
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 31, 1993                   TAG: 9305310002
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MONTREAL                                LENGTH: Medium

GRETZKY BACK WHERE HE BELONGS

Wayne Gretzky used to frolic through the NHL playoffs. The puck was his toy, the Stanley Cup Finals his playground.

Then came the trade that rocked the sport and sent him and his four championship rings from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. The Oilers won another Stanley Cup without him. Kings owner Bruce McNall spent millions for complementary players, but Los Angeles never got past the second round.

During each championship series, the question was asked: Where is The Great One, anyway? After a four-year hiatus, he's back where he belongs.

"I'm so happy to be in the finals again," said Gretzky, whose Kings play the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 on Tuesday night. "This is the greatest feeling in the world."

The holder of more than 60 NHL records - including those as the all-time leading scorer in regular-season and postseason play - Gretzky again is the center of attention.

"There's only one team that has a Gretzky. He's proven, in the clutch, to be maybe the greatest ever," Canadiens coach Jacques Demers said. "It could be Bobby Orr or Mario Lemieux. But this guy needs to win two games, and you saw what he did."

Criticized for sporadic play after the Kings fell behind Toronto three games to two, Gretzky responded with the overtime winner in Game 6 and a hat trick in a Game 7 road victory.

After getting 16 goals and 49 assists in 45 regular-season games - far and away his poorest statistical year - Gretzky, 32, has 13 goals and 20 assists in 19 playoff games. Saturday's hat trick was his eighth in postseason play, breaking the mark he had shared with Maurice Richard and Jari Kurri.

Keywords:
HOCKEY

by CNB