Gretzky Misses King Win to Be With Ailing Father

There was reason to celebrate at the Forum Wednesday night as the Kings broke out of their offensive slump with a freewheeling though somewhat sloppy 8-5 victory over the San Jose Sharks, led by Bob Kudelski’s hat trick.

But nobody felt much like celebrating.

The Kings’ thoughts instead were focused at the other end of the continent where their star center, Wayne Gretzky, was with his father, Walter, who had been stricken by a brain aneurysm earlier in the day.

A spokesman for Hamilton General Hospital reported Wednesday night that the seniorGretzky, 53, was unconscious. According to Wayne Gretzky, who spoke with Coach Tom Webster by phone Wednesday evening, his father was to undergo surgery today.

Walter Gretzky had been painting a house in Canning, located 90 to 100 miles from Toronto, when he started experiencing problems.

“Walter took a headache, got sick to his stomach and we took him to the hospital,” family friend Ron Finucan told the Associated Press,

“I was with Walter and Phyllis (his wife) at the last Blue Jay game (Sunday in Toronto) and he was absolutely enjoying himself. He was in the pink, just as happy as he could be.”

Walter Gretzky, who gave Wayne his early training on ice, retired about six months ago after working for a phone company.

Wayne Gretzky attended the morning skate for the Kings. Upon learning of his father’s condition, he called owner Bruce McNall, who arranged for the use of a private jet.

“Our thoughts and prayers, are with Wayne and his family,” McNall said.

Gretzky has not made any plans for returning until his father’s condition stabilizes.

“Obviously everybody is concerned,” King goalie Kelly Hrudey said. “Wayne is where he should be. Hockey will always be around.”

Gretzky’s absence caused Webster to further shuffle the lines, a process he had begun Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets because of the Kings’ struggles on offense.

In the second period Saturday, Webster had put Mike Donnelly on the first line with Gretzky and Jari Kurri, moving Tomas Sandstrom another line. Gretzky has yet to score a goal this season.

The change seemed to spark the Kings, who came back from a two-goal deficit to get a tie with Winnipeg.

With Gretzky gone Wednesday, Webster moved Tony Granato to first-line center, between Donnelly and Kurri. John McIntyre centered a line with Luc Robitaille and Dave Taylor on the wings, and Kudelski centered a line that included Sandstrom and Ilkka Sinisalo.

But even those changes proved temporary when McIntyre left the game in the second period with a sprained left thumb. He doesn’t know when he will be back.

The Kings surged into a 4-0 first-period lead before a sellout crowd of 16,005, getting their first goal only 25 seconds after the opening faceoff.

That goal was scored by defenseman Peter Ahola, his first as a pro. Before the period was over, Kudelski had scored two and Robitaille had added his third of the season.

But the Sharks, resilient if not too successful in their first season of existence, came back with two second-period goals, Brian Mullen’s third and fourth of the season. Mullen’s second goal came with the Sharks short-handed.

But 36 seconds later, while still on the power play, the Kings responded when Donnelly scored his third of the season to extend their lead to 5-2 as the second period ended.

Kudelski’s third goal of the night and fourth of the season opened the final period.

But the Sharks again made it close when Perry Anderson and Brian Lawton each scored their first goals of the season.

Robitaille later added his second goal of the night, but Link Gaetz countered with his first of the season. The Kings’ Randy Gilhen closed out the scoring with his first goal.

The Kings improve to 3-1-2, and San Jose fell to 1-6.

But while the Kings were happy about the resurgence of their offense, the defense was another matter.

“You can take this one and the 7-1 loss to Calgary and burn them,” defenseman Larry Robinson said.

Hrudey, who has been troubled by a sore back, wasn’t hesitant about fingering the culprit in this one.

“I couldn’t make a save,” he said, refusing to blame his back, “and that made it into a game. The defense didn’t play as well as it should, but I didn’t have a save in me.”

King Notes

The Kings outshot the Sharks, 40-29. . . . The Kings have recalled defensemen Tim Watters and Rene Chapdelaine from their Phoenix Roadrunner farm team. Both were in the lineup Wednesday. . . . Among the Kings’ scratches were defensemen Rod Buskas and Darryl Sydor.