Wayne Gretzky

"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 Ran...

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). 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. Gretzky's tenure with the Rangers began with accepting the jersey from Smith on that July afternoon in 1996. 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. 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. In Gretzky's first season with the Rangers in 1996-97, something new that the Rangers had (besides No. 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. "I didn't have to go in there and take the world on my shoulders," Gretzky said. 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. Louis, as well as the face of the NHL, Gretzky didn't have the same burden with the Rangers. 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. The letters that stretched across the back of the jersey above the number spelled "GRETZKY".