

As the "Gretz-ky" chants began again, he skated over to the Penguins, who were lined up at the blue line, and shook hands with several. Then he hugged Jagr an unofficial passing of the torch?

before returning to his teammates.

Then began the final moments of the Gretzky era, which NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ensured would end historically by announcing before the game that no one will ever again wear No. 99 in the league.

That was the first of several times Gretzky became teary. It happened again when his father, Walter, was driven to center ice in a new black Mercedes presented to Gretzky as a parting gift.

"I feel so lucky to be able to play in the NHL," the sport's greatest player said. "I've been so fortunate to play with some of the greatest players, against guys I admired so much, like the best player I ever played against Mario Lemieux ... my teammates and, of course, the best player I ever played with, Mark Messier.

"And it would be nothing without family and the great friendships I have developed over the years. I appreciate all the accolades. I tell everyone the greatest place to play is right here in New York."

Gretzky wore a huge grin as friend Bryan Adams sang "O, Canada."

"We're going to miss you, Wayne," Adams ad-libbed late in the song.

The "Star-Spangled Banner," as sung by John Amirante, was altered to include the words "in the land of Wayne Gretzky."

Gretzky, who holds or shares 61 NHL records, set up Brian Leetch, John MacLean and Niklas Sundstrom for first-period scoring chances. All failed.

At the first television timeout, Gordie Howe - whose records Gretzky regularly broke - appeared in a video, saluting his prodigy.

Another sports king, Michael Jordan, appeared in a second-period video, telling Gretzky, "Your golf game is not going to get better, so don't think that will help. It will probably get worse, because you've got more time."

Moments later, he set up MacLean for a semi-breakaway, but Barrasso stopped a slap shot. Then Gretzky broke in on a 2-on-1 with MacLean, who held the puck too long for a shot.

Finally, the Rangers were able to convert his magic. On a power play while trailing 1-0, Gretzky passed from the right wing boards to Mathieu Schneider in the slot. He faked a shot and passed to Leetch for a tap-in open-net goal.

That led to a moscene at the sideboards as his teammates hugged, although Gretzky didn't seem very emotional. Of course, he'd done this 2,856 times before in the NHL.

Something he'd rarely done, wince in embarrassment, might have been appropriate midway through the third period. The scoreboard showed a clip from a television special on which Gretzky sang sort of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Everyone on both benches watched the video, but they all had the good sense not to laugh.

The first ovation, when Gretzky was introduced by master of ceremonies John Davidson, was accompanied by a three-minute salute that seemed to make the man of the moment most uncomfortable.

Then he skated to the Penguins bench and shared hugs and handshakes with several players as the rhythmic applause continued. He even pointed to the crowd at banners that said "Thanks for the Memories," "Always in Our Hearts: No. 99" and "Gretzky the Greatest Forever."

With his family standing at center ice, along with teammates Leetch, Adam Graves and Jeff Beukeboom, Edmonton Oilers president Glen Sather was introduced. Gretzky shared a hug with his former coach, and then did the same with Lemieux, who retired in 1997.

Gretzky, Canada's greatest sports hero, left Edmonton in 1988 when he was traded to Los Angeles. He said goodbye to Hollywood in 1996, dealt to St. Louis.

When he came to the Rangers already hockey's biggest star everywhere else he rejoined Messier, who was New York's leader and had helped the team win its first Stanley Cup in 54 years. When Gretzky left Sunday, Messier was on hand, too, and they stood together soaking up the biggest cheers of the day.

"It was great to be on the ice with him again," Gretzky said. "He came here and showed people you can handle the pressure, which is something we loved to do."

Everywhere at the Garden, fans wore No. 99 Rangers jerseys. Painted behind each net was a blue 99, so appropriate for the area known as "Gretzky's office."

A pregame light show featured spinning 99s projected onto the ice along with Gretzky's image; a short video of his career, also shown on the rink surface; and even a taped scoreboard message from The Great One thanking the fans for their support.

Wayne's father, who built an ice rink in the back yard "for self-preservation I would freeze when I took him to skate on the ponds" expects his son to make a clean break from the game.

"For the first few months, he's going to play golf," Walter Gretzky said. "I know he'll never be a coach or general manager; they have the tough jobs. TV? I doubt that very much. You have to be at a certain place at a certain time, and he didn't even play the game that way."

He played the way nobody ever has. Or might ever play it again.

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