THE NHL ALL-STAR GAME : Gretzky Is the Spark in Campbell’s 9-5 Win : King Center Is Selected MVP on His Old Ice

Wayne Gretzky was nervous before the National Hockey League All-Star game Tuesday night. It was his ninth All-Star game, but it was special. Not like those games of the past, the games he played for fun.

This game was being played in the Northlands Coliseum, on the ice that was his during 10 years with the Edmonton Oilers. This game was being played before a sellout crowd of 17,503 that rocked the building with a stirring ovation when he was introduced.

This game gave him a rare chance to play on the same line again with his old Oiler teammate Jari Kurri. With Oiler goalie Grant Fuhr in the net. With Oiler defenseman Kevin Lowe on the team. With Oiler Coach Glen Sather behind the bench.

Gretzky really wanted to win this game.

So he did. He charged the Campbell Conference team with the same kind of spark he has used to jolt the Kings to life this season.

Just like old times, he and Kurri raced down the ice to combine for a goal with a little over a minute played in the game. And the Campbell Conference was on its way to a 9-5 victory over the Wales Conference.

The crowd went wild when Gretzky skated up the right side and slid the puck across to Kurri on the left side, and Kurri put the puck in behind goalie Sean Burke of the New Jersey Devils.

Gretzky scored the second goal himself at 4:33, picking up the puck that fellow King Steve Duchesne had floated in front of the goal for him. Gretzky put his stick down to stop the puck in his path to the left of the goal, then quickly scooped it around to the right of Burke.

There was no mistaking the pure joy Gretzky felt at pleasing this crowd again.

And when he was named most valuable player of the game, he was moved. It had not been an automatic choice. As Gretzky pointed out: “No one player dominated the game.”

Gretzky had a goal and two assists. Joe Mullen of Calgary had two goals and an assist. Jimmy Carson of the Oilers had a goal and an assist. Mark Messier of the Oilers had a goal and an assist. Luc Robitaille of the Kings had a goal and an assist. Kurri had a goal and an assist. Gary Leeman of Toronto had a goal and an assist. Duchesne had two assists.

For the Wales Conference, Walt Poddubny had two goals.

Mario Lemieux, the NHL’s leading scorer and the man who stole this show a year ago with six points for the Wales Conference, had just one assist and really wasn’t a factor.

Maybe he will be next year, when the game is played on his home ice at Pittsburgh. This night belonged to Gretzky.

Gretzky figures that having the crowd behind him was worth a couple of votes, at least, for the MVP honor.

“I had a great time tonight,” he said. “I don’t think I stopped smiling all night.”

Explaining that it felt just like old times, he said: “I don’t think it really hit me that I’d been traded until after the first period tonight.”

Yes, he admitted, he said that with a touch of longing.

“I’ve never denied that I miss Edmonton,” Gretzky said. “I’ve never denied that I miss my teammates. I won’t ever deny that. We won four championships in five years. We grew up from being a bunch of kids to being the best in the league. I miss them a lot.

“But I’m in a situation now with an owner (Bruce McNall) who is just outstanding, and I’m with a fine organization. Maybe we can build something there. I’d like to do that for him.

“It would have been easy to sit back here, maybe even win another two or three Stanley Cups. But I’m also enjoying the pressure and the challenge that I have now.”

On this night, though, he relived some of the old glory and allowed himself to show the emotion he feels for the players he misses.

“Ten or 20 years from now, when I look back on my career, there will be times that stand out,” Gretzky said. “The first time that I was back here with the Kings is a time I’ll always remember. Tonight will be extra special. . . . I think I’ll go home and watch the tape.”

Meanwhile, in the Campbell Conference’s locker room, there were a lot of other guys who didn’t stop smiling all night.

Sather was, of course, very pleased to coach his first All-Star victory. He was 0-4 before Tuesday night.

Duchesne was happy for Gretzky and thrilled with the victory.

“Ecstatic,” said the French-Canadian defenseman. “I’m ecstatic. Ecstatic. That’s a new word I learned today. That means very, very happy. That’s what I am. Ecstatic. I learned it from watching TV today. I’m ecstatic and everyone in this room is ecstatic.”

Getting a little more specific, Duchesne said that he was ecstatic to get the assist on Gretzky’s goal.

The game wasn’t wrapped up at that point, though. The Wales Conference tied it on goals by Cam Neely of Boston and Poddubny of Quebec before the end of the first period.

Then the Wales Conference went up, 3-2, just 1:16 into the second period on a goal by Glen Wesley of Boston. But the Campbell Conference scored three straight for a 5-3 lead at the end of the second period.

It was 3-3 when both teams changed goalies at the game’s midpoint (Rejean Lemelin of Boston relieving Burke and Mike Vernon of Calgary relieving Fuhr), and then Steve Yzerman of Detroit and Leeman scored just 14 seconds apart.

Poddubny scored his second goal of the night early in the third period to cut the lead to 5-4, and Mullen answered with his second to make it 6-4. Then Mike Ridley of Washington scored the last goal for the Wales Conference before Robitaille, Carson and Messier ran up the score.

NHL All-Star Notes

Wayne Gretzky said that he would give the car he won for being named most valuable player of the game to a former Oiler teammate, Dave Semenko. “I think the car should stay here in Edmonton,” he said. “Dave was one of the guys who really helped me in my career.” . . . With his goal in the first period, Gretzky tied Gordie Howe’s All-Star career record of 10 goals. Howe scored his 10 in 23 games. Gretzky has scored 10 in nine games. . . . The Campbell Conference’s nine goals tied the All-Star record for most goals by one team in a game, set by the Campbell Conference in a 9-3 victory in 1983. And the 14 goals set a record for most goals by both teams, breaking the record of 13 set in the Wales Conference’s 7-6 victory in 1984.

The Edmonton Oilers announced Tuesday night that they have acquired right winger Dave Brown from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for center Keith Acton and a future draft pick. Brown, 26, has played all five years with the Flyers. He has three assists and 100 penalty minutes in 50 games this season.