Wayne Gretzky - The Great One on The Greatest Stage

"The moment that all Rangers fans have only dreamed about, I'm going to show you right now."
After Neil Smith said those words on July 21, 1996, the Rangers' President and General Manager at the time proceeded to unfold a white Rangers jersey to show the large media contingent that descended upon Madison Square Garden on a Sunday afternoon.
The number on the back of the jersey was 99. The letters that stretched across the back of the jersey above the number spelled "GRETZKY". Standing next to Smith to accept the jersey and put it on was the greatest hockey player who ever put on a pair of skates.
And with that, Wayne Gretzky's tenure as a New York Ranger began. 'The Great One' would be playing on the greatest stage at The World's Most Famous Arena.

At the beginning, Gretzky's reunion with Mark Messier, his friend and former teammate with the Edmonton Oilers, was the talk of New York, the hockey world, and the sports world. The two living legends, who were connected as teenagers in Edmonton and were born only eight days apart (Messier's birthday is January 18; Gretzky's birthday is January 26), were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, appeared together on the Late Show with David Letterman, and starred in two national commercials to promote the NHL's network television programming.
For Gretzky, joining Messier also allowed him to have a different role on the ice and in the locker room. After serving as his team's captain in 12 of the previous 13 seasons with Edmonton, Los Angeles, and St. Louis, as well as the face of the NHL, Gretzky didn't have the same burden with the Rangers.
"I didn't have to go in there and take the world on my shoulders," Gretzky said. "I was able to just go into the locker room, fit in, and be one of the guys, which (is what) I've always wanted to be."
Gretzky finished the 1996-97 season with 97 points (25 goals, 72 assists), as he was tied with Mario Lemieux for the NHL lead in assists and tied for fourth in the NHL in points. His first game as a Ranger at Madison Square Garden - October 6, 1996 against Florida - marked the start of a 15-game point streak, and he never looked back. Moments of his individual brilliance were on display throughout the regular season, such as the game on December 21, 1996 in Montreal when he set up all three Rangers' goals from his "office" behind the net in a 3-2 overtime win, or when he tied a Rangers' record by tallying four assists in one period on January 4, 1997 against Ottawa at MSG.
In Gretzky's first season with the Rangers in 1996-97, something new that the Rangers had (besides No. 99 wearing their uniform) was their Liberty jersey, which debuted on January 13, 1997. For Gretzky, it was a jersey that he loved to wear during his time in New York.
"It's hard to duplicate the beautiful jersey of the New York Rangers, but the Liberty jersey was so unique and meant so much about the city of New York," Gretzky said. "We truly enjoyed wearing the uniforms in such a great playoff run in 1997. Neil Smith, who designed the uniform, thought they were a good luck charm. I loved the uniform."
Perhaps there were some moments that Gretzky, as humble and modest of a star athlete as you will find, would characterize as lucky while wearing the Liberty jersey. Making a pass off the side of the net, only to have it carom perfectly past a defenseman and right to Niklas Sundstrom standing in front of the net to score a goal against Martin Brodeur and the Devils on February 17, 1997. Making a pass from behind the net that hit the skate of Flyers defenseman Karl Dykhuis and went into the net for a goal in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final in 1997 (the goal was Gretzky's second of the game in what turned out to be his 10th - and final - career playoff hat trick). A cross-ice pass that "somehow" went through Kenny Jonsson and right onto the stick of Adam Graves for the game-winning goal in overtime in a 4-3 victory against the Islanders on January 13, 1999, giving the Rangers a win in their White Liberty jersey for the first time.
These could be characterized as lucky. In reality, these highlights were born from the true genius of the best player to ever play the game.
The Rangers' run to the Eastern Conference Final during the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs was Gretzky's shining moment as a Ranger. Following the great regular season he had, Gretzky raised his game even more in the playoffs. His signature moment was a virtuoso performance in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against Florida at MSG when he scored a natural hat trick by tallying three goals in a span of 6:23 in the second period to help the Rangers ultimately win the game, 3-2.
Gretzky finished the 1997 playoffs with 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 15 games. His two hat tricks - in Game 4 against the Panthers and Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against Philadelphia - were the most ever by a Ranger in one playoff year. Messier and Brian Leetch are the only Rangers who scored more goals in one playoff year than Gretzky (both during the 1994 playoffs).
Although the Rangers didn't have the same team success in Gretzky's final two seasons as they did in 1996-97, Gretzky continued to reach several milestones and amaze fans. Early in the 1997-98 season, he tallied five points and registered his 50th career regular season hat trick in a win over the Canucks. He also tallied his 1,851st career NHL assist on October 26, 1997, giving him more assists than any other NHL player had points.
In Gretzky's final season in 1998-99, he played in his 18th NHL All-Star Game and was named the game's Most Valuable Player for the third time. On February 15, 1999, in what would be his only career game in Nashville, Gretzky tied the Rangers' single-game franchise record by tallying five assists in a 7-4 win. And on March 29, 1999, Gretzky scored the final goal of his career - a game-winner against the Islanders at MSG - which gave him 1,072 career professional goals (NHL and WHA, regular season and playoffs combined), one more than his boyhood idol, Gordie Howe.
The amount of highlights and memories that Gretzky created while wearing a Rangers uniform belied the fact that his tenure in New York only lasted three seasons. In those three years, Wayne and his wife, Janet, immersed themselves in life in New York City. Living on the Upper East Side, they frequented places such as Café Luka, Nello, and Club Macanudo. They became New Yorkers.
In 2006, when Madison Square Garden compiled a list of its 50 greatest moments, 10 of the 50 were related to the Rangers, and two of the 10 were related to Gretzky - his natural hat trick in the 1997 playoffs (No. 46 on the list) and his final NHL game on April 18, 1999 (No. 10 on the list).
While Gretzky's final game marked the end of the greatest career in NHL history, he repeatedly said that he wanted the day to be a celebration. Years later, he would say that his last game was "… one of the greatest days of my life. I wouldn't trade in the way I retired for anything ever in the world."
Prior to the start of his final game, Gretzky said that, "… the greatest place to play as a professional athlete is right here in New York." When reflecting on his career years later, Gretzky said that "(My time in New York) was the greatest three years that I had in hockey as far as the people, the friendships, and the atmosphere, and I wouldn't have traded it in for anything. I loved playing in New York."
Gretzky's tenure with the Rangers began with accepting the jersey from Smith on that July afternoon in 1996. After his career was over, he said that, "Considering the New York Rangers' storied past and time-honored traditions, I felt it was appropriate that it was a Rangers jersey that I wore for that final game."