ST LOUIS – Wayne Gretzky did not play long in St Louis, but as with any stint, relationships are made hard and fast, not unlike brief military deployments.
When asked about his short time in St Louis, Gretzky was circumspect.
“Well, listen, over the years you develop a lot of relationships and friendships. And for me I’m kind of in a unique situation in that I come into town quite often. I spend a lot of time here,” Gretzky said. “So when I’m here I see a lot of the guys. When I get a chance to be around the guys who live here full time and that I see quite a bit.
“But for this event, players that came in from out of town that live in other cities, to be here and to be part of it and get a chance to spend time together and just talk about hockey and talk about families and kids and the game itself, you know, it’s just fun.
“And it was — it’s such a great rivalry between the Hawks and the Blues that it’s only fitting that they square off in this game in St. Louis. And I don’t think there’s a better opponent for the Blues and for the fans than the Blackhawks. So I anticipate the game to be pretty spirited, pretty solid, good hockey game. And I think the fans will really enjoy it come the big game.”
With Busch Stadium a near sellout, Brett Hull was excited by the fan turn out for the Alumni game.
“It was fantastic. I kind of went on the Ken Hitchcock plan and I didn’t want to come in. I didn’t want to know what it looked like. I didn’t want to see it,” Hull said. ” I wanted to walk up the stairs and really get a surprise.
“And it was bigger and better and more exciting than I ever could come close to imagining. It just shows you what great sports fans the St. Louis area has.”
Hull joked about his ability to get around the ice in the contest.
“Yeah, I thought I had a lot more left in the tank. I mean, I was good for about 10 steps and then it was just burning,” said to laughter from the press corps.
“So, no, but you could see that — Pierre, he lives in Colorado. And I looked at Gretzky on the bench and I said, well, he doesn’t golf. And so I asked him. And he coaches and rides his mountain bike. So that’s pretty good for conditioning up there.
“But I thought a lot of the guys looked really good. Keith, Keith’s a big man and he looked good out there. I thought he was great. And Larry Patey, he’s got to be 60 years old and he pumped a goal in, and Bernie.
“I thought everyone looked good. And to win was great because I thought they had a bunch of young guys that barely just retired. So it was great. And it was nice to have Marty Brodeur in the net for us as well.”
