Redlands Connection is a concoction of sports memories emanating from a city that once numbered less than 20,000 people. From the Super Bowl to the World Series, from the World Cup to golf’s U.S. Open and the Olympics, plus NCAA Final Four connections, NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500, Tour de France cycling, major tennis, NBA and a little NHL, aquatics and quite a bit more, the sparkling little city that sits around halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs on Interstate 10. There was a connection with a Redlands resident who was a little knowledgeable with pro hockey’s greatest player. – Obrey Brown
The Great One was walking toward the parking lot. It was halfway through a high school championship golf match. I recognized him instantly and I knew exactly what to say.
I said, “Lee Calkins says to say hello.”
This was surprising to the man, who was scurrying off to the parking lot. Something about an appointment he couldn’t miss. He’d been faster on a pair of skates. National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky, who couldn’t have been more shocked, said, “What is Lee doing nowadays?”
I told him that Lee was our newspaper’s main photographer, working alongside me, for our daily in Redlands. Truth is, there was no chat about Wayne’s brilliance during his years, especially in Edmonton, and Los Angeles while playing in the NHL.
Gretzky was in a hurry to leave. His son, Ty, was playing golf for Oaks Christian High — a school way out in Los Angeles County. The team was good, too. The Great One had to show up to support his kid.
This was the National Hockey League’s greatest scorer. Arguments can be made that he’s the NHL’s greatest player.
Calkins, hired by the Redlands newspaper after a tryout shooter a professional soccer duel at Crafton Park – winning a spot on that publication easily.
I’d eventually discover his previous shooting gigs. He’d spent time shooting the Los Angeles Kings a few years earlier.
Then owned by Bruce McNall.
Then coached by Barry Melrose.
Players on that team included the phenomenal Marty McSorley, Luc Robitaille, defenseman Rob Blake, Jari Kurry. The goalie, of course, was Kelly Hrudey. Hockey history soared in L.A. during that era.
There was also, of course, Gretzky.
It should’ve come as no surprise that the Kings, during the 1992-93 season, skated into the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens. Only a few years earlier, Gretzky, McSorley & Co. had lifted the Edmonton Oilers to unbelievable heights.
McNall bought the Kings.
Nick Beverley, deputized by McNall to be an aggressive general manager, was turned loose. L.A. took an all-out assault on the NHL. Players were acquired to turn the Kings into contenders.
Watching from the front row glass was none other than Calkins, who sped down the freeway from Redlands during those years. There he was, his photo lenses shining onto the L.A. Forum ice in search of those hockey shots.
There were a couple pages of Calkins’ in a coffee table book, “A Day in the NHL.” Every arena was shot by someone. Calkins had the Forum. I remember Lee saying, “The Kings were a rough team in those years. They led the NHL in penalty minutes.”
Remember, this is coming from a recreational player who donned the mask and gloves, playing goalie.
It was right around that year 2009, I think, when Gretzky and I came face to face. Never before. Never again. His son, Ty, a learning golfer, would eventually spend collegiate days at Arizona State.
“Will you do me a favor?” Gretzky asked that day.
Sure.
“Tell Lee I said hello.”
Sounded Lee Calkins’ name was probably the only way to get his attention.
It worked.
