Gretzky thinks Howe is the Great One

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SASKATOON, Saskatchewan -- The Great One would have the last word on this memorable night.

"He is, he was, he will always be the greatest of all time," Wayne Gretzky said.

A sold-out crowd of 1,500 stood in delirious applause as the annual Kinsmen celebrity dinner came to a close Friday night. Their native son, the incomparable Gordie Howe, had been honored beautifully on this cold and blizzard-like evening in the heart of the Canadian Prairies.

And Gretzky's final words were not rehearsed.

"It was from the heart. You don't plan something like that. He's so special," Gretzky told ESPN.com about an hour afterward, as he sat down to process what this evening meant to him.

"My relationship with Gordie goes so far back. He's such a unique individual,'' Gretzky said, pausing.

Was that a lump in his throat or just a moment to collect a long list of moments he has shared with Mr. Hockey?

For starters, Gretzky shared, most people don't realize he actually met Gordie Howe previous to that famous stick-around-the-neck photo taken of them both in 1972.

"I was telling Mark [Howe] and Marty [Howe] this, the first time I actually met Gordie was two years before that picture was taken," said Gretzky, which means he was 8 or 9 at the time. "I had gone down to the Brantford Civic Centre, Mark and Marty were playing Junior A for the Detroit Junior Wings against the Brantford Majors. And Gordie was at the game. I stood in the corner where he sat and just stared at Gordie the whole time, for two hours. I was too scared to get his autograph but I shook his hand. That was the first time I met Gordie."

Our conversation on this night, like so many times before, is briefly interrupted from time to time by autograph seekers or fans looking to snap a photo with The Great One.

The answer is always the same, Gretzky obliging, and not in a manner that makes it look like a chore, either. Another gift from Mr. Hockey passed on to him.

"I often say this, nobody handles people like Gordie. He's just a natural," Gretzky said at a news conference Friday morning. "He's at ease. He treats everyone the same, whether it's the prime minister of Canada or somebody that lives on a farm in Saskatchewan."

Gretzky signs his autographs carefully with clear penmanship, so the signature is easy to read. Gretzky learned that from both Howe and the late Jean Beliveau.

Gretzky can go on forever telling Gordie Howe stories. They come to him in an instant. And the look on his face as he gets ready to tell the next one says more than words how much Mr. Hockey means to him.

Which is why when he committed to the Kinsmen dinner two months ago, he made another decision: He would bring two of his kids, Ty, 24, and Trevor, 22, to be part of this event.

"I wanted my boys to see this," said Gretzky. "I wanted them to see who and what I idolized, not only Gordie, but his entire family. What it means to hockey, what Gordie Howe means to people in Canada. I wanted them to see what it's meant to me, not only as a hockey player but how Gordie influenced me as a person in my life."

The Gretzky kids are L.A.-born and bred, but summer visits to Grandpa's place in Brantford, Ontario, over the years helped draw a picture of what their famous father means to this country. Seeing their dad take his place with Gordie Howe on this special night also hammered home the point.

"I realize what this country has done for my family, it's unbelievable," Trevor, a baseball prospect in the Los Angeles Angels system, told ESPN.com on Friday night. "Every time I come up here, the people are so nice, they're unbelievable. Any time my brother and I have a chance to travel with him up here, we come. ...

"Everything we have in our family is because of the NHL and the sport of hockey."

Watching his father navigate politely through autograph seekers here the past few days again reminded Trevor, a pro athlete in his own right, the way things should be done.

"I've always looked up to him," Trevor said of his dad. "As a young kid, I noticed how he interacted with people. Every kid wants to be like their dad, we're no different. I've watched him throughout my life and how he handles people, and I try to go about it the same way."