Slim Center Sings When It’s All Over : Game 7: Gretzky comes all the way back to lead Kings all the way into Stanley Cup finals.

TORONTO â€”  Wayne Gretzky was fuming.

After he had struggled earlier in the Campbell Conference finals against the Maple Leafs, a Toronto columnist wrote that the King center was playing as if “he had a piano tied to his back.�

Saturday afternoon before Game 7 of the finals, Gretzky was finishing a cup of tea before heading to Maple Leaf Gardens. He looked across the table at his agent, Mike Barnett, and said: “The piano man still has a tune to play.�

And play he did, collecting three goals and an assist to lead the Kings to a 5-4 victory over Toronto and into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time.

Not bad for a guy who began the season wondering if he would play any tunes on the ice again.

It looked doubtful when Gretzky learned he had a herniated disk.

He sat out the first 39 games in despair. He struggled through his first few games on the ice in frustration. At 32, did Gretzky have anything left?

Yes.

When the playoffs began, he had not only regained the form he had displayed earlier as a King, he began to look like the Gretzky who reinvented the game as an Edmonton Oiler in the ‘80s and earned the nickname the Great One.

“I don’t think I ever played better hockey than I did in the first two rounds,� he said. “I had a couple of tough games in this series, but Toronto is a tough team that plays well defensively. So two, three or four points a night was not going to happen.�

What did happen was good enough for Gretzky.

“I don’t think I ever got more satisfaction than I did in winning this series,� he said. “I’ve played 14 years, and I didn’t want to be remembered as the guy who didn’t play well in the semifinals against Toronto.

“We made $25 million when Anaheim came into the league. We sold out nearly every game since I’ve been here. I think I’ve earned my money.�

Told of Gretzky’s remarks, owner Bruce McNall gushed approval.

“Wayne Gretzky is the best hockey player, and he’s my best friend,� McNall said. “He earned his money in the first year he was here. He’s earned it many times over. He turned the city on to hockey.�

With the Kings leading, 5-3, and less than two minutes to play, McNall and his family headed downstairs to celebrate.

By the time they reached the locker room area, Toronto’s Dave Ellett had cut the margin in half.

Kings 5, Toronto 4. One minute seven seconds to play.

McNall began wringing his hands. “This is hell,� he said to nobody in particular.

The King owner refused to watch a nearby monitor.

When the final buzzer went off, McNall knew from the sound of the crowd and the screaming around him.

Finally, he was able to turn and look at the television set.

Dave Taylor, a 16-year veteran, skated across in the ice in wonderment that he had survived to see this moment.

On the bench, trainer Pete Demers, finishing his 24th year in the organization, said he was in “a daze.�

Former goalie and General Manager Rogie Vachon muttered to a reporter, “Twenty-six years.�

And Gretzky hugged one teammate after another.

He had played his tune for all the world to hear.