99 SAYS GOODBYE ON GARDEN STAGE; GRETZKY'S RETIREMENT MARKED BY EMOTIONAL CEREMONY : PITTSBURGH 2, N.Y. RANGERS 1.

Byline: Barry Wilner Associated Press 

There were four laps around the rink, tears and a simple wave - and then he was gone.

Wayne Gretzky ended his NHL career on Sunday to rousing cheers and endless chants from an overflow crowd at Madison Square Garden in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Smiling through his tears, the greatest player ever made it easy for everyone to say goodbye - skating around the arena slowly enough for plenty of souvenir photos to be taken.

Better still, he touched youngsters' hands every time he noticed them extended from the crowd. He even played to the adoring fans, donning a blue Yankees hat, then a red Rangers beret.

Gretzky skated one lap around the rink with teammates in tow, and then came an encore, as a lone spotlight followed him around the ice and Carly Simon's ``Nobody Does It Better'' blared throughout.

Perhaps the most emotional moment for him came as he posed for one last photo with teammates, who all wore No. 99 caps.

``I'm devastated I will no longer be a hockey player,'' Gretzky said. ``I will miss every part of the game, because I loved every part of the game. But I've made the right decision.''

Gretzky ended his career with an assist. On a power play while trailing 1-0, Gretzky passed from the right wing boards in the slot to Mathieu Schneider, who faked a shot and passed to Leetch for a tap-in open-net goal.

That led to a mob scene at the sideboards as his teammates hugged, although Gretzky didn't seem very emotional. Of course, he'd done this 2,856 times before in the NHL.

During a Rangers timeout with 40.4 seconds to go in the third, his wife, Janet, began to cry as the fans began the long, final salute to The Great One. Gretzky acknowledged it with a nod, then a wave, then by raising his stick in the air.

Moments later he nearly had a breakaway, but Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso, who had a sensational game, beat Gretzky to the puck.

Fittingly, as if his career were ending too soon, the game went into overtime. But it ended abruptly when Jaromir Jagr scored for Pittsburgh. The crowd and the Rangers seemed stunned, but only momentarily. Then everyone remembered why they'd come to an otherwise pedestrian matchup.

As the ``Gretz-ky'' chants began again, he skated over to the Penguins, who were lined up at the blue line, and shook hands with several. Then he hugged Jagr before returning to his teammates.

Then began the final moments of the Gretzky era, which NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ensured would end historically by announcing that no one will ever again wear No. 99 in the league.

That was the first of several times Gretzky became teary. It happened again when his father, Walter, was driven to center ice in a new black Mercedes presented to Gretzky by the Rangers.

``I feel so lucky to be able to play in the NHL,'' the sport's greatest player said. ``I've been so fortunate to play with some of the greatest players, against guys I admired so much, like the best player I ever played against, Mario Lemieux . . . my teammates and, of course, the best player I ever played with, Mark Messier.''

Gretzky, who announced his retirement Friday, wore a huge grin as friend Bryan Adams sang ``O, Canada.''

``We're going to miss you, Wayne,'' Adams ad-libbed late in the song.

Not to be outdone, John Amirante, who sang ``The Star-Spangled Banner,'' altered the lyrics to include ``in the land of Wayne Gretzky.''

Gretzky, who holds or shares 61 NHL records, set up Brian Leetch, John MacLean and Niklas Sundstrom for first-period scoring chances. All failed.

At the first television timeout, Gordie Howe - whose records Gretzky regularly broke - appeared in a video, saluting his prodigy.

Another sports king, Michael Jordan, appeared in a second-period video, telling Gretzky: ``Your golf game is not going to get better, so don't think that will help. It will probably get worse, because you've got more time.''

Everywhere at the Garden, fans wore No. 99 Rangers jerseys. And painted behind each net was a blue 99, so appropriate for the area known as ``Gretzky's office.''

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PHOTO Smiling through tears, Wayne Gretzky waves to a sellout crowd during his postgame retirement ceremony at Madison Square Garden.

Paul Chiasson/Associated Press