Gretzky said Curtis Joseph, an Oilers goalie from 1995-98, is expected to be in Edmonton's net instead of Fuhr.
"Glen [Sather] always told us when we won our first Cup [1984], 'When you win, you get memories for life,'" Gretzky said. "I don't think any of us anticipated or knew or realized exactly what he meant and what he had said, but it's so true. So when [Jets chairman] Mark Chipman called me, I was like, 'Absolutely.'"
Gretzky, though, admitted he wasn't a definite to attend until he got word from Messier and Coffey that they were on board too. It's part of the "win together, walk together forever" mantra Gretzky said he and his Oilers teammates have abided by even long into their retirement years.
"It doesn't work if one can't play or doesn't want to play or go," Gretzky said. "[Fuhr] can't play anymore, his knees are too bad, but he'll be there. We wouldn't go if he wasn't there. That's the one thing about our group, we all go together. If one guy can't go, pretty much nobody goes. It's such a close group, so close knit.
"So, Glen is going to coach. Kevin Lowe and [Craig MacTavish] are going to be assistant coaches. Ron Low is going to be involved. And this game we're sort of combining a lot of older Oilers players, like Blair McDonald, one of the original captains, and some of the younger players like Ryan Smyth. It's a cross section of the guys and it's always fun when we get together. The trainers come in from that era. It's just a really wonderful get together."
And because it's in Winnipeg, Gretzky expects the conversation to turn to the glory days of the Jets-Oilers rivalry, which dates back to the World Hockey Association.