Hawerchuk won the face-off, Lemieux scooped up the loose puck, took it up the boards, passed to Gretzky, who passed it back to Lemieux, who scored.
"I always remember we had two of the best defensive face-off men in the history of the game in Brent Sutter and Mark Messier, and a 5-5 game and a face-off in our own zone and Mike says, 'Gretz, you and Mario and Howie go,' and we're going over the boards and Dale says, 'Who's taking the draw? Are you taking it?' And I said, 'I'm not taking this draw.' And he looked at Mario and Mario said, 'No, Dale, you've got it.' So we always kind of laughed about that. He just stepped in there and the rest is history. ... It was a really good group of guys. It was a memory, and I was telling this to Eric yesterday, that even as players and Canadian fans, it was one of those moments you never forget."
Hawerchuk, who spent his first nine NHL seasons with the Jets (1981-90), was respected by all in the fierce, competitive days in the Smythe Division, said Gretzky, who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979-88.
"As good as our team was, and we did have a good team, I think if you talked to Calgary players as a whole, he was the one player they feared the most that could really change the game or the outcome of a series," said Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer with 2,857 points (894 goals, 1,963 assists) in 1,487 career games. "He was that one guy that I think they would tell you was so special."
Hawerchuk was captain of the original Jets from 1984-90 and remains beloved in the Manitoba capital. He was inducted into the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame in 2017.
His NHL career-best season was 1984-85, when he had 130 points (53 goals, 77 assists) in 80 games.
"Probably one of my favorite memories was my rookie year, when he scored his 50th goal," said defenseman Dave Ellett, Hawerchuk's teammate from 1984-90. "He had a special year that year and the response in that arena was amazing. And it was a beautiful goal. And I can still picture his face as he was coming back to the bench; he was so happy.
"But off the ice, so humble. He cared. He wanted everyone to do well. I think sometimes it made him happier when his teammates did well. He helped a lot of people, that man."