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Thursday, April 15, 1999
Theo will miss Gretz
"It'll be a sad day if he does quit," said Fleury yesterday. "For hockey. For me as a player.
"He's such a class act on and off the ice. I'm as big a fan of Wayne Gretzky as anybody. He has a respect for the game like nobody else. I feel fortunate to have been on the ice with him, and to have spent quality time with him away from the rink, to talk to him about the game and what it means to him."
Part of the reason Gretzky is contemplating quitting is the Rangers' decision not to spend oodles of cash to try and buy a winner right now.
He dearly wanted GM Neil Smith to land one of the three most dynamic players available this season -- Fleury, Pavel Bure or Mark Recchi.
It didn't get done.
"I would love to have played with him as much as he would've enjoyed playing with me," said Fleury. "But it just didn't work out."
Stay or go, no one, adds Fleury, will ever touch the greatness of the man.
"There are basketball players who don't get 3,000 points. They get two points for a field goal, sometimes three. And they let them stand in front of an empty net and let them shoot at it."
Fleury, incidentally, has a collection of Gretzky memorabilia including the Rangers sweater from his last appearance at the Saddledome.