Kings to Retire Gretzky’s Number

Wayne Gretzky has received many honors since he retired as a player after the 1998-99 season, and he’ll get another very special one at the start of next season when the Kings retire his No. 99.

“I loved my time playing in L.A.,” said Gretzky, 41, the executive director of Canada’s Olympic team and managing partner of the Phoenix Coyotes. “When I first came to L.A., I remember some of my closest friends telling me, ‘What was I thinking?’ and asking, ‘Will hockey ever go in L.A?’ ... Fortunately, the whole organization has worked hard in not only putting together as good a team as possible, but more importantly, selling the game of hockey in the area of Southern California.”

The date of the ceremony will be determined once the NHL releases the Kings’ 2002-03 schedule this summer.

Gretzky, who played eight seasons with the Kings, including an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals in 1993, had his No. 99 officially retired by all NHL teams after he completed his 20-year career as the league’s leading scorer.

Although it may seem that the Kings took their time to retire Gretzky’s jersey, team President Tim Leiweke said that’s far from the truth.

“[The Kings] wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him,” Leiweke said.. “We wanted to make sure that what we were doing was more than just raising the jersey. We wanted to have a two-day celebration for the greatest player, not just in our history but the history of the game.

“It’s important for us to give our fans an opportunity to be an active participant in the tribute.”

Gretzky’s jersey retirement celebration will be preceded by a charity dinner, a sports memorabilia auction and a possible fan festival. Gretzky said another reason for the delay was that he wanted to wait until former King owner Bruce McNall was released from prison after serving time for bank fraud.

“I wanted to wait until my friend Bruce was around,” Gretzky said. “I thought the timing would be better next year. It wasn’t a problem getting it worked out.”

Gretzky became the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer as a King on March 23, 1994, when he passed Gordie Howe with his 802nd goal.

Gretzky, who had 918 points in 538 games as a King, is fourth on the Kings all-time scoring list.