Wayne Gretzky visited the Dallas Stars locker room to congratulate them after they reached their third straight Western Conference final, where they will play against the team he won four Stanley Cups.
“He said we’re going up against a pretty good team now,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said Tuesday, the day before Game 1 against Edmonton. “And I had to ask him who he was cheering for. It felt right, and he didn’t answer.”
Benn said it was “pretty cool” that Gretzky came by after their 2-1 overtime win on Saturday night over Winnipeg, which led to a rematch with the Oilers in the West final.
Edmonton beat the Stars in six games in last year’s West final, then lost to Florida in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final.
“What a great honor to have the greatest player of all time come down after the game and say hello,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
Wayne Gretzky in a press conferenceGretzky told the Stars how much he enjoyed watching them and that they were about to face “one of the greatest teams ever.”
DeBoer, who worked with the Canadian team that won the 4 Nations Face-Off title earlier this year, had a chance to spend time with Gretzky then.
“Extra special. That’s my era. That’s the guy we all grew up watching,” DeBoer said. “He’s a special guy when you get him 1-on-1 or in a coach’s room or behind the scenes. You can see his passion for the game. He can sit and talk hockey and tell stories all night.”
Gretzky helped Edmonton win four Stanley Cups in five years during the 1980s. He held the record for most career goals in the NHL with 894 until Alex Ovechkin passed him on April 6, but he still holds the records for most points (2,857) and assists (1,963).
So did Gretzky say anything that might upset fans in Edmonton, like hoping Dallas would win?
“He didn’t. He would never say that and I would never put him in that spot,” DeBoer said. “He was very respectful of our group and the job we’d done to that point. I think we all understand his allegiance to Edmonton and appreciate that, so he never went beyond that.”
