Wayne Gretzky with yours truly, at Keyano College, Ft. McMurray, Alberta, May 11,2012. Number 99 exuded class the entire time. It was an honour to hang with him for a couple of days.
That’s too many numbers for a scoring play but indeed it was a major score for Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alberta this past weekend (May 10-11) with a fund-raising effort the likes of which you don’t see every day. I was honoured to be invited by Shawn Chaulk, chair of the organizing committee and under the guidance of Melane Leblanc I was part of an extremely well organized and exciting event fronted by Wayne Gretzky himself as the event was titled, ‘One on One Banquet, with Wayne Gretzky.’
Mr. Chaulk is a Keyano College Alumni and very proud of not only the college but the Wood-Buffalo corridor which includes Ft. McMurray. The place is experiencing a population boom, there is a ton of work and if you’re an aspiring young man or woman you may want to investigate this location which granted is not on the beaten path but if one’s life is about experiences and seeing your country you can do a lot worse than venturing a mere 440km’s north of Edmonton. I had three days and two nights there, had a great tour from a long time dear friend, Colin Reid and ended up spending the better part of the two days with none other than Mr. Gretzky himself. Folks, it does not get a whole lot better.
For the record the numbers above represent the other guests that participated in the Hot Stove portion of the evening on the grounds of this beautiful college. 19-Bryan Trottier, 33-Marty McSorley..27-Dave Semenko..39-host of the Hot Stove session Kelly Chase and last but certainly not least 15..Darren Langdon and believe me when I say this, you may be able to take the boy out of Newfoundland but you can’t take Newfoundland out of the boy. Great guy, tough as nails and he was continually responsible for many of the best lines over the course of the two days. In what is still a predominant Deer Lake, Newfoundland accent Darren had this exchange with Wayne on the stage during the Hot Stove session- ‘Langer, are you texting or tweeting while we’re talking here?? Don’t let us get in your way pal!’ Darren Langdon,’ yeh by, I’m just lettin’ the Newf’s in the crowd know that as soon as you’re done talkin’ to meet me at the hotel bar!’ And he was not kidding… Classic, he played with Wayne in New York, just a fantastic guy and back in the day Darren and Marty McSorley had two bell ringing fights. You’d never know it today but if you want to see how it was then- check this video out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6O_UWOOMLQ
And here they are today at the reception last Thursday night with yours truly. I’ve worked with both of them before, two great character guys who have done a ton for various charities.
Darren Langdon and Marty McSorley with yours truly. 530 hockey fights between these two vibrant and engaging men who were both outstanding contributors to this great event.
Kelly Chase had two stints with St. Louis, one each with Hartford and Toronto and he was the host of the Hot Stove portion of the evening. His repertoire of jokes preceding each introduction hung right on the border of tasteful but he delivered them masterfully, he steered the session expertly, fittingly given he works on the radio broadcast for the St. Louis Blues. Chase played 458 games in the NHL accumulating 2017 pim’s. Dave Semenko was the preeminent enforcer in the NHL right out of the merger with the WHA where his statistical claim to fame was he scored the final goal ever in WHA history in a 7-3 playoff loss to the AVCO Cup champs, the Winnipeg Jets. Semenko played 575 games in the NHL with Edmonton, Toronto and Hartford but will forever be remembered as Wayne Gretzky’s body-guard on the ice in those early days.
Marty McSorley took over the Semenko role on Edmonton. Each of them won a pair of Stanley Cups and of course McSorley was part of the most impactful trade in NHL history on August 9, 1988 joining Gretzky in the move from Edmonton to LA. McSorley created his own hockey history with the illegal stick call in game two of the 1993 finals and later as a member of the Boston Bruins his suspension for a stick incident with Donald Brashear. I choose to remember a true warrior of the game when one was still needed who also could handle a puck as evident by his 359 regular season points and among his playoff successes a very solid ten points in twenty-four games with LA during their Cup run of 1993. McSorely is well spoken, gives thoughtful answers to every question and he like the rest of the guys lends his time to countless charitable events.
Bryan Trottier was a good fit on the dais for a couple of reasons. He’s a Western Canadian lad by birth, he has native blood and there is a strong native Canadian presence in Fort McMurray and he was arguably one of the fiercest competitors in hockey history as noted by his six Cup championships with the Islanders and the Penguins, his Conn Smythe Trophy in 1980, Calder Trophy in 1976, his play internationally and his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. I had the privilege to wrap up Friday evening at the hotel bar sitting between Trottier and Gretzky talking hockey for close to four hours. It does not get any better than that.
Speaking of number 99, although I had met him on two prior occasions and was part of the vast media scrum that interviewed him after his final game in Canada played in Ottawa on April 15, 1999, this was totally different for me. I had ample time and opportunity to talk hockey with the greatest offensive force in sports history and arguably the greatest hockey player of all time. Following are a number of quotes from this past weekend in conversation with Wayne Gretzky.
the instigator rule is the worst in hockey. When Semek ( Dave Semenko) and Marty played, they never went after Guy Lafleur, they never went after Mike Bossy or Marcel Dionne. There was a respect from that point of view, they kept the game honest yet it still was rough, it still could get crazy, you just didn’t have the stars getting run like you do today. I hate the rule. Did anybody hear Mark Howe’s comments during Hall of Fame weekend last November? I played with Mark in the WHA, I know the family real well. Mark Howe never fought, Mark Howe was never jumped by idiot players running around, it was an ill-timed rule that continues to plague the game today.
-I was playing with Sault Ste Marie and I had worn numbers 14 and 19, hated them both, just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t get number 9, a veteran named Brian Gulazzi had it and he wouldn’t give it up. Finally after our 7th or 8th game, Muzz MacPhearson who ran the Sault said,’ why don’t you wear two 9′s? Esposito ( Phil ) was doing it on the New York Rangers with 77, he got a couple of others doing it, so I tried it. Another Sault employee, Angelo Bumbacco said, ‘ I dunno kid, you’re gonna be a marked man,’ I said, I already am! Seemed to work okay.
when Indianapolis traded me to Edmonton my first meeting with Glen Sather and he told me ‘we’re gonna protect ya kid, first thing we’re gonna do is take away the pressure of that number 99. So I wore number 20 for one game, my first game in Edmonton. I went to him after the game and said I don’t like it, I want to wear 99. He said okay.
we were sitting around the Oiler dressing room just at the start of training camp and Slats was checking if all of us had completed the summer training sessions. When he got to Semek he asked him how the running went cause ya know, Dave looked a little heavy and he said well Slats, I tried that running thing but it kept blowing my smoke out.
-Semek used to miss the odd practice or come late. It was a-love hate relationship between those two. Slats lost it one day, phoned Dave at home and was screaming at him how he was going to suspend him, trade him, do everything to him and Semek screams back, ‘ oh ya? you can’t do a thing to me cause I RETIRE!!’ Of course he came back, he was a big part of our two first Cup wins.
the most fear I had for any player was for Denis Potvin. He was the toughest defenseman for me to play against, extremely tough physically, great player. The Islanders really showed us how to win. People talk about that 83 finals and for sure, we did see the ice bags and the low-key celebration in the room after but they forget we played them in ’81. I remember a guy, ( at this time Wayne was talking directly to Trottier but he also directed this question at me) do you know who scored that key goal for you guys in game six when you knocked us out? Trottier shook his head no….Wayne turned to me, I also said no I don’t Wayne. ‘ Anders Kallur he stated emphatically, check it out Liam- then he turns to Trottier and says, what kind of guy was he, what was he like, he was a very good player as I remember. ( post script, I did check it out and sure enough, game six, 1981 playoffs second round, NYI beat Edmonton 5-2. It was a tie game late in the second period when Kallur scored.)
we had a game in Philly, my second season, we only beat them for the first time the month before, first time ever beating them and first shift of this game Bobby Clarke carves me, cut me bad, stick right in the face and a couple of their guys skate over, start chirping me when Semek slid into the scrum and said ‘ boys, this is not going to happen-anymore, there’s a new sheriff in town. Next guy who touches Wayne I’ll be introducing myself to personally.’ I scored four goals that night, look it up Liam, four goals, the Flyers never touched me again. ( post script, I did look it up Wayne, and you were right again. March 7, 1981, in Philly, you scored four goals, 46,47,48,49 of the season and won 5-3)
There were several others that I was asked not to repeat and I won’t but watching and listening to Bryan Trottier and Wayne Gretzky discuss the minutia of their times playing against each other, the warmth of their handshake after and respect they have for each other as we signed off for the night is something I won’t forget for a long, long time. Trottier’s last words to Wayne were, ‘ you are humble, totally professional, kind and passionate and a credit to our sport, our legacy and our country.’ And that’s coming from Bryan Trottier!! Just incredible. Thank you Mr. Shawn Chalk and Ms Melane Leblanc for allowing me to be part of such an epic event.
By the time Liam Maguire was ten, he had accumulated and stored a vast supply of hockey data. At the age of sixteen, the passion turned into an obsession of studying, memorizing, reading and researching even the smallest hockey trivia detail.
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