Notes on a Scorecard - Feb. 29, 1996

At first whiff, the Wayne Gretzky trade stinks. . . .

The Kings got three kids from the St. Louis Blues and a couple of future draft picks for the highest-scoring hockey player ever. . . .

But the aroma might become much sweeter in L.A. . . .

It all depends on what King ownership does with all those millions of dollars it saved by not re-signing Gretzky. . . .

If the money is put back into the product with the signature of a talented free agent or two or three the next couple of years, fine. . . .

That would be the foundation of a rebuilding job for a team that began play Wednesday night with more points than only six of 26 teams in the league. . . .

But if Edward Roski and Philip Anschutz don’t put out the big bucks, the Gretzky deal will be just another in a long line of awful ones for the Kings. . . .

The best King deal ever? . . .

It was the one that sent Jimmy Carson, the rights to first-round draft pick MartinGelinas and three future first-round picks to Edmonton for Gretzky, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley on Aug. 9, 1988. . . .

That was the day that the puck finally landed in Los Angeles. . . .

No. 99 made hockey No. 1 in many hearts and minds here. . . .

In the 1991-92 season, the Kings became the first L.A. professional team to sell out every home game. . . .

Without the attention that Gretzky brought to the sport in California, there might not be any Mighty Ducks, selling out the Pond of Anaheim regularly, or Sharks, selling out the San Jose Arena. . . .

The Kings would not have reached the Stanley Cup finals three years ago without him. . . .

With him, their regular season won-loss record was a hardly dazzling 257-259-84. . . .

But without him the previous seven seasons, they were 192-290-78. . . .

A proper supporting cast was lacking too much of the time. Most of the deals made during the Gretzky era were ill-advised. Some of them had his blessing. But perhaps the worst one, which sent Paul Coffey to Detroit, did not. . . .

I’ll miss Gretzky in the locker room because he made my job easier. . . .

He is one of the few superstars who caters more to writers than TV and radio announcers. . . .

Gretzky hasn’t been very productive lately and his goal-scoring touch might be gone, but playing on a line with Brett Hull should do wonders for him at 35. . . .

Maybe this is one of those rare deals that will help both clubs, but that depends on how much the King ownership wants to win.

It’s actually the third

time that Gretzky has been traded during his professional career. In November of 1978, the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Assn. sent cash to the Indianapolis Racers for Gretzky, Eddie Mio and Pete Driscoll. . . .

Gretzky’s wife, actress Janet Jones, is from St. Louis. . . .

*

A Paul Westphal fan called to say that Danny Manning’s return to the lineup from knee surgery just might have something to do with the Phoenix Suns’ recent improvement. . . .

How disappointing are the Dallas Mavericks? They lost both their games to the Philadelphia 76ers this season. . . .

John Wooden will be presented the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame’s “distinguished American award” March 8 at the Brookside Country Clubin Pasadena. . . .

A good choice to succeed Dave O’Brien as Long Beach State athletic director would be Bill Shumard, former Cal State Fullerton athletic director who is currently an administrator on the 49er campus. . . .

Leading collegiate shot blocker in Southern California is Long Beach State center Ja’net Davis, who has blocked 91. Her 3.5 average is second in the nation to Kisa Bradley of Oral Roberts. . . .

The Pyramid in Long Beach should be an excellent venue for boxing. It will seat 5,000 for the opening show, hometown heavyweight prospect Jeremy Williams against Arthur Weathers on March 19. . . .

Heavyweight Joe Powder, a former Yugoslavian Olympic team member, will fight a preliminary bout on a card featuring welterweights Michael Walsh and Hector Pena tonight at the Irvine Marriott. . . .

Versatile Rich Marotta is concentrating on boxing and will do the blow-by-blow broadcast on more than 60 televised cards this year. . . .

Big ‘Cap predictions: 1. Helmsman; 2. Serena’s Song; 3. Alphabet Soup.