As Youths, No. 99 Was No. 1 in Their Eyes

Wayne Gretzky will call it a career Sunday, leaving the game he reinvented for 20 NHL seasons while still remarkable enough on the ice to be called the Great One.

The obvious question upon Gretzky’s departure is: Who will be the Next One?

No one, according to Mighty Duck wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

“You’re never going to replace Wayne,” Kariya said. “He’s the greatest player of all time.”

Added Selanne: “Nobody can match his talent and his numbers.”

Selanne is the NHL’s leading goal-scorer this season with 47. He also has 105 points--second-best behind only Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr, who has 124. Kariya has 38 goals and is third in scoring with 99 points.

But those numbers pale in comparison to Gretzky’s record-setting marks of 92 goals in 1981-82 and 215 points in 1985-86 while playing for the Edmonton Oilers.

Kariya and Selanne marvel at Gretzky’s prolific scoring, accomplished in an era of wide-open hockey made famous by the high-scoring Oilers. Selanne, in particular, has said it will be impossible to break many of Gretzky’s scoring records.

Gretzky isn’t so sure.

Two weeks ago, while the Ducks were in New York to play Gretzky’s Rangers, he mentioned Selanne, Jagr and Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros as among those he believed could score more than 92 goals in a season.

“No one’s come close to playing the game the way he has,” Kariya said of Gretzky. “It’s going to be tough to duplicate what he did in Edmonton. Because of free agency you’re never going to have a team like that again.”

Kariya idolized Gretzky and the Oilers while growing up in North Vancouver. He had Gretzky posters in his room, videotapes for the family VCR and a style of play that drew comparisons to Gretzky.

But Kariya certainly wasn’t alone in his admiration of Gretzky.

Growing up in Helsinki, Selanne also had pictures of Gretzky in his home. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Selanne’s countryman, Jari Kurri, played on Gretzky’s line.

“I think Gretz and Jari were my biggest idols growing up,” Selanne said. “In the middle of the ‘80s, everybody in Finland and Europe was talking about the Oilers. They were unbelievable hockey players.”

Kariya and Selanne are often mentioned as the best one-two scoring combination in the NHL since Gretzky and Kurri skated together during the Oiler dynasty.

But consider this: Gretzky goes into his final game Sunday against Pittsburgh with 894 goals and 1,962 assists in 1,486 games and he also won four Stanley Cup championships with the Oilers.

Kariya has 167 goals and 209 assists in 301 games and Selanne has 313 goals and 329 assists in 484 games. Neither has played in a Stanley Cup final.

Selanne referred to Gretzky as “the god of hockey.”

“Gretz has been so good for everybody in hockey. It’s a sad day for hockey. . . . It’s amazing to think what he’s meant to hockey. Without him we wouldn’t have a team here [in Anaheim].”

Said Kariya: “He’s been the best ambassador of any sport. He still has a lot to give to the game.”