Gretzky Is on Road to Everywhere : Kings’ Star Still Facing Split-Loyalty Scenes in Edmonton

Since last he skated for the Kings, Wayne Gretzky has been to Europe, where he invested in a horse; to New York, where he was host of “Saturday Night Live;” to Toronto, where he was honored as the most valuable player in the National Hockey League; to Las Vegas, where he attended the Victor Awards; home to Ontario, for his charity softball game; back to Los Angeles, where he played host to a couple of vacationing Edmonton Oilers; to Victoria, Canada, for another charity appearance, and back to Los Angeles where, Friday, he started his day as a KIIS-FM guest disc jockey alongside Rick Dees.

From there, it was on to the Forum to talk with a small group of reporters about last summer’s trade from the Oilers to the Kings, a trade that ranks among the biggest in the history of sport and is still being felt--throughout the National Hockey League.

Gretzky calls it a trade that “definitely helped hockey.”

It definitely helped hockey in Los Angeles. But it didn’t do much for Edmonton.

“I don’t think Edmonton would have traded me to L.A. if they had thought I would come back to haunt them,” Gretzky said Friday. “In that, I think I was underestimated as a hockey player. They didn’t think L.A. could compete the way we did.”

Gretzky remembers the weeks before the trade as “an emotional time . . . a hard time . . . a fun time.”

And it led into an emotional, hard, fun hockey season.

Gretzky is hoping that this season will be a little easier, with less emphasis on his change of allegiance.

But before he skates for the Kings again, he has another of those emotional scenes to face in Edmonton where, on Aug. 27, he will attend the unveiling of a bronze statue of himself outside the Northlands Coliseum.

It’s a statue of Gretzky in an Edmonton Oiler uniform holding the Stanley Cup over his head.

Gretzky struggles with these split-loyalty scenes.

On Friday, he said that the exhibition game in Edmonton Sept. 22 might be one that he sits out.

According to NHL rules, players can appear in only eight exhibitions and the Kings have 11. That means the fans in three cities are going to be sorely disappointed.

The trade has had a profound effect on the Kings’ training camp and exhibition schedule. According to King Vice President Roy Mlakar, camp and the exhibition season used to cost the Kings more than $250,000. Now, they will make almost $1 million.

“I spent the months of January and February entertaining offers from promoters throughout North America who wanted a game,” Mlakar said. “It’s big business now. I tried to put the games in big buildings. In Milwaukee, they have already sold 17,000 tickets at an average price of $20. . . . The promoter in Cleveland has already sold 10,000 tickets at an average price of $25. We anticipate a sellout in Denver.

“I won’t be surprised if we sell out every game.”

It also will be no surprise if the Kings open the regular season with a string of sellouts.

At some point early in the season, Gretzky will break the all-time scoring record set by his longtime idol, Gordie Howe, who scored 1,850 points. Gretzky is only 14 points away from that.

The record will mean that the focus will stay on Gretzky for a while, even though he’s hoping for a little break sometime soon.

“I knew it was going to be a hectic, tough year last year because it was a new thing for everybody,” Gretzky said. “ . . . Obviously it will be a lot easier for me this year. It’s not as new. The excitement will have died down a lot.”

But the excitement over the scoring record?

“That’s the fun part of the game,” Gretzky said.

King Notes

Goalie Glenn Healy, a free agent with compensation, is not likely to be back with the Kings next season. He is expected to sign with another team, possibly the New Jersey Devils, early next week. . . . John Tonelli, the only other King whose contract is still unsettled, is expected to reach an agreement with the team soon.