Putting the Icing on the Cake : It’s Anybody’s Guess When Marcel Dionne Will Become the NHL’s Second-Leading Scorer, but It Won’t Be Long

The Kings are holding a contest to guess when center Marcel Dionne will pass Phil Esposito to become the second-leading all-time scorer in the National Hockey League.

The winner who comes closest to correctly predicting the game, period and time of Dionne’s milestone gets two airplane tickets to London, dinner at Jerry Buss’ table at the Forum Club before a Kings game, and an autographed hockey stick from Dionne.

“I’m getting a kick out it,” Dionne said. “People have been calling me asking me when I’m going to do it (pass Esposito). If I knew, I’d tell my wife so she could win.

“I’d like to do it at home for our fans, the 6,000 or 7,000 who have supported us. I don’t really care about it. But I want to do it for the fans. I think it will mean a lot to them.

“I remember when I was there (Chicago) when (Bobby) Hull became the first player to score 50 goals. It was so loud when he scored. It’s like watching Hank Aaron hit that home run. Anybody who was there cherishes the moment.”

Dionne’s wife, Carol, said he’s been looking forward to breaking the record. “I think he’s pretty thrilled about it,” she said. “He played against him (Esposito) so it’s a big thrill for him.”

However, there’s a possibility that Dionne will pass Esposito’s mark while the Kings are on the road for games in Edmonton on Wednesday or Vancouver on Thursday.

Dionne needs seven points to pass Esposito’s 1,590 points. Dionne, who is in his 15th season, has scored 661 goals and 923 assists for 1,584 points in 1,146 games. Gordie Howe is the all-time leader with 1,850 points.

Esposito, now a TV broadcaster with the New York Rangers, is rooting for Dionne.

“I think Marcel is a fabulous guy,” Esposito said from his home in New York. “We played together for Team Canada ’72 and ’76. In ’76 we played on a line along with Hull. We get along fantastic.

“As I said before, when (Wayne) Gretzky broke one of my records, records are made to be broken. I’m very proud of the fact that I got those points. When I first started playing in this game I never dreamed in my life that I would do as well as I did. For me to get those points and goals was great. Before I die I should be about 30th or 40th. I’m not going to worry about things.”

Esposito said he would like to be there when Dionne passes him, but it will depend on his schedule with the Rangers. “One thing about guys like me is that I never ever worried about anything like this. I’m proud of what I did in this game. When I played I did all right. I have no animosity or jealousy. Guys like that I have no use for.”

Said Dionne: “It’s special to me to pass Espo because I played with him on the Canada Cup. I played right wing on his line.”

Dionne also believes that Howe’s record is within reach.

“It’s not that far away,” Dionne said. “It’s not an impossible thing to do. Nobody is going to play for 26 years, though. The game has changed so much. Now when you score a goal you don’t know if it means anything. Today, a guy who scores 40 goals has a good year and 50 is a great year and 60 is an excellent year. When I came in a guy who scored 25 goals had a good year.”

Is Dionne one of the greatest hockey players ever?

“He is as far as I’m concerned,” said King defenseman Mark Hardy. “I kind of idolize him. I think he’s one of the smartest players ever to play the game.”

King Coach Pat Quinn said of Dionne: “He’s one of the greatest scorers of all time. He has proven that and he has done it with teams that haven’t been that great. He was and is one of the best open-ice players around.

“He’s accomplished just about as much as you can accomplish in our game. Marcel can change a hockey game with a great individual play. And few can do that.”

Said King left wing Dave (Tiger) Williams: “He’s a better player than I thought he was when I was playing against him. No matter what happens or how he feels, he always comes to play. He’s a fierce competitor. And Marcel doesn’t doubt himself. He handles adversity well.”

Dionne (5 foot 8 inches, 190) may be one of the smallest men in the game, but he’s never backed away from a fight.

Said Williams, who knows a thing or two about hockey fights: “No matter who it is, nobody intimidates him. He’s a small man but he never backs down.”

“Nobody has ever scared me in the league,” Dionne said. “Nobody has ever intimidated me. I know I have the strength to hang on to a guy who is 6-4 in a fight. A small guy has nothing to lose in a fight.”

Dionne’s statistics are even more impressive because he has never played on a Stanley Cup championship team. In fact, the Kings have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs with Dionne.

Since Dionne joined the Kings in 1975, the team has been at .500 or above only five times, including last season. The Kings’ best season with Dionne was in 1980-81, when the team had 99 points and finished second in the Norris Division under Coach Bob Berry.

“I’ve never come close to winning the Cup. That’s what’s incredible,” Dionne said. “But I’ve stopped thinking about it. I don’t care what the critics say. I can sleep at night and I sleep well.”

Said King captain Dave Taylor, who plays right wing on Dionne’s line: “Marcel has passed a lot of milestones, but he said he’d trade them all for a Stanley Cup.”

Said King assistant coach Mike Murphy, who played with Dionne: “A lot of great players have never played on a championship team. He can’t be responsible for the performance of our team. Marcel is one of the fiercest competitors around. He pitches for our softball team which has won the NHL championship. And, if you’re playing golf with him for a few bucks he’s tough.”

Yet, Dionne may have also extended his career because of the Kings’ lack of success in the playoffs. While players on playoff teams exhaust themselves by playing extra games after the regular season, Dionne is able to rest. For example, it as has been estimated that the New York Islanders played almost a full season (80) of games en route to winning four straight Stanley Cups.

Dionne probably should have passed Esposito sooner, but he was in a horrible slump at the start of the season. It probably cost him a spot on the All-Star team.

A traditional slow starter, Dionne outdid himself this season. He got off to the worst start of his career, scoring just 3 goals and 9 assists in his first 13 games. He went seven straight games without a goal. Dionne had just one goal in his first eight games of the 1984-85 season.

“I go as the team goes,” Dionne said. “The last two years we haven’t come out of the gate. It seems when I’m going well the team goes well. When I get 120 points, other guys get 70-80 points.”

Said Williams: “I think Dionne has handicapped himself. He should have had it two or three years ago. At the start of the season, he hasn’t been in good shape, so he doesn’t have the conditioning to match his talent. If he was in good shape at the start of the season, he’d have 1,500 or 1,600 points. But that’s strictly my opinion.”

Dionne is one of the most popular players in Kings’ history, along with former goalie Rogie Vachon, now the team’s general manager. Vachon became the first King to havE his number retired and surely the Kings will make Dionne the second.

Dionne was born in Drummondville, Quebec, where hockey is a religion and the Montreal Canadiens were worshiped. If he’d played in Montreal, Dionne probably would have several Stanley Cup rings by now. But he refuses to dwell on what might have been.

“I like playing in L.A.,” Dionne said. “The fans have been good to me. You can always say what would have happened if I’d played in Montreal. There are people who say that I wouldn’t have been able to handle the press and the pressure that goes with playing for the Canadiens.

“People don’t believe me, but I’m very well recognized here, and I don’t need the American Express card.”

Dionne holds the NHL record for most 40-goal seasons (10), most 100-point seasons (8) and most power-play goals in one period (2). He won the league scoring title in 1980 with 137 points, edging out Gretzky. It was the last time that Gretzky didn’t win the league scoring title.

And, Gretzky, 25, figures to erase any records that Dionne or anyone else sets. But, Dionne refuses to compare himself to Gretzky or anyone else.

“I know what I’ve done and it’s going to be in the (record) books. No one else who has played on the West Coast has put up the kind of numbers I have. And it’s very difficult to play here because of all the travel.

Dionne, 34, is one of the oldest players in the National Hockey League. Goalie Chico Resch of New Jersey is the oldest at 37.

But Dionne is committed to play at least two more years. He signed a one-year contract extension before the start of the 1985-86 season and has one year and an option year left on his contract.

Dionne, who reportedly earns $600,000 a season, is the third-highest-paid player in the NHL behind Gretzky ($800,000) and Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders ($610,000).

“Every year you look at him (Dionne) and hope it’s not going to be his last year and all of a sudden ‘bang,’ Marcel is playing well,” Vachon said. “He works so hard and he’s has scored all of those goals in traffic. One of the reasons he’s been so successful is that I think he has a body that doesn’t get tired. And he still has that drive. It’s tougher to play on a losing team than a winning team.

“He has an extra sense that all the great players, guys like Howe and Bossy, have. If Marcel doesn’t have a play he puts it on the net.”

How many more years will he keep playing?

“I’d like to play two years for my young boy to have a chance to see me play. So many times guys retire and their kids never see them play.

“The last four years of playing hockey have been the best of my life,” Dionne said. “I look forward to coming to here and practicing. There are not that many older guys in the league any more. Most of the guys who were playing when I started are retired. And when I see them they tell me to keep playing.”

Dionne’s wife said: “I think he still has four or five years left. Hopefully, he’ll retire before he’s 40.”

At the moment, however, Dionne seems more concerned with how poorly the Kings are playing rather than personal milestones.

“We’re kind of going backwards because as a team we’re struggling and it’s been frustrating,” he said. “When you don’t win as regularly as we did last year, it’s tough. We’ve had our moments this year, but basically it’s been a down year.”

MARCEL DIONNE / Career Record

Regular Season Playoffs Season Team GP G A Pts PIM GP G A TP PIM 1971-72 Detroit 78 28 49 77 14 -- -- -- -- -- 1972-73 Detroit 77 40 50 90 21 -- -- -- -- -- 1973-74 Detroit 74 24 54 78 10 -- -- -- -- -- 1974-75 Detroit 80 47 74 121 14 -- -- -- -- -- 1975-76 Kings 80 40 54 94 38 9 6 1 7 0 1976-77 Kings 80 53 69 122 12 9 5 9 14 2 1977-78 Kings 70 36 43 79 37 2 0 0 0 0 1978-79 Kings 80 59 71 130 30 2 0 1 1 0 1979-80 Kings 80 53 84 137 32 4 0 3 3 4 1980-81 Kings 80 58 77 135 70 4 1 3 4 7 1981-82 Kings 78 50 67 117 50 10 5 8 13 12 1982-83 Kings 80 56 51 107 22 -- -- -- -- -- 1983-84 Kings 66 39 53 92 28 -- -- -- -- -- 1984-85 Kings 80 46 80 126 46 3 1 2 3 2 1985-86 Kings 64 32 47 79 36 -- -- -- -- -- Totals 1147 661 923 1584 460 43 18 27 45 27

All-Time NHL Leaders (Seasons in Parathenses)

POINTS GOALS ASSISTS 1. Howe (26) 1,850 Howe (26) 801 Howe (26) 2. Esposito (18) 1,590 Esposito (18) 717 Mikita (22) 3. Dionne (14) 1,584 Dionne (14) 629 Dionne (14) 4. Mikita (22) 1,467 Hull (16) 610 Esposito (18) 5. Bucyk (23) 1,369 Bucyk (23) 556 Clarke (15) 6. Delvecchio (24) 1,281 Richard (20) 544 Delvecchio (24) 7. Ratelle (21) 1,267 Mikita (22) 541 Bucyk (23) 8. Perreault (15) 1,250 F. Mahovlich (18) 533 Ratelle (21) 9. Lafleur (14) 1,246 Lafleur (14) 518 Perreault (15) 10. Ullman (20) 1,229 Beliveau (18) 507 Ullman (20)

1. 1,049 2. 926 3. 876 4. 873 5. 852 6. 825 7. 813 8. 776 9. 740 10. 739