Gretzky Can’t Believe the Fuss : King Trade Still the Topic of Conversation a Day Later

Wayne Gretzky, his voice giving out near the end of another long day of interviews, said Wednesday that he was unprepared for the seemingly unending interest generated by the trade this week that brought him to the Kings.

“I didn’t think it would be anything at all like this,” he said. “I didn’t know it would carry this type of magnitude.”

In one of the biggest deals in sports history, the Kings acquired the eight-time National Hockey League most valuable player and two other players from the Edmonton Oilers for center Jimmy Carson; Martin Gelinas, the Kings’ No. 1 draft pick last June; first-round draft choices in 1989, 1991 and 1993; the rights to defenseman Craig Redmond, who was suspended last season when he refused to report to the minors, and, a King official said Wednesday, $15 million.

In addition to Gretzky, forwared Mike Krushelnyski and forward-defenseman Marty McSorley, the Kings also received the rights to defenseman John Miner.

One thing that attracted him to Los Angeles, Gretzky said, was a chance to live outside the fish bowl that came to be his existence in his native Canada, where he is regarded as a national treasure.

“I really look forward to the day-to-day normal parts of life, being able to go to work in the morning and come home at night,” he said. “Even if we can start filling the building, putting people in the seats and making it exciting, I think I can still get a feeling of privacy by living down here.”

Eventually, maybe.

For now, though, Gretzky’s arrival has not only worn him out, but has created a welcomed chaos in the Kings’ ticket office, which usually at this time of year is a good place to catch a few winks.

Dennis Metz, the Kings’ sales manager for season seats and group sales, said his office has received more than 1,000 calls each of the last two days from fans inquiring about season tickets.

Normally at this time of year, Metz said, it gets no more than 10 a day. “This used to be a much easier job,” he said. “ It’s gotten absolutely madhouse crazy.”

The response has been so great that Metz speculated that the Kings could sell out all 40 of their home games next season and wondered if they might have to cut off season-ticket sales at some point.

“We’ve never had to worry about that before,” he said.

In an effort to encourage fans to buy season tickets, the Kings have increased the price of single-game tickets.

The largest chunk of tickets in the loge sections, which sold last season for $18.50, will go next season for $25, an increase of about 35%. Bought as season tickets, they will go for $22 a game. In the collonade, individual tickets will cost $16 and $10, an increase from last season of $3.50 and $2 per ticket.

The increase is the second since the end of a season in which the Kings allowed more goals than any other team in the NHL and ranked 18th in the NHL overall standings.

Bruce McNall, owner of the Kings, expects few fans to rebel, however.

“With Gretzky, people will understand,” he said. “There’s no way I’m getting even on this money I’m putting out. You can do the arithmetic yourself.

“Economically, I probably cannot come out ahead on this thing. But at least by increasing the ticket prices, I can bring it closer into line, and I think I’ve given the fans a reason for increasing the prices.”

Last February, after Mario Lemieux scored 3 goals and had 6 points in the NHL All-Star game, McNall told a reporter that he would give up half his team and pay $10 million for the Pittsburgh Penguin center.

McNall said Wednesday, however, that the comment was made in jest and that Gretzky was the only player who could make an impact in Los Angeles.

“Lemieux would be like Marcel Dionne,” he said. “A great, great player, but not necessarily the person who could bring what Wayne has brought--a real enthusiasm. To me, Wayne Gretzky is not only the best player in hockey, but he’s also the ambassador of hockey. He’s the true king of the sport. And, for this town anyway, he means more than any other person could mean.”

There has been speculation that, contrary to what he said Tuesday as the trade was announced, Gretzky did not really want to leave Edmonton.

Former Oiler Paul Coffey, traded last season to the Penguins after a contract dispute with Oiler management, told the Edmonton Journal that Gretzky was just a “piece of meat” traded for hard cash by Oiler Owner Peter Pocklington.

“I think hockey was No. 1 with Wayne,” Coffey said. “There’s no bloody way he wanted to go there.”

Gretzky would not answer the question directly when asked if it had been his idea to leave Edmonton.

“Everyone is looking for somebody to blame,” Gretzky said, “and the people to blame, I guess, are myself and Mr. Pocklington and Mr. McNall. We’re the three people who created the transaction.

“(Pocklington) was definitely concerned for the well-being of his hockey club. I guess there’s no question he could get more for me at the age of 27 than he could at the age of 30, which would be the year before my contract runs out.”

Pocklington, though, said that the trade was Gretzky’s idea and that Oiler management was against the idea of trading him.

McNall, too, said it was his understanding that the trade was something Gretzky wanted.

But the role of Janet Jones, Gretzky’s expectant wife, in prompting the trade has been overblown, McNall said.

“What I think the fact is, is that when they decided to have a family, Wayne said to himself: ‘Do I want to raise a child who is the son or daughter of the only famous person in Edmonton? Or do I want to live where my son or daughter is the child of one of the famous people in Los Angeles?’ ” McNall said.