Or Kurri's lack of limelight might be that he was uncomfortable around the press because he spoke close to zero English when he first got here. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, to be great with Gretzky required very high skill and a very high hockey IQ. Kurri had both. While, yes, Kurri benefited from playing with Gretzky, the tandem of Gretzky-Kurri was mutually beneficial. Gretzky was clearly the better player, but my point is these were two exceptional hockey players who both made one another better. I'll snag a few quotes, though, from sources in Edmonton on Kurri's value:
"I think the best thing to happen to Messier and Kurri was winning the Cup in 1990, after Wayne had gone. I think everyone in the hockey world truly appreciated how great Jari was."
-Kevin Lowe
"He was the first player that played with Gretzky without any difficulties at all. He understood Gretzky right away."
-Bill Tuele, Edmonton Oilers Public Relations Director in the 1980s
And Gretzky himself...
"I don't know how exactly I can put it into words, it was something very very special. Especially when you look at it and say, here you've got a kid 18 years old who grew up in Ontario playing Canadian hockey and you bring a kid over who's 19 years old from Finland who doesn't speak any English at all. And yet when we put our skates on and got on the ice, it was like we had grown up together, thought the same way, felt the same way, understood the game the same way, and it just all came together as one. It was something really really remarkable. We didn't spend a lot of time together, like extra practicing or conversations or anything. At that time he couldn't even speak English. But it was amazing, when we got on the ice, it was a chemistry that, I don't know why we had it. We would get on the ice and he would have no idea where I was and yet the puck would be right on my stick. Or I would have no idea where he was and I could put the puck to where I felt I knew he was gonna be. And it was something very special, something very unique, and we were fortunate to have it together. We were good friends, we pushed each other, we kidded each other, and I think the biggest thing of all, we were unselfish with each other. He didn't care if I scored, I didn't care of he scored. It felt like when he was scoring I was scoring, and I know he had that same feeling for me. I think our unselfishness towards each other was a huge part of our success. And I think we loved to win and we competed hard."
-Wayne Gretzky
