Hard to believe it's been nearly nine years since Wayne Gretzky hung up his skates. The Great One was always considered a visionary player. Today, he's bringing his unique vision to his work as a coach, philanthropist, business man, and family man.

But it's the vision of Gretzky the player that haunts my memories. I only watched Wayne Gretzky play once, but boy, did I watch. It was in 1998, and Gretzky was at the end of his run with the Rangers. It was to be his his last visit to Maple Leaf Gardens. Somehow, my dad wangled some tickets from a buddy, and they were brilliant: 14th row, centre ice. Just the perfect spot to see the entire playing surface.

Despite the fact that I'm a lifelong Leafs fan, that game was all about Gretzky, for me anyway. Tie Domi managed to score a goal, and Alyn McCauley wound up getting First Star, but Gretzky's star at that point, was, well... Wayneing. So although I was 29, I did what I would have done when I was a kid, and Gretzky was a teen phenom: I watched The Great One, all game long.

At least, I tried to. I watched to see if he really did hit the ice first, and leave last, during the skate-around. He did. I watched to see if he really could alter the flow of the game from his "office" behind the net. He could; even his Rangers team-mates seemed to get nervous when he was back there, as if anything could suddenly happen. He popped a couple of assists from there, as I recall. I even tried to watch Gretzky when he didn't have the puck - but I couldn't. I swear, I just could not keep my eyes on him. And neither could the Leafs. Despite having the biggest reputation in the game, it seems one of Gretzky's gifts was the ability to become invisible, just for long enough to turn up out of the blue with the puck, somewhere unexpected.

I mentioned being able to see the entire playing surface. Many a pundit has pointed out that this was Gretzky's greatest gift: he could see the game all at once. As if from above, some have said; whether this has ever been formally investigated, I don't know. But when Gretzky came out by himself, after the second period intermission, to start the skate-around, I was watching him then, too. He was completely alone out there, completely focussed, it seemed, on his skating, as if he was just getting the feel of the ice. And while other fans were fetching beer, eating snacks, and talking among themselves, I was just watching, watching, intently watching him skate around.

I don't know if Gretzky could see the entire ice, or if that was a metaphor. But I can tell you this: as he completed his first lap, crossing the red line and thus my line of vision, he turned his head, and looked up - straight into my eyes. Seriously. Took me in at a glance, and then looked back to the ice and skated right on.

How did he see me? I don't know. I mean, everyone in the whole arena was looking at him - but then, I was looking intently, purposefully. Maybe he felt a disturbance in The Force. I felt embarrassed, having disturbed him at his work. He went back to work and that was all. The third period came and went, the Leafs won, but Gretzky got all the applause. He came out and did a final skate-around, gave the crowd a wave, and he was gone.

We might define "Gretzky vision" as the ability to see complicated, moving situations, all at once, at a glance. I envy that. All I got was a little vision of Gretzky. But then, even that was lucky.