ST. LOUIS — Wayne Gretzky might have only played 31 total games (including playoffs) for the St. Louis Blues, but it really does seem like he won about three of his Stanley Cup's here.
Gretzky is as beloved among the Blues fan base as anyone, and 24 years ago on Thursday, he officially became a Blue.
On February 27, 1996, the Blues sent Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, a 1997 first-round draft pick and a 1996 fifth-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for hockey's all-time leading scorer.
5 On Your Side sports director Frank Cusumano was sent out to LA to cover the press conference, and remembers the day like it was yesterday.
"We're interviewing him live on the newscast one-on-one and during the interview I'm trying to get words out and I just kept thinking 'I'm talking to Wayne Gretzky, I'm talking to Wayne Gretzky'," Cusumano said.
The pandemonium only increased from there as Gretzky headed to Vancouver to meet up with his new Blues teammates on the road.
Cusumano remembers there were nearly a thousand people waiting outside the practice rink in Vancouver just trying to get a peek at the superstar and it seemed like, "We were interviewing him like every 18 hours," Cusumano said.
Gretzky eventually came back to St. Louis with the team, and the fans were ready for him.
Gretzky scored eight goals and tallied 13 assists in 18 regular-season games with the Blues in 1996, and had 16 points in 13 playoff games. The Blues eventually fell to the Red Wings in the conference semi-finals, and thus ended Gretzky's time in St. Louis.
'The Great One' is no doubt still revered in St. Louis, though. You'll see lots of "Gretzky 99" sweaters in the crowd at any given Blues game, and he gets some of the loudest ovations of anyone when he shows up at a game.
Gretzky is also pretty fond of St. Louis himself, as he shared with us during an interview before the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis.