10 Now a King

Chapter 10 Now a King In Los Angeles, the mood was very different. People were excited about the trade—even people who never paid attention to hockey. Wayne posed with LA Lakers basketball star Magic Johnson for the cover of Sports Illustrated. Ticket sales for the Kings tripled. The hockey arena, usually half empty, would be filled with fans. But the Kings were fourth in their division. The team had begun playing in 1967 and had never won their division. Could one player change all that? Yes! With one goal and three assists in the very first game, Wayne led his new team to victory. Now movie stars, athletes, and everyone else in the city was a Kings fan. Hollywood

became "Hockeywood." Hockey fever spread from LA to other US towns and cities. More games were televised. More hockey teams sprang up. And kids were signing up to play like never before. Wayne became the face of hockey. He was always polite, always friendly. He looked like a regular guy, not a big bruiser with muscles to

match. That season, the Kings rose to second place. And Wayne grew to feel comfortable with his new team and his new city. It was all so different from Edmonton. Here in California, there'd be no snowy winters. Wayne could drive to practice with the top down on his convertible. In LA, there were so many famous people, Wayne didn't stand out. He liked the privacy. And he loved his growing family. Daughter Paulina was born in 1988.

As for hockey, Wayne was adding to the record books. But in the autumn of 1991, Wayne felt unhappy. It was the start of the season. And already he felt beat up. Even worse, he wasn't scoring—at all!

In October, Wayne talked to his dad on the phone, just like he did almost every day. Walter could always cheer up Wayne. And the phone call helped. But soon after, Wayne got another call. It was his sister, Kim. Their dad had collapsed. He was in the hospital with a brain aneurysm, a tear in a blood vessel. It might be fatal. Immediately, Wayne hired a private plane. He flew his family to the Ontario hospital. Walter wasn't expected to make it through the night.

Fortunately, surgery saved his life. Wayne missed game after game, staying with his dad. It would take time for Walter to get better, he learned. And his memory would never be the same. The stress on Wayne didn't help his game. He was still in a slump. And he hated playing badly. He thought about quitting. He couldn't talk to his dad about it. So he spoke to Janet, Mark Messier, and his coaches. And Wayne turned it around. One game in Toronto, he scored a goal and had three assists. After, he visited his dad. "If you were playing better, you'd have had a goal and four assists tonight," Walter said. Wayne grinned. Walter had turned it around, too. Kings fans were thrilled that Wayne kept playing. In 1993, Wayne led LA to the Stanley Cup finals. It was the first time in Kings history. They lost to the Montreal Canadiens. But Wayne felt proud. He was the scoring leader in the playoffs. He'd done his best.