Hull Plus Gretzky Is Too Much : Hockey: They combine for three goals, leading Campbell All-Stars to a 10-6 victory.
PHILADELPHIA — Wayne Gretzky and Brett Hull. Think of the possibilities.
The greatest playmaker the NHL has known skating with the best scorer in hockey today.
The line of Gretzky, Hull and Luc Robitaille powered the Campbell Conference All-Stars to a 10-6 victory over the Wales Conference Saturday in the 43rd NHL All-Star Game before a capacity Spectrum crowd of 17,380.
Hull, who leads the league with 47 goals in 46 games, scored his first two in All-Star competition, earning the St. Louis Blue wing the game’s Most Valuable Player Award.
Gretzky added a goal, extending the King center’s career record total in All-Star competition to 12 goals in 12 games.
“Awesome,†said Hull when asked what it was like to play with Gretzky. “I don’t know any other way to explain it.â€
Hull added that the biggest thrill Saturday was “just being in the same room with Wayne and Stevie Y (Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings), my two idols.â€
Hull’s Saturday heroics must be tempered by the nature of this game. It’s not like there was a Stanley Cup on the line.
Or a defense at the blue line.
These games are historically offensive showcases, end-to-end rushes with rarely a letup.
And Saturday was no exception.
The teams combined for 16 goals and 83 shots, the Campbell outshooting the Wales, 42-41.
This game produced the second-highest goal total in All-Star history.
Interestingly, the highest-scoring games have been the last four, with the record total reached in 1990 when the Wales beat the Campbell, 12-7, in Pittsburgh. Last season’s game, played in Chicago, also produced 16 goals, the Campbell winning, 11-5.
That’s also the margin by which the Wales Conference still leads this series since the present format was instituted during the 1974-75 season.
The Campbell All-Stars started out slowly Saturday, moving into a 2-1 lead after one period. But they scored six goals during the second period to cruise into the final 20 minutes with an 8-3 lead.
In addition to Hull and Gretzky, the Campbell squad got two goals each from Brian Bellows of the Minnesota North Stars and Theoren Fleury of the Calgary Flames. The other Campbell goal scorers were Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks, Jeremy Roenick of the Chicago Blackhawks and Gary Roberts of Calgary.
Goals for the Wales All-Stars came from Kevin Stevens and Brian Trottier of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils, Owen Nolan of the Quebec Nordiques, Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres and Randy Burridge of Washington.
“It was just a thrill to be here,†said Campbell goalie Tim Cheveldae of Detroit. “We accept the game for what it is. We know there are going to be a lot of chances, a lot of shots.
“Of course, you never want to get scored on, even in a preseason game. I don’t think any goalie could handle this for 80 games.â€
Or even 60 minutes. That’s why both sides carry three goalies, giving each one period of work. The best Saturday was Chicago’s Ed Belfour, who stopped 13 of 14 Wales shots during the first period, including three breakaways.
But nobody could stop Hull’s second goal. It was set up with a perfect pass from Gretzky. Teamed with Hull in a two-on-all against Pittsburgh’s Paul Coffey, a former Gretzky teammate in Edmonton, Gretzky slid a pass slightly inside the left skate of Coffey to the charging Hull, who came in from the right side and smashed the shot past Washington’s Don Beaupre.
“I used to do that to (Coffey) in practice all the time,†Gretzky said with a smile.
Robitaille assisted on all three goals produced by his line. And, he says, he learned something in the process.
“He (Hull) gets a lot of chances,†Robitaille said. “He gets open a lot. I watched him and I’m going to try some of those things when I get back (with the Kings).â€
The Kings’ Larry Robinson also got an assist in what figures to be the last All-Star appearance for the 20-year veteran defenseman.
For all three Kings, the game was a welcome respite from the regular season.
“The last two days have been a breath of fresh air,†Robinson said. “The game was fun again. I hope I can bottle some of this and take it to the guys back home.â€
Go beyond the scoreboard
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