Gretzky Knew Early On Day Would Be Historic : Hockey: The Great One told friends and family that Howe’s record would be his Wednesday night.

For the 802nd time, Wayne Gretzky had the puck on his stick, the look in his eye and the net in his sights.

For the 802nd time, Wayne Gretzky swung his arms and the red light flashed on.

For the 802nd time, Wayne Gretzky flashed his big grin and celebrated with his joyous teammates.

But this goal wasn’t quite like any of the 801 that preceded it.

This was a goal for the ages.

This was the goal that catapulted Wayne Gretzky from Great One to Greatest One.

It was a historic end to a day that had witnessed another memorable moment in the morning when Magic Johnson, his own legend already assured, took on a new life as a head coach. Probably never has one building been the site of so much history in one day.

Gretzky could feel it early in the day.

His mother, Phyllis, had already predicted that Wednesday was the day he would pass Gordie Howe’s career goal mark. She had correctly predicted that her son would score two goals Sunday to tie Howe.

On Wednesday morning, Gretzky’s mother told him that his father, Walter, who is recovering from a brain aneurysm, was running out of medication, which was at the Gretzkys’ place in Florida.

“You have to get it today,” she said.

“No problem,” her son replied.

Gretzky watched an old tape of himself scoring his first NHL goal 15 years ago and took a call from Howe, who wished him luck.

As he drove to the Forum, Gretzky called his agent, Mike Barnett, and told Barnett how great he felt.

“Then it will be tonight,” Barnett replied.

The Great One rarely exudes such great feelings on a game day.

“He called it,” Barnett said. “It was a big goal at the time and he wanted it to be a big goal. He has a flair for the dramatic. He has always been able to take it to a bigger level when he wanted something desperately. This he wanted desperately, to do it in front of the home fans.”

Before he headed into the locker room, Gretzky received some final advice from his wife, Janet.

“Try to enjoy it,” she said. “It only happens once in your life. Try to take it all in and enjoy it.”

That’s what King owner Bruce McNall did when the magic moment came during the second period of a 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The man who brought Gretzky to Los Angeles sat in his seat and surveyed the scene.

“It was the greatest moment I’ve ever had in my business career,” McNall said.

There were plenty who doubted hockey would ever become popular in Southern California back in 1988, when McNall pulled off his blockbuster deal to bring Gretzky to the Kings from the Edmonton Oilers.

Now, McNall took a moment to survey the scene: a full house including Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and movie stars such as Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and Martin Short.

“Six years ago, when I came to L.A.,” Gretzky told the cheering crowd when play was stopped to celebrate the moment, “they said California wasn’t a great hockey area. Mr. McNall brought me down here six years ago and we showed North America they were wrong.”

Afterward, he skated over to McNall.

“Wayne made a point of coming over,” McNall said, “and that meant a lot. He had a billion things on his mind, everyone was hassling him and he came over to me.”