A Great Send-Off

He skated alone in the spotlight, smiling, waving and pointing his gloved hand to salute the 18,200 fans whose rhythmic clapping and chants of “Gretz-KEE!” grew to a thunderous roar. Wayne Gretzky’s eyes had stayed dry through a brief but touching pregame tribute in which the NHL decreed no player would ever wear his familiar number 99, but with his marvelous career officially over, he could pack away his self-restraint with the Ranger jersey he will never wear again and let himself go.

He had insisted his retirement was an occasion to celebrate, that he was not sad and therefore no one else should mourn. Yet, as he glided around the ice at Madison Square Garden for the last time Sunday, skating past the “99” etched into the ice behind each net to mark the spot known as his “office” and favorite place to orchestrate brilliant goals, Gretzky wept.

After 21 remarkable seasons--the last 20 spent obliterating NHL records--Gretzky proved to be human after all.

“They were tears of joy,” Gretzky said after recording the 1,963rd assist and 2,857th point of a career that will never be equaled for its sustained excellence, longevity and impact in broadening the appeal of a narrowly focused league. “Because I was thinking of all the fun things and all the days of hard work together. Tears of joy, no question.”

Of all the standards he set--the 61 records, 10 scoring titles, nine most valuable player awards, all-star appearances and Canada Cup exploits--none matched his final accomplishment: leaving everyone wanting more.

“It’s always too soon when you see great players retire,” said Mario Lemieux, who walked away from the game two years ago because back problems and the aftereffects of cancer treatments sapped his strength and dulled the incomparable skills that had made him Gretzky’s closest challenger.

“You always think they can play until they’re 40, 45 years old. But there just comes a time when you step back and realize that maybe you’re not the player you were years ago. That’s always frustrating for a great athlete, not being able to play at the level they once played, and I’m sure that had an effect on Wayne’s decision.”

Gretzky could have had three or four goals Sunday, so numerous were the chances linemates Niklas Sundstrom and John MacLean created for him. And he could have had a half-dozen assists if they had finished the chances he manufactured for them. As it was, he helped the Rangers pull even in the second period, making a typically perfect pass to Mathieu Schneider, whose rebound was redirected into the net by Brian Leetch at 19:30. He was on the bench, however, when Jaromir Jagr scored 1:22 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-1 victory.

“Maybe it was fitting that the best young player in the game scored the goal in overtime,” Gretzky said of Jagr, the NHL’s scoring champion. “Everyone always talks about passing torches and all that stuff. He caught it. That’s what I told him after the game, ‘You caught it.’ ”

For so long, Gretzky was the best player in the game. And at 38, he still ranked among the best, if no longer at the top and five years removed from his last scoring title. That he had merely one assist Sunday was, to Gretzky, evidence he had made the correct choice when he decided to end his career.

“It’s time,” said Gretzky, whose nine goals and 62 points were his fewest in a full season. “John [Muckler, the Rangers’ coach] called a timeout with 30 seconds to go. He’s got a daughter that is about to give birth in Edmonton, and I came over [to the bench] and he said, ‘I’ve got to tell you something.’ I said, ‘What?’ and he said, ‘I just had a grandson today and you’ve got to get the winner.’

“And maybe when I was younger, I might have got that winner for him. I didn’t get it for him today, and I know it’s the right time. . . . I wish I could have been [Michael] Jordan hitting that last shot to win the championship, but that wasn’t going to happen.”

It couldn’t happen because the Rangers had been eliminated from playoff contention long ago, and with a team that is only starting to rebuild, he could no longer find the mental or physical reserves to put himself through 82 games and countless practices for another season.

Gretzky began to consider retirement in February but heeded the advice of his wife, Janet, and postponed his decision. Although friends and family urged him to play one more year, he could not be moved. After much speculation, he announced his decision Friday, setting himself up for a rocky few days.

“I had a good cry at home on Friday,” he said. “It’s hard to get up and tell the world you’re leaving, especially when you’ve been treated so nicely by a lot of people, organizations, fans, by you guys [reporters].”

He was treated royally Sunday. Among his gifts were a car from the Rangers, 30 framed score sheets from games in which he set records as a present from the NHL and a new, personalized version of “O Canada.” Singer Bryan Adams, invited to give a special rendition of the Canadian anthem, changed one line to “We’re going to miss you Wayne,” drawing chuckles from a surprised Gretzky.

The fans gave him an outpouring of love, throwing flowers and holding up signs proclaiming, “I’ll Miss You,” and “No Regretzky.” From the facade of the top deck hung a banner that read, “Thank You Wayne, 99 Forever.” His guests, including his parents, Walter and Phyllis, were warmly welcomed, too. “It’s a special place to be a hockey player, in this facility, in this town,” Gretzky said.

Perhaps the only discordant note was the absence of Gordie Howe, Gretzky’s childhood idol. In a videotaped greeting, Howe said he was in Cincinnati, participating in an autograph session, but wished Gretzky the best.

Jordan also sent a videotaped greeting and called Gretzky Sunday morning. “He told me that I’m going to really love retirement in a sense that if my decision is accurate, as I believe it is, he said, ‘You’re going to have no qualms about it,’ ” Gretzky said. “He also said just because I’m retired now, don’t think I’m going to become a better golfer.”

Former Edmonton teammate Paul Coffey watched the game from a corner at ice level. Beside him stood a visibly moved Mark Messier, who played with Gretzky in Edmonton and for a season with the Rangers--and got an ovation Sunday that nearly equaled the roars accorded Gretzky.

“Back then, we thought if we played five years we’d have a storybook career,” Messier said of their Oiler beginnings. “I’ve been fighting back the tears for about four or five days now. Just watching Wayne at the end of the game was really emotional.”

Gretzky, who presented his teammates with personally autographed sticks after the second period to be sure no one was forgotten in the postgame crush, begins the first day of the rest of his non-hockey life with no regrets and nothing on his schedule besides a bowling tournament with his now former Ranger teammates. He plans to take a few months off before deciding what his future holds and whether ownership of a team might be part of it.

For the moment, though, he was too busy savoring a day he will remember above all others. Asked how he would like others to remember him, he paused.

“Probably just that I cared about the game and I cared about my teammates,” he said. “I don’t think I ever played without giving an honest effort, whether it was an exhibition game in September or Game 7 [of a playoff series] in May. . . . It’s hard to take [his jersey] off right now. I don’t want to take it off. You know, I said a million times, I was a boy that happened to love a game and the good Lord gave me a passion for it. And I happened to follow some boyhood idols who were great NHL players.

“As I said many times, everything I have in my life I owe to the National Hockey League. I wouldn’t have anything without it.”

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Final Tally

Some final numbers for Wayne Gretzky with all-time NHL rank in parenthesis:

REGULAR SEASON

* Goals: 894 (1st)

* Assists: 1,963 (1st)

* Points: 2,857 (1st)

* Games: 1,487 (4th)

*

PLAYOFFS

* Goals: 122 (1st)

* Assists: 260 (1st)

* Points: 382 (1st)

* Most 3+ Goal Games: 10 (1st)