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Before the hockey town that Wayne Gretzky built hosted its first outdoor game at Dodger Stadium, The Great One made a rare Hollywood move by going on "Conan" to promote it. NFL Jerseys 2020 . In an 11-minute interview on the late-night show with host Conan OBrien, Gretzky reflected on his trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, his guest appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and several aspects of his on-ice playing career. Beyond all his records and his place in hockey history, Gretzkys Hollywood persona wouldnt have been as pronounced if it were not for that trade 25 1/2 years ago. "It was hard for especially people in Edmonton because they werent just fans, they were friends of mine. A lot of the people that go to all the games, I knew from all the years of being in Edmonton," Gretzky said of the deal. "So it was difficult for everyone. But you look back at it now and everything happens for a reason and we love it here in L.A. and the NHL is thriving here and everyone seems to be doing OK." The Oilers won their fifth Stanley Cup in 1990 without Gretzky and made it to the final in 2006 before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Kings made it to the final in 1993 with Gretzky before losing to the Montreal Canadiens, then won their first title in franchise history in 2012. Edmonton hasnt made the playoffs since 2006 and is still in a rebuilding stage. Just now is a new downtown arena under construction. But Gretzky was on "Conan" for the NHLs Stadium Series debut, which is Saturday between the Kings and the league-leading Anaheim Ducks. He called the game happening at Dodger Stadium a "real big dream." Even before this promotional tour, the "Great One" said he was an advocate of outdoor hockey in Los Angeles. "Id love to see an outdoor game in L.A. because we see the Winter Classic and the Heritage Classic with the snow and thats all wonderful. But a big part of our game, too, now and the success of the National Hockey League is California and places like that," Gretzky said before the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November. "Its going to be wonderful to see people sitting at Dodger Stadium when its 65 degrees (F) and theyre sitting there in shorts and T-shirts and enjoying a National Hockey League game. I think its going to be wonderful for our sport." It should be roughly 19 C (66 F) when the puck drops around 6:30 Pacific time Saturday night. When Gretzky and the Kings faced the New York Rangers in an exhibition game in Las Vegas in 1991, temperatures ranged between 29 and 35 C. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said after a California heat wave last week he was looking forward to cooler temperatures for this game. "I think its going to be completely unique and its going to be tremendous playing in 60-degree weather outside under the stars," Boudreau said. "I think a lot of people will be real interested to see how that works." Ice technology has improved drastically in the 22-plus years since that Las Vegas game. As Gretzky acknowledged during his appearance on "Conan," so has the NHL, in general. OBrien asked Gretzky about a so-called unwritten rule that opponents wouldnt hit him, which the former Kings captain refuted. "I didnt get hit as much as people probably wanted me to get hit, especially on the opposing teams," Gretzky said. "I knew it was time to retire when I was playing my last year and people I was playing against before they would hit me, they would scream my name or say, Hey, heads up or, Wayne, get out of the way, or Here we are. I remember thinking, Wow, somethings not right about this." Gretzky then told a story about going to a game with his wife and two sons and sitting in the front row when one of them said to their mother: "Be really honest, did dad really play in this league?" When Gretzky did play in the NHL, he set career records with 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points and single-season ones along the way, including 92 goals in 1981-82. OBrien asked if Gretzky thought "some punk kid" was going to come along and score 93 in a season. "Records are made to be broken," Gretzky said. "When I grew up my idol was Gordie Howe, and he couldnt have been any nicer, couldnt have been any better. He was just a really good man. When I broke his records, he was always the first guy there. "So if anybody ever breaks my records, Ill be the first guy to shake his hand. The players are good today, theres a lot of good players. Nevers a long time." Gretzky went on to say his record he believes will be the hardest to break is 50 goals in 39 games, "because 50 goals in 38 games is a lot of goals." "Yes," OBrien responded. "Thats pretty good. Well see." Gretzky said that being the smallest but never the fastest or toughest player at any point of his hockey-playing career made him consistent in his style. When OBrien brought up the topic of "Gretzkys Office," and his penchant to control the flow of play from behind the net, Gretzky credited Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke. "I had a coach when I was 14 years old that said: Go watch this guy Bobby Clarke play and watch how he plays. Hes not very big, hes smart, he passes the puck and he plays sort of from the corner and a little bit behind the net," Gretzky recalled. "So at the age of 14 I started watching him day in and day out. "He probably had the most influence on my career as far as learning how to play the game and the style of game that I played. I learned to play behind the net, and when I started doing that, it was so unique. Nobody had ever tried to defend that. And so I was able to really master it and become really good at it, and that was sort of my forte." Hockey sense, Gretzky said, was also a strength. Singing, not so much. OBrien mentioned that the first time he met Gretzky came in 1989 on the set of "Saturday Night Live." Although Gretzky originally turned down the appearance, his wife, Janet, accepted for him. On the show, Gretzky had to sing a song called "Waikiki Hockey," despite being, in his words, "tone deaf." "The funny part of the scene was they had this little piece of meat and I was sort of supposed to hit it," Gretzky said. "And I hit it right into a garbage can. I think everybody was shocked that I put it in the garbage can. It was just completely by accident." OBrien, who served as an extra in that scene 25 years ago, joked that "Everyone thought, He is the great one, he can fire meat at will." But that was acting, which Gretzky wasnt trying to be great at after going to Los Angeles. "Athletes come here and they want to be actors sometimes," Gretzky said. "But I never wanted to act, I wanted to be a hockey player." Follow (at)SWhyno on Twitter. Its a real big dream for me. hockeys come a long way. Discount NFL Jerseys 2020 . - Novak Djokovic beat John Isner 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-1 on Saturday to reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open, where hell resume his longtime rivalry with Roger Federer. Stitched NFL Jerseys . -- Nelson Cruz has only two hits in 15 at-bats against the Kansas City Royals this season. https://www.nfljerseys2020.com/ .C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career.NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned the first pick in next springs NFL draft with their 2-14 record.In their first season under coach Lovie Smith, the Bucs lost their last six games to secure the top pick over Tennessee, which had the same record under first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt. But Tampa Bay had the easier overall schedule in the weak NFC South, which was won by Carolina with a 7-8-1 record.Clearly, neither of the coaches who lost in Super Bowls — Smith in Chicago and Whisenhunt in Arizona — had much positive impact in their debut seasons.My comments last week were, Were going to get a good pick, Smith said after losing to New Orleans in the finale. Nothings really changed. I know were in a little bit better of a position, but going into this football game, we were going to have an opportunity to get a pretty good football player. When youre down there, thats one consolation, I guess, from the season weve had.Tampa Bay last had the top overall spot in 1987 and selected Miami Hurricanes QB Vinny Testaverde. He didnt fare well with the Bucs, but later led the Browns and Jets to the playoffs and spent 21 seasons in the NFL with seven teams.Rounding out the top five will be Jacksonville and Oakland, both 3-13, and Washington (4-12).Then come the New York Jets (4-12), Chicago (5-11), Atlanta, the New York Giants and St. Louis, all 6-10.Tennessee actually held the top spot as recently as in Week 16, but the Bucs dismal division — two teams in the Titans AFC South had better records than the winner of the NFC South — turned things around when the season concluded. NFL Jerseys 2020 Paypal. .So the Titans will go second.It can certainly help you, thats one of the things to be excited about, Whisenhunt said. Were going to get a good player, and well have a chance to get a good player with the second-round pick, because that will be like getting another first-round pick.Whatever opportunities are available at that point, I think that were going to look at free agency to help some things, too. Its important, its always important when you have a pick that high.The rest of the drafting order, not including playoff teams, will have Minnesota going 11th, with Cleveland 12th and New Orleans 13th; all of them were 7-9. Miami will go 14th and San Francisco 15th; both were 8-8.Four 9-7 teams did not make the post-season and will draft in this order: Houston, San Diego, Kansas City, Cleveland (from Buffalo). Philadelphia (10-6) will go 20th.Losers of the wild-card games will select 21st-24th. Losers in the division round get the 25th-28th positions.Teams that fall in the conference championships will go 29th and 30th. The Super Bowl winner, regardless of regular season record, picks 32nd and last.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '