GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Asking a Canadian to criticize Wayne Gretzky is like asking a Catholic to criticize the Pope.
“Not going to happen,” said Halkirk, Alberta, native and Coyotes captain Shane Doan.
Gretzky is a Canadian icon. A sacred cow. He’s untouchable.
Aside from the wondrous things he did on the ice, the four Stanley Cups he won in Edmonton and the 61 NHL records he still owns, he was the picture of grace in person, giving tirelessly to the community and maintaining that wholesome, golden-boy image that plays just as well on Main Street as it does on Madison Avenue.
Simply put, he earned a nation’s reverence.
But as the Phoenix Coyotes prepare to face the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL’s Western Conference Final, it’s impossible to ignore the enormous imprint Gretzky left on both of these clubs. Most of his imprint in L.A. was positive; much of his Phoenix imprint left a bitter after-taste.
“We all make mistakes,” said Coyotes general manager Don Maloney, who Gretzky hired in 2007. “The timing might not have been right for him in Phoenix, but I’m the last guy to ever say a negative word about Wayne Gretzky. He’s a good man. He gave me my chance to be a manager again in the league.”
He also gave hockey a heartbeat in the southern United States.
On Aug. 9, 1988, the Oilers traded Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million in cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993.
The move immediately injected the Kings with relevance. Despite a few noteworthy players such as Marcel Dionne and Rogie Vachon in their past, the Kings had tasted only marginal success and notoriety. Now they were front and center, and so was the NHL.
“It raised the consciousness of our game in ways that probably can’t even be quantified,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “He was doing it in a market that so many people considered non-traditional, and he evoked the interest of celebrities in a market that seems to drive a lot of the cultural and entertainment imperative in the United States.”
The Kings made their deepest playoff run to date in 1993 when they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals. Gretzky never could deliver the Cup to L.A. like his Oilers teammate, Mark Messier, did the following year for the long-suffering New York Rangers, but he left an indelible mark on the Los Angeles hockey landscape.
That mark is most acutely felt at the youth level. When Staples Center hosted the NHL Draft in 2010, two local players were selected in the first round. The Pittsburgh Penguins took Beau Bennett of Gardena with the 20th pick, and the Anaheim Ducks picked Long Beach native Emerson Etem with the 29th pick.
In 2011, Rocco Grimaldi (Anaheim) and Matthew Nieto (Long Beach) were taken in the second round by Florida and San Jose; local product Nicolas Kerdiles is ranked No. 29 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters for the 2012 NHL Draft.
“There’s probably 30 to 35 kids from the area playing Division I college hockey,” said Gretzky’s L.A. teammate, Luc Robitaille, who is now the Kings' president of business operations. “Hockey is really evolving here into something it’s never been before, and it never would have happened without Wayne.”
About 400 miles to the east, Coyotes fans largely believe the team’s run to the Western Conference Final this season never would have happened if Gretzky hadn’t left.
In four seasons as coach in Phoenix, Gretzky compiled a 143-161-24 record, never finished higher than fourth place in the Pacific Division, never made the playoffs and topped out with a 38-37-7 record in 2007-08.
In his nine and a half years as owner or coach, the Coyotes made the playoffs once. He was roundly criticized for his absence as an owner, his lack of direction as a coach and his penchant for appointing friends and associates to key positions -- the so-called Friends of Gretzky (FOG) who made the franchise better known for cronyism than success.
Chief among those was Gretzky’s former agent, Mike Barnett, who became the club’s general manager. Desperate to keep the Coyotes relevant after their move to Jobing.com Arena, Barnett became known for signing or trading for over-the-hill or under-achieving players such as Brian Savage, Chris Gratton, Brett Hull, Claude Lemieux and Tony Amonte.
“That stuff never works,” Maloney said. “That’s a great summer story to sell to your fan base, but after about a day when you see them on the ice you’re like ‘Oh my God, we’re in trouble!’”
The on-ice troubles were also apparent in the coaching staff.
While Gretzky preached the same open style that made him successful as player, that style didn’t suit the Coyotes, and some players privately wondered if the Coyotes had any direction at all.
“Wayne wanted to be an offensive-minded coach, playing at a fast pace in an attack style,” former Coyotes assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson said. “Looking back now, he would probably admit we may not have had the right personnel for that style.”
While Gretzky’s passion for the game was still strong, and while he loved the camaraderie of the locker room, he never seemed to grasp the nuances or requirements of being an NHL coach like his successor, Dave Tippett.
“Tip’s a veteran coach. This isn’t his first rodeo,” Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski said while he was still in Phoenix. “He knows how to handle teams and make them successful, and it starts by playing a style of game that suits your team.
“I like Wayne, personally, but they were just different style coaches, and Tip is a lot more experienced in that area.”
To be fair, Gretzky’s final Phoenix team was loaded with rookies – Kyle Turris, Mikkel Boedker, Viktor Tikhonov and Kevin Porter – and inexperienced players. By the time Tippett took over, it had become clear to Maloney that the team needed an infusion of veterans.
“You can’t win with 18- and 19-year-old players playing 16, 17, 18 minutes a game,” Maloney said. “Look at Edmonton. They’ve got some of the premier young talent in the league, and they’re drafting first again this year.”
Gretzky was often criticized for his work ethic in Phoenix, but that criticism seems off-base. Given his myriad outside commitments, Gretzky faced a simple reality that few coaches ever experience.
“Being Wayne Gretzky is a full-time job all of itself,” former Coyote and current television analyst Jeremy Roenick said. “Everyone wants a piece of him, and he gives it to a lot of them. It was hard for him to coach this team the way it needed to be coached.”
Gretzky also faced numerous personal challenges while in Phoenix. His mother, Phyllis, and grandmother, Betty Hockin, both died during the 2005-06 season. And when assistant coach and friend Rick Tocchet was arrested for allegedly running an illegal sports gambling ring, it was also revealed that Gretzky’s wife, Janet, had placed bets.
With the club’s ownership situation in limbo in September 2009 after former owner Jerry Moyes put it in bankruptcy, Gretzky endured heavy local criticism for his absence during the first week of training camp.
On Sept. 24, 2009, he finally stepped down as coach and was replaced by Tippett.
“Maybe he was too supportive of who we brought in, who we hired and who we surrounded ourselves with. That’s where you either have success or you don’t,” said Maloney, who accepts part of the blame for the club’s failures in Gretzky’s final years.
“You get hired and fired for your decisions, but Wayne’s heart was always in the right place. He always wanted what was best for the club and to help in any way he could.”
Gretzky was brought to Phoenix to add the marketing sizzle and ticket-sales oomph to a franchise that was in the process of abandoning downtown and moving, as Doan put it, “50 miles away from our fan base.”
The Coyotes didn’t receive the return they hoped for on the Gretzky investment, but he did provide a momentary pulse at a time when stars such as Roenick and Keith Tkachuk were being unloaded, and his arrival saved the club from an imminent relocation to Portland, Ore.
In that light, Tippett believes it’s time to move beyond old grudges and acknowledge Gretzky’s many contributions.
“Both teams should be very grateful for the imprint he’s left,” Tippett said. “It will be interesting to see who he’s cheering for.”
Gretzky’s manager, Darren Blake, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview with Gretzky.
