Gretzky nearly became teammates with Gordie Howe in 1978

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers every Wednesday.
This week, Fischler reveals how Wayne Gretzky came very close to becoming Gordie Howe's linemate with the New England Whalers in the WHA.

Imagine Wayne Gretzky fulfilling a childhood dream and skating on the same line with his idol Gordie Howe. "The Great One" was imagining such possibilities 44 years ago. So were his agent Gus Badali and New England Whalers owner Howard Baldwin, who also happened to be head of the World Hockey Association.
That potential Gretzky-Howe coupling almost happened in the spring of 1978 after Gretzky's confidence soared during the World Junior Championship in Montreal, when he led Canada in scoring with 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in six games.
"Before the tourney," Gretzky said, "I wasn't expecting to leave (juniors) because I was so young (17). But after the World Junior tournament I started to think a little bit differently."
So did Badali. The agent knew that the WHA would welcome the wunderkind, especially Birmingham Bulls owner John Bassett and Baldwin in Hartford. Badali meant business and phoned Whalers general manager Jack Kelley suggesting a meeting.
"Gus told Kelley that he felt we could sign Gretzky," Baldwin recently told me. "Contacting us was the right move because the Whalers had been in the WHA from the start. We were solid and it didn't hurt that I was head of the league."
When asked how close the Whalers were to actually signing Gretzky, Baldwin shot back, "Close enough so that I agreed that Kelley should fly up to Toronto and check it out.
"It was a quick trip and when Jack returned he said it was clear we could sign Gretzky. Then I had to start thinking. We (the Whalers) already had gotten Gordie Howe and his two sons Mark and Marty from Houston. I began imagining Wayne on a line with his childhood idol, Gordie, with Mark Howe rounding out the line."
But Baldwin didn't follow through because he had bigger fish to fry. His primary challenge was to fulfill a different dream -- a WHA-NHL merger. Behind the scenes negotiations had been ongoing for a few years and it appeared that a deal could be made.
"I had only one objective which was to get us into the NHL," Baldwin wrote in his autobiography, 'Slim and None.' "My thinking was that Hartford was not on the top of anyone's expansion list.
"The only way that Hartford was getting into the NHL was by becoming a solution to a problem, not by creating new ones. I felt that if we signed Wayne we'd be on the NHL's (bad) list. And we (Hartford) were the only American team with a chance to get into the NHL. We were a solution to a problem."

When Baldwin explained his decision to Kelley, the Whalers general manager was fit to be tied.
"Jack was pissed at me," Baldwin explained. "He knew that we could have had Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky on the same line."
But there were other WHA suitors for Gretzky, including the Bulls.
"I wanted to jump to Birmingham," Gretzky admitted, "but my dad was adamant about my finishing the year in the 'Soo' (Sault St. Marie). My whole goal was to play pro. I felt that in life you only get so many opportunities, and this was one of them."
Meanwhile, Baldwin continued to play puppeteer, quietly pulling Gretzky strings.
"Although I didn't want to see Wayne sign in New England, getting Gretzky into the WHA did fit the strategy of taking the cream of the junior crop," Baldwin said.
When he learned that Bassett had lost interest in signing Gretzky, Baldwin shifted gears.
"So, I called up (Indianapolis Racers owner) Nelson Skalbania about signing Gretzky," Baldwin explained. "I told him that this was a huge opportunity and would help facilitate our strategy and Bassett went along with me and also persuaded Gretzky and Badali to jet west for a contract signing."
Gretzky's parents, Phyllis and Walter, as well as agent Badali, flew to Vancouver where Skalbania met them at the airport. Ushering them into his new Rolls-Royce, he decided to host them at his home. What then ensued seemed like a portent of things to come.
"After picking them up in his Rolls, the car promptly broke down," explained hockey author Ed Willes. "Skalbania then summoned another Rolls on his car phone and it too broke down. While they were waiting for another mode of transportation, Skalbania leaned in to Walter Gretzky and advised, 'Walter, never buy a Rolls.'"
Eventually they signed the papers and Gretzky became a Racer although he did admit, "I had no idea where Indianapolis was." He was given a quick geography lesson and soon found himself at home in Indiana, at least for a while.
September 16 marked 44 years since Gretzky stepped on the ice for his first professional training camp. By all accounts he handled himself well, much better than the franchise would fare.
"Indy wasn't working out for Nelson nor Wayne," Baldwin concluded.
After eight games, Skalbania sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers and on Dec. 15, 1978, Nelson folded the Racers.
As for Howard Baldwin's decision to forsake a Gretzky-Howe combo, in the long run it was the right move. At least twice, NHL factions rejected a merger plan and it wasn't until February 1979 a four-team expansion with Hartford, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Edmonton was finally was approved.
When all was said and done, Gretzky's boyhood dream to play on a line with Gordie Howe was fulfilled. Just prior to his 18th birthday, the WHA hosted a three-game series against Moscow Dynamo. Gretzky played center with Gordie on the right and Mark on the other side, just as Jack Kelley hoped it would have been in Hartford.
"That series would produce one of the most memorable lines in the history of the game," Willes recalled. "There was a beautiful symmetry and romance of a 50-year-old Howe playing with his son and a 17-year-old Gretzky."
Kelley liked it, too, but felt it would have looked better in Hartford.