THUNDER BAY – Jay Wells will never be mentioned in Hockey Hall of Fame conversations.
But the former first-round draft pick had plenty of brushes with history over his 18-year NHL career.
Two in particular stand out.
On April 10, 1982, it was his third-period goal that started the Los Angeles Kings on the comeback trail in a game forever known as the Miracle on Manchester.
Skip forward a dozen more years and Wells was a stalwart on the New York Rangers blue-line, a team that erased 54 years of Stanley Cup failure with a Game 7 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Wells, now 58 and playing the old-timer’s circuit to help raise money for a variety of charitable causes, including Special Olympics during his stop Monday in Thunder Bay, said he and his Kings teammates had no idea they’d make history after the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers jumped in front 5-0 through two period of play at the old Los Angeles Forum.
“It was a fluke thing,” Wells said of his goal, scored 2:36 into the third on a pass from future hall-of-famer Marcel Dionne.
“I threw a blind shot at the net and it found its way in. I do recall the dressing room how calm and how cool we were. We really did feel that we could match up with the Edmonton Oilers, even though we were way behind in points. We always rose to the challenge when we played the Edmonton Oilers.”
The up-and-coming Oilers finished 48 points ahead of the Kings in the Smythe Division standings, and saw their opponent as a tune-up for what they hoped would be a lengthy playoff run.
Los Angeles upset the Oilers 10-8 in the best-of-five series opener and Edmonton was well on its way to the win in Game 3 and a 2-1 lead, when Wells’ shot beat Grant Fuhr.
After Doug Smith, Terrace Bay’s Charlie Simmer and Mark Hardy cut the Oilers lead to one, Steve Bozek netted the equalizer with five seconds to play in regulation. Daryl Evans won it for the Kings, who went on to win the series in five, early in overtime.
“We went out and just thought about giving it our best and seeing what happened. We threw as many pucks at the net and hopefully we’d get some rebounds. And it all worked out for us,” Wells said.
“It was a pretty cool comeback. There have been other teams that have done similar stuff, but in the playoffs that was one of the biggest. It’s great to be a part of history.”
The Kings were swept from the playoffs in the second round by the Vancouver Canucks, and only twice in the next 11 seasons did Wells’ team make it beyond the first round.
But then came 1993-94.
“Right from Day 1 (coach) Mike Keenan set us all straight and put us on a mission that we were just going to go out and play hockey. And we were going to use our skill and puck possession and we did that,” Wells said. “It was a real Cinderella season for us.”
The Rangers made bold moves at the deadline, trading away Mike Gartner and Tony Amonte, but they paid off.
“We weren’t sure how it was all going to gel. Some of the players we picked up played big roles for us in the playoffs, like Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan and (Craig) MacTavish. It was just a heck of a year to be involved.”
Wells, who also spent time in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Buffalo, finished his career in 1997 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, collecting 47 goals and 263 points in 1,098 NHL games.
