Gulls Enjoy A Little Taste of Gretzky : Hockey: Keith Gretzky, brother of the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, steals the show with a three-goal performance in the Gulls’ 5-2 victory over the Indianapolis Ice.

SAN DIEGO â€”  When the Gulls signed Keith Gretzky last August they never guaranteed goals and greatness.

They never anticipated any heroics from the little brother of hockey’s Great One, Wayne Gretzky.

So they didn’t create any hype.

The Good One, as Keith is known, needed to establish his identity.

Promoting Gretzky turned out to be the best marketing scheme the Gulls never employed.

The Kings’ Wayne is the greatest scorer in NHL history. Keith was fast becoming the Gulls’ forgotten headliner Sunday, then a little bit of his brother came out.

Keith Gretzky scored three goals as the Gulls defeated the Indianapolis Ice, 5-2, in an International Hockey League game at the San Diego Sports Arena.

It was the third consecutive victory on this seven-game home stand for the Gulls, now 23-15-3 with 49 points and in second place in the IHL West Division.

A crowd of 3,664 saw Gretzky score for the first time at home, while the Gulls reached the halfway point of the season.

“When we went out on our first shift tonight I took a shot and I had a feeling, ‘Maybe I’ll score tonight,’ � he said. “It’s been a long time, two months. It’s a good feeling.�

Those are comments you don’t expect to hear from a Gretzky, but Keith’s first-period goal--a 40-foot wrist shot from the slot that gave the Gulls a 2-0 lead--was his first since Oct. 28.

Make no mistake about it.

Gretzky, 24, was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 1985 but has never played in the NHL. He didn’t come to San Diego to make commercials with Bo Jackson.

He entered Sunday’s game against the Ice (13-22-5, 31 points, fifth in the East) ranked 14th on the team in scoring with three goals, nine assists and 12 points. Prodigious goal scorer he is not. He has turned out to be a a 5-foot-9, 165-pound grinder.

However . . .

“Before, I was maybe a natural scorer,� said Gretzky, who joins Ron Duguay and Denny Lambert on what Coach Don Waddell calls his blue collar line. “Tonight I just shot the puck.�

Gretzky scored in each period. His final goal came on a shot into an open net with four seconds left.

And it came when Dmitri Kvartalnov, who leads the IHL with 33 goals, skated alone toward the empty net and left the puck for a trailing Gretzky two feet in front of the crease.

Said Waddell: “It’s good to see your plumbers, your blue collar guys score goals. And you love to see things like what Dmitri did for the team.�

Kvartalnov, who also leads the league with 66 points, could have extended a goal-scoring streak to five games.

Gretzky’s second-period goal, set up by Brian Straub’s crossing pass in front of Ice goalie Jimmy Waite , made it 4-1.

Twice in the third period, before Kvartalnov’s gracious drop pass, Gretzky was stopped on breakaway shots.

Darcy Norton opened the scoring for the Gulls 4:30 into the game. Steve Martinson gave the Gulls a 3-1 lead with a goal in the second period. After that it was all Gretzky, who helped goalie Rick Knickle (31 saves) improve to 15-7-2.

Gulls Notes

The second half of the season will open with a reality check. The Gulls’ first four games, all at home, will be against division leaders Kansas City (34-9-2, 70 points in the West) and Ft. Wayne (28-11-3, 59 points in the East), which helped the Gulls by shutting out Peoria, 5-0, Sunday. Kansas City will be at the Sports Arena Friday and Saturday, Ft. Wayne Jan. 21-22.