It Was Elevator Music to Gretzky

Sometimes athletes find incentive in the oddest places. For Wayne Gretzky, before the Game 7 victory at Toronto that put the Kings in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals, it came in an elevator.

In “Crowning Moments,” an FSN West special to be televised after the Kings’ game Wednesday night, Gretzky talks about making small talk with one of the security people while riding in the elevator.

“He was explaining to me how it really isn’t that busy right now because the craziness will be starting at 10:30. I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this guy thinks they are going to win.’ I say in jest, ‘Don’t worry about your job at 10:30,’ and he says, ‘Why is that?’ I say, ‘Because my job starts at 7:30.’ ”

Gretzky had a hat trick in the 5-4 victory and calls it the greatest game he ever played.

Trivia time: With which team did Gretzky begin his professional hockey career?

Worth asking: Michelle Wie says the question she hears most from her school friends is: “Can you buy me a car?”

A real knee-slapper: The ordeal involving Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding became quite a soap opera in 1994. Now it is the basis for a one-act musical opera, to be performed at Boston’s Tufts University next spring. The performers should be able to skate through it, provided they can nail the high notes.

A gray area: “Broken bones, separated shoulders and blown knees,” wrote Bob Hille of the Sporting News about all the NFL injuries this season. “In fact, I hear ABC is fast-tracking a new Sunday night medical drama on ESPN: ‘Jim Gray’s Anatomy.’ ”

Coming soon: Wrote Michael Lough of the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph: “Goodness, it’s the second week of October and I can’t find any bowl projections yet.”

Then again, maybe not: Golfer George Archer, who died last month at 65, was quoted by Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle as once saying, “If it wasn’t for golf, I’d probably still be a caddie.”

Audible audits: Asked if anybody can cover him, Cincinnati Bengal receiver Chad Johnson told the Houston Chronicle: “The IRS. They’ve been on me for quite a while.”

Looking back: On this date in 1976, Tony Franklin of Texas A&M; kicked field goals of 65 and 64 yards in a 24-0 victory over Baylor. The 65-yarder set an NCAA record, which was broken in 1977 when Texas’ Russell Erxleben kicked a 67-yarder. That record was matched two weeks later by Arkansas’ Steve Little and a year later by Wichita State’s Joe Williams.

Trivia answer: The Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Assn. in 1978. He was traded to the WHA’s Edmonton Oilers after eight games. The WHA folded and the Oilers moved to the NHL in 1979.

And finally: Sheryl Crow, on her impending marriage to Lance Armstrong next spring, told Life magazine: “Someone asked me the other day if I was going to wear a yellow dress [at the wedding]. Not unless Lance rides his bike down the aisle.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.