[Hack&Lube]

2008 article but good to catch up as Wahl is going to be a full time Heat player this year. He had 4 pts in 4 AHL games last season.

http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=455964

Steve Long and Mitch Wahl Sr. were two of many parents who had young sons around the time of Gretzky's arrival. Neither were hockey fans, but Gretzky's reputation certainly preceded him

"Back in the day nobody talked about hockey," Wahl said, "but everybody knew Gretzky."

"When you first start reading his stats, it's like you're looking at the Harlem Globetrotters," Long said. "It's hard to fathom that he's that much better than the second-best guy in scoring. You wonder, how can this be true? He's not physically imposing at all. You watch him skate and he's not a fast skater. Nothing he does is remarkable, except the score sheet at the end of the game."

"The Great One's" arrival in Los Angeles immediately turned the Kings into contenders. In their first season with Gretzky, the Kings improved from 68 points to 91, and won a playoff series for the first time since 1982. In 1990-91, they won the only division title in club history and finished with 102 points, and two seasons later, they had the magical run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final.

"I can remember that was the first time I saw the little (Kings) flags flying on the windows," Long said. "It was a big deal. Each game, from the semifinals on, each game was like high drama. It was a wonderful run. The Kings were on the front page of the sports sections, they were the top of the sporting news. People that had never watched the game started to watch it at that point. There was a big buzz about the team at that point. … It was fun. People that didn't know hockey were interested in hockey."

Those people included Long's son, Colin, and Wahl's son, also named Mitch.

"For my kids and kids their age, that was the first sporting event he watched and remembers," Steve Long said. "That was what hooked him on those games."