Even after a winter when ice skates would have been useful getting around, few Marylanders focus on hockey. Too bad. They missed a historic event.

Wayne Gretsky, the best player hockey ever produced, has scored 802 National Hockey League goals, more than any other player. This is the equivalent of Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 lifetime points. First at Edmonton and in recent years in Los Angeles, Gretzky, in far fewer games, broke the record held by the legendary Gordie Howe.

Watching the Great Gretzky is what it must have been like watching Joe DiMaggio lope around center field: It looks so easy you wonder what the fuss is all about. Unlike Howe, who played in a different hockey era, Gretzky is all finesse on the ice. It'll be worth a drive to Largo next season to watch this artist with the puck.