Gretzky's working out; Coyotes deny rumors
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ESPN.com news services
Is Wayne Gretzky pondering a Mario-esque comeback?
People close to Gretzky say the thought of a comeback has crossed his mind, ESPN's Al Morganti reported. Gretzky started talking about the possibiliy after he participated in a summer camp for Coyotes prospects and came away feeling he held up well.
The rumor has also begun circulating among players on the golf course, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick was spreading that word this week while at an Illinois charity golf tournament.
"Several people have told me he's coming back," said Roenick, who played for the Coyotes and the 41-year-old Gretzky, the team's managing partner, two seasons ago. "He's been working out a lot."
A source close to the Coyotes told the Tribune that if Gretzky isn't sure about returning to the NHL, he's at least getting himself in shape enough to see if he could still give it a go. Mario Lemieux put himself though a similar workout regimen before deciding to return to the NHL two years ago.
"I know when a guy is working out and when a guy is working out to play hockey," the source said, "and he's working out to play hockey."
Coyotes GM Mike Barnett, who is Gretzky's former agent, did not give the rumor much credence, however.
"There's no official comment from the team," Barnett told the Tribune, "because we don't want to give life to it."
Gretzky took part in a summer workout program designed for Phoneix's young players earlier this summer, but did so in an attempt to strengthen two herniated discs in his neck, Barnett told the Tribune.
Gretzky first denied rumblings of a comeback in January after joining the Coyotes for a morning skate before a game.
"I'm not coming back, trust me," Gretzky said then. "I'm about three lines away from our fourth unit."
Gretzky holds more than 60 NHL records after a 20-year career, and turns 42 in January.
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GEGEN:Ausländerbegrenzung, Helmregel, Visierpflicht, Spielerlizenzbegrenzung, autom. Spieldauer nach 5, autom. Sperre nach Spieldauer, Abschaffung des 2-Linien-Abseits...
Kurz: gegen die DEL !
Report of Gretzky comeback unfounded
(Aug 2) SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (CP) - Wayne Gretzky said Friday that he is not planning a comeback.
The Great One, who retired after the 1998-99 NHL season, has two herniated discs that will eventually require back surgery. He also turns 42 in January.
A column in the Chicago Tribune quoted Philadelphia Flyers centre Jeremy Roenick as saying Gretzky was thinking about a comeback after skating recently with the Phoenix Coyotes rookies at a voluntary strength and conditioning camp in July at Tempe, Ariz. "Several people have told me he's coming back," Roenick was quoted as saying.
Not so, Gretzky said in a press release.
"I decided to take part in the camp for several reasons," said the managing partner of the Coyotes. "One, I felt it was a good opportunity for me to train for my own personal well being and take advantage of the superior instruction offered by the people at API (Athletes' Performance Institute at Tempe).
"Two, I felt that the strength training would help stabilize my neck injury and possibly help prevent future surgery. Lastly, I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to skate with some of our future and current Coyotes' players and have some fun.
"I thoroughly enjoyed skating with all of our players. It was the first
time I've skated hard in almost three years.
"It was enjoyable and I intend to do it again at some point, but I am not planning on making a comeback to play in the National Hockey League with the Phoenix Coyotes.
"I do not intend to comment on this matter again."
I sincerely hope that this business about Wayne Gretzky pondering a comeback is as groundless as Phoenix Coyotes spokesmen say it is. Because The Great One should not come back to the NHL. He doesn't need it, the league doesn't need it, and the fans shouldn't have to suffer through it.
In fact, rather than contemplate a return to the ice, Gretzky would be better employed by getting on the phone and talking his old buddy, Mark Messier, into joining him in retirement instead of insisting on trying one more year with the Rangers, who don't have anywhere for him to play or any real desire to have him.
Gretzky dominated his sport as no athlete since Babe Ruth has dominated any sport. But, that era is over. The game is different, all clutching and grabbing and neutral-zone traps -- the bane of an artist like Gretzky. I'm sure he could still play a little, but he can't play enough to make it worthwhile for anyone.
This isn't a band reunion tour, where you can bring the Monkees or the Beach Boys back together and fans can have a good time pretending that they and the band are still young. You pay for 50-year-old guys singing, and they give you what you paid for.
This is a professional team sport, and one of the most demanding there is. And it doesn't do any good to pretend that the guy you're watching is still young, because age does matter. You're not paying for memories, but for victories.
Other players have excelled at Gretzky's age. Chris Chelios is older than Lake Michigan, but he was a mainstay for the Red Wings, as was Ray Bourque, who retired after finally winning the cup in 2001 with the Avalanche.
But Chelios and Bourque played defense, where positioning and technique are paramount and scoring is a nice bonus. Gretzky's value to a team is not in his defense or technique, but in his scoring. That's what he was, the greatest scorer ever to play the game. It's what he wasn't anymore when he quit.
In 1998-99, his last season, Gretzky played 70 games and scored 63 points with a mere nine goals. If he were a center on a checking line, that wouldn't be a bad total, but Gretzky isn't a checking center. He doesn't go into the corners and dig out pucks or muscle guys like Mario Lemieux around. He's a first-line center, and, as such, those numbers didn't make it three years ago, and they're not going to be as good now.
No team needs an over-the-hill first-line center, especially one that hopes to build to the playoffs. They need kids who can play hard and will get better, not old guys with compressed disks in his neck who can't go into a corner and whose best days are far behind him.
And you can't imagine Gretzky playing anywhere but on the top line. Where else? The checking line? The number two offensive line? The fourth line that puts in eight or 12 minutes a game and gets in all the fights?
You can't imagine him doing that because he can't help a team in any of those roles, and he knows it. You need size and speed to check. Put him on the second offensive line and he is paired with the second-best forwards. What points he would have scored by virtue of having the top wings skating with him would decrease even further.
And I'm sorry, but I can't imagine Wayne Gretzky with a 40-point season. You can get anybody to do that. Why waste such a pittance on such greatness? Why soil the memory of the greatest player who ever lived for half a point a game?
Maybe somebody would pay to see the formerly Great One skate a few more shifts, but I don't see him filling arenas. Jordan sold out houses around the NBA when he came back last year, and the people who bought those tickets soon found they had paid to watch another bald guy shoot jumpers.
At least Jordan put the points on the board and played big minutes. But he didn't finish the season, which is what happens when an old guy tries to keep up with the young guys and finds out his bones don't appreciate it.
Gretzky isn't going to score like Jordan. He plays 45 seconds or a minute at a time, and the man who once averaged better than two points a game, isn't even a lock to get an assist anymore. He can't double-shift and put in 25 minutes or more a game. He can't dominate play every time he steps on the ice.
From a fan's perspective, it's hardly worth the expense. Better to pay to watch Pavel Bure, who may not play much defense, but is almost guaranteed to put on a rush and a move and a shot that, even if it doesn't set off the sirens and lights, will be something to remember.
I saw one of Gretzky's last games, and the last one he played in Continental Arena in New Jersey with the visiting Rangers against the Devils. I took my kids to the game, told them to watch No. 99, because they might never see him play again. The kids watched, and Gretzky came through with a perfect pass from behind the net to Brian Leetch in the slot for a goal.
The Rangers, of course, lost that game, because that's what they were doing in Gretzky's last two years, and that's what they've done in the three years since he's left. They didn't get better by his presence nor worse by his absence.
He was still magic to watch, because you remembered what he used to do and, if you saw enough games, were rewarded with touches of the old genius. But the genius was fading three years ago. What little that he may have left can't be enough to reward the fans or make it worthwhile to his team.
Gretzky can come back if he wants to, but he'll have to excuse me if I don't watch him. I don't think I could stand the disappointment of seeing him trying to hang on.
cheers Stefan
member of the "DELete(tm) und Tripcke gehört weg"-Circle
"Lernen ohne zu denken ist verlorene Arbeit. Denken ohne zu lernen ist gefährlich..."
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Wayne Gretzky said Friday that he is not planning a comeback.
The Great One, who retired after the 1998-99 NHL season, has two herniated discs that will eventually require back surgery. He also turns 42 in January.
A column in the Chicago Tribune quoted Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick as saying Gretzky was thinking about a comeback after skating recently with the Phoenix Coyotes rookies at a voluntary strength and conditioning camp in July at Tempe, Ariz.
"Several people have told me he's coming back," Roenick was quoted as saying.
Not so, Gretzky said in a press release.
"I decided to take part in the camp for several reasons," said Greztky, the managing partner of the Coyotes. "One, I felt it was a good opportunity for me to train for my own personal well being and take advantage of the superior instruction offered by the people at API (Athletes' Performance Institute at Tempe).
"Two, I felt that the strength training would help stabilize my neck injury and possibly help prevent future surgery. Lastly, I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to skate with some of our future and current Coyotes' players and have some fun.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Wayne Gretzky said Friday that he is not planning a comeback.
The Great One, who retired after the 1998-99 NHL season, has two herniated discs that will eventually require back surgery. He also turns 42 in January.
A column in the Chicago Tribune quoted Philadelphia Flyers center Jeremy Roenick as saying Gretzky was thinking about a comeback after skating recently with the Phoenix Coyotes rookies at a voluntary strength and conditioning camp in July at Tempe, Ariz.
"Several people have told me he's coming back," Roenick was quoted as saying.
Not so, Gretzky said in a press release.
"I decided to take part in the camp for several reasons," said Greztky, the managing partner of the Coyotes. "One, I felt it was a good opportunity for me to train for my own personal well being and take advantage of the superior instruction offered by the people at API (Athletes' Performance Institute at Tempe).
"Two, I felt that the strength training would help stabilize my neck injury and possibly help prevent future surgery. Lastly, I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to skate with some of our future and current Coyotes' players and have some fun.
"I thoroughly enjoyed skating with all of our players. It was the first time I've skated hard in almost three years.
"It was enjoyable and I intend to do it again at some point, but I am not planning on making a comeback to play in the National Hockey League with the Phoenix Coyotes.
"I do not intend to comment on this matter again."
Copyright 2002 Canadian Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/articles/20020802/419263.html
cheers Stefan
member of the "DELete(tm) und Tripcke gehört weg"-Circle
"Lernen ohne zu denken ist verlorene Arbeit. Denken ohne zu lernen ist gefährlich..."
Damit würde seinem Denkmal nur unnötige Kratzer zufügen IM FORUM BIN ICH EIN KASPER - UND DAS IST GUT SO
Kaum ist vom Grillmeister aus B.C die Rede, geht das Forum auf die Barri(e)kaden
9/11/01 - I will never forget
TCNJ - Hope to see you in 2004
In Antwort auf: "It was enjoyable and I intend to do it again at some point, but I am not planning on making a comeback to play in the National Hockey League with the Phoenix Coyotes.
"I do not intend to comment on this matter again."
Wenn man einem glauben kann, dann Gretzky. Der macht nicht wegen ein paar Mücken nochmal so einen riesen Wirbel wie eben Michael Jordan. Auch wenn es ihm schwerfällt, aber so wie er sich jetzt verhällt, kann sein Denkmal keiner mehr verrücken!
*** Bad Tölz gehört zu Österreich ***
Gretzky dementiert Comeback-Gerüchte
Mario Lemieux hat es in der Saison 2000/2001 vorgemacht. Der Superstar feierte bei den Pittsburgh Penguins sein Comeback in der nordamerikanischen Eishockey-Liga NHL. Als nun Wayne Gretzky während des Trainingscamps der Phoenix Coyotes auf dem Eis gesehen wurde, brodelte die Gerüchteküche, alles sprach von einem Comeback von "The Great One" in der NHL. Doch diese Gerüchte dementierte der 41-Jährige nun: "Ich plane definitiv kein Comeback in der NHL."
"Ich habe aus verschiedenen Gründen an dem Trainingscamp teilgenommen", so der beste Torjäger in der NHL-Historie. "Erstens, ist das Training auf dem Eis gut für meine eigene Fitness. Zweitens, durch die harten Einheiten wird meine Halsverletzung stabilisiert. Und Drittens macht es einfach Spaß mit den Jungs auf dem Eis zu sein." Die Einheiten waren Gretzkys erste Rückkehr auf das Eis seit drei Jahren und brachten Coyotes-Center Jeremy Roenick zu der Aussage gegenüber Reportern, dass Gretzky dem Comeback von Lemieux folgen will.
http://www.sportschau.de/news/eishockey/84082.phtml
In Antwort auf:
Die Einheiten waren Gretzkys erste Rückkehr auf das Eis seit drei Jahren und brachten Coyotes-Center Jeremy Roenick zu der Aussage gegenüber Reportern, dass Gretzky dem Comeback von Lemieux folgen will.
Hab ich was verpasst oder seit wann ist JR wieder ein Coyote....?
cheers Stefan
member of the "DELete(tm) und Tripcke gehört weg"-Circle
"Lernen ohne zu denken ist verlorene Arbeit. Denken ohne zu lernen ist gefährlich..."
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