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. 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. Cheap Air Jordan 1 Retro Black Friday . The deals were announced on Friday. Beckham will receive $4.175 million in base salary, while De Aza will receive $4.25 million. Beckham hit .267 with five home runs and 24 RBIs over 103 games last season, his fifth with the White Sox. Cheap Air Jordan 15 Retro Black Friday .com Tours season-opening Colombia Championship on Sunday, breaking the course record with an 8-under 63 in the completion of the third round before rain washed out play. http://www.airjordandealsblackfriday.com...-black-friday.C. -- Clemson celebrated a senior class Saturday that brought the program back as a national contender. Air Jordan Black Friday . - In about six minutes, the Memphis Grizzlies had allowed their 23-point lead to be cut to seven. Cheap Air Jordan 11 Retro Black Friday . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing.DALLAS -- Paul Stastny made the most of the help in front of him to carry the Colorado Avalanche to victory in overtime. Stastnys second goal of the game 3:36 into the extra session gave the Avalanche and troubled goalie Semyon Varlamov a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday night. Stastny fired a shot from the left circle past goalie Kari Lehtonen to beat the Stars, who had rallied from a 2-0 deficit. The goal was his fourth of the season. "I tried to shoot through the D," Stastny said. "You dont score on these goalies unless youre flying, you make a perfect shot, or you use a screen. I tried to use a screen." It worked and even impressed Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie in his playing days. "I think Lehtonen had no chance on that one," Roy said. "It was a perfect shot right over his shoulder." Dallas had scored twice in the third period against Varlamov, who two days earlier spent the night in jail because of an alleged assault against his girlfriend. A judge in Denver had ruled Thursday that Varlamov could travel with the team to Dallas. He posted a $5,000 bond, and now has a restraining order that prevents him from seeing his girlfriend. "Theres been a lot going on with him, with the team in the last 24-48 hours," Stastny said. "Sometimes the best thing is to just get in your comfort zone. "When hes on the ice, when hes in net, hes focused on what he does." Varlamov declined to comment on his legal issues. "I think I am the luckiest guy in the world because I play in the NHL and I play for this team," Varlamov said. "Ive got such good teammates, so I dont think about whats happening." Stastny had made it 1-0 at 8:22 of the first period. Gabriel Landeskog doubled Colorados lead with 1:19 left in the second. It was more than just the start that went badly for the Stars. "Were playing the game too slow," coach Lindy Ruff said. "Our transition is too slow. Weve got to quicken things up. "The third period was where we got some good stuff." The Stars, who recorded just 12 shots in the first two periods, began their comeback with Alex Goligoskis goal at 3:57 of the third. Tyler Seguin tied it at 16:31. Dallas (5-6-2) had scored just three tthird-period goals in its first 12 games, and hadnt rallied in the final frame to win any of them.dddddddddddd The Stars outshot the Avalanche 16-8 in the third period on Friday. Colorado (11-1) took a 1-0 lead just 8:22 into the game. Stastny put the puck in from just to the right of the net off assists from Alex Tanguay and Jan Hejda. That goal came barely 2 minutes after Dallas turned aside the Avalanches 5-on-3 power play. Despite recording the final three shots of the period, the Stars were outshot 13-4. Dallas kept pressure on Varlamov early in the second, especially during a power play midway through the period. His toughest stop was on a close-in attempt by Alex Chiasson. Colorado had the best second-period scoring chances with near breakaways by P.A. Parenteau and Ryan OReilly on a power play. "He gave us great saves," Ruff said of Lehtonen. "I thought both goaltenders came up with big saves." The Avalanche finally broke through late when Nathan MacKinnon took the puck away in the neutral zone and passed it behind him to Landeskog. The Avalanche captain fired a shot from the left circle across Lehtonens body and past his glove for his fourth goal. The Stars outshot Colorado 8-5 in the period but had nothing to show for the effort but a 2-0 deficit. "Lehtonen was outstanding," Roy said. "I think the reason why they picked up a point is because of him. He kept them in the game long enough for them to come back in the third because it could have been a 3-, 4-, 5-0 game." The Stars fared better in the third. Seguin skated through the left circle, turned and passed back to Goligoski at the top of the circle. The defenceman drilled a shot into the top of the net for his second goal. Seguins tying goal came on a blast from the top of the slot after Dallas had recovered the puck in the neutral zone. The 25-year-old Varlamov improved to 8-1 for the Central Division-leading Avalanche. "He made some great saves, and the two goals that we gave up, they were perfect shots," Roy said. NOTES: Stars centre Ryan Garbutt served the final game of his five-game suspension for a charging penalty on Oct. 20 at Anaheim. . MacKinnon, Colorados first-round draft pick, had two assists to take the team lead with eight. ' ' '