Hawerchuk, who dies at 57, mourned by Gretzky, hockey world

Welcome to NHL.com, the official site of the National Hockey LeagueBienvenue à LNH.com , le site officiel de la Ligue nationale de hockeyДобро пожаловать на NHL.com, официальный сайт Национальной хоккейной лигиTervetuloa NHL:n viralliselle nettisivustolle NHL.comiinVälkommen till NHL.com, NHL:s officiella web-sidaVítejte na NHL.com, oficiálních stránkách National Hockey LeagueVitajte na NHL.com, oficiálnych stránkach National Hockey LeagueWillkommen auf NHL.com, der offiziellen Seite der National Hockey LeagueBienvenido a NHL.com, el sitio oficial de la National Hockey LeagueDale Hawerchuk and Wayne Gretzky were rivals in the NHL, but on Monday, the day before Hawerchuk died of cancer at 57, the two Hall of Fame forwards reminisced about when they were teammates.Gretzky, hearing Hawerchuk was not doing well, called him, and of course the conversation turned to hockey, namely the 1987 Canada Cup against the Soviet Union, and the winning goal by Mario Lemieux with 1:26 left in the championship game. But if you looked at it and followed it closely, which I did, Dale played pretty much everywhere but left defense with Paul Coffey, left wing, right wing, everywhere."Gretzky was among the many members of the hockey community to remember Hawerchuk, who won the 1982 Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 after an NHL career that saw him score 1,409 points (518 goals, 891 assists) in 1,188 career games for the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. It was a memory, and I was telling this to Eric yesterday, that even as players and Canadian fans, it was one of those moments you never forget."Hawerchuk, who spent his first nine NHL seasons with the Jets (1981-90), was respected by all in the fierce, competitive days in the Smythe Division, said Gretzky, who played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1979-88."As good as our team was, and we did have a good team, I think if you talked to Calgary players as a whole, he was the one player they feared the most that could really change the game or the outcome of a series," said Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer with 2,857 points (894 goals, 1,963 assists) in 1,487 career games. He was inducted into the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame in 2017.His NHL career-best season was 1984-85, when he had 130 points (53 goals, 77 assists) in 80 games."Probably one of my favorite memories was my rookie year, when he scored his 50th goal," said defenseman Dave Ellett, Hawerchuk's teammate from 1984-90.