Word: nhl
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Post broke the news of his impending decision last week. His last game in Canada, at Ottawa, became a ceremony, with opposing players each skating over to shake his hand; and the p.a. guy, instead of announcing the three stars of the game as is the custom at every NHL game, called only one--the only real superstar hockey has ever...
...told TIME, "People talk about skating, puck handling and shooting, but the whole sport is angles and caroms, forgetting the straight direction the puck is going, calculating where it will be diverted, factoring in all the interruptions." Don't worry. That sounded just as confusing to most NHL players...
Before Gretzky, back in 1979, America only knew hockey as boxing on ice, a sport that could never take hold south of Route 80. He helped free the game from the goons and clear a path for the more skilled, European game that dominates the NHL today. He overcame his shyness to become the perfect ambassador: humble, accessible, nice and somehow impeccably earnest without being creepy. The biggest off-ice controversy he ever faced was whether being on the cover of Cigar Aficionado sent a bad message to children...
...league won't have to retire 99. No one has had the hubris to wear Gretzky's number in the NHL, the AHL, the juniors or college hockey. It has represented not winning, not intensity, but how awesomely subtle greatness can be. And that's not something most people can wear on their backs...
Farewell Wayne. The NHL will sorely miss...