Wayne Gretzky and 9 other hockey legends who also played in Indianapolis

Wayne Gretzky is returning to Indianapolis this month for the ECHL All-Star Classic nearly 40 years after starting his professional career with the now-defunct Indianapolis Racers. 

During his time in Indy, Gretzky scored three times in eight games, the first against the team he would become a household name with, the Edmonton Oilers. He joined that team after playing in just eight games in Indy in 1978. The Racers folded later that season.

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The Great One's short time in Indianapolis is emblematic of several hockey legends who made pit stops playing for franchises who also lacked staying power in Indiana. Here are 9 other legends who played for Indianapolis teams:

Dominik Hasek

The Hall of Fame goaltender joined the Indianapolis Ice in the 1990-91 season after the fall of the USSR, following years of playing professionally in his native Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). In his opening season in the International Hockey League, he was named a First Team All-Star, finishing with 2.52 goals against average in 33 games.

He continued the next season jumping between the Ice and NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. Space was limited in Chicago, as the team had settled on future Hall of Famer Ed Belfour as a starter. After the Blackhawks were swept in the Stanley Cup finals, Hasek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres.

From there, the Dominator became one of the best goalies of all-time. He won the Vezina Trophy six times, the Hart Trophy twice, and ended his NHL career by winning his second Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008.

​​​​​​Mark Messier

Mark Messier's time in Indianapolis almost overlapped Gretzky's. He joined the team on a five-game contract just ten days after Gretzky played his final game with the Racers.

Messier, who like Gretzky was also just 17-years-old at the time, scored no goals in his brief time with the team. He was released less than a month before the Racers' franchise folded. Messier finished his time in the World Hockey Association with the Cincinnati Stingers before joining Gretzky on the Edmonton Oilers in 1979.

He won four Stanley Cups with Gretzky in Edmonton, and another after The Great One left for Los Angeles. As Captain of the New York Rangers, Messier famously guaranteed a Game 6 Eastern Conference victory in 1994, scoring a hat trick in the game. He led the Rangers to the Stanley Cup that season, the sixth of his career and the franchise's first in 54 years.

Dave Keon

Named the greatest Toronto Maple Leaf ever by the NHL last year, Keon joined several greats who migrated from the NHL to the WHA in the mid-1970s. He joined the Indianapolis Racers after the Minnesota Fighting Saints franchise folded in in 1976.

In 12 games with the first-place Racers, Keon posted 10 points. The Racers lost in the first round of the playoffs in a seven-game series that Keon scored twice in. 

The following season, Keon returned to Minnesota. The WHA's Cleveland Barons moved to west, renaming themselves the Fighting Saints. The Hall of Famer retired in 1982 playing in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers. 

Glenn Hall

The future Hall of Fame goalie got his start with the first franchise here: The Indianapolis Capitals. The team's 1951-52 season was its last after 13 seasons in Indianapolis.

Hall later found success in the NHL while playing for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks, including winning Chicago's first Stanley Cup in 38 years against his former team in 1961.

Nicknamed "Mr. Goalie," Hall set a record for the most consecutive starts by a goaltender (502) and is credited with originating the butterfly goaltending technique. 

Alex Delvecchio

The Indianapolis Capitals were a farm team owned by the Detroit Red Wings, so several great players from the team's 1950s dynasty played here (only two of the players on this list don't have their numbers retired by the team).

Like Hall, Alex Delvecchio only played in the Capitals final season, spending just six games with the team. He moved up the Red Wings to join linemates Ted Linsay and Gordie Howe on the second coming of the famous production line after Sid Abel was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Skating in the shadow of someone nicknamed Mr. Hockey, Delvecchio still amassed a Hall of Fame career, becoming just the third player to reach 1,000 points after teammate Howe and Montreal Canadiens center Jean Beliveau. He played a part on each of the Red Wings' three Stanley Cup wins in five years in the 1950s.

Marcel Pronovost

Unlike several players on this list, Marcel Pronovost actually started in the NHL, getting called up to the Detroit Red Wings after Gordie Howe suffered his worst injury, a life-threatening skull fracture in the 1950 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The following season, Pronovost was sent down to the Indianapolis Capitals due to a cheekbone injury. In 32 games with the team, he averaged almost a point per game.

Called "one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL" by teammate Ted Lindsay, Pronovost used his body to challenge players off the puck and control it to give his team the advantage. In 20 NHL seasons, Pronovost won the Stanley Cup five times.

Terry Sawchuk

Terry Sawchuk made himself known from the get-go in Indianapolis. He was named Rookie of the Year in the 1948-49 season with the Capitals. That success continued the following year as he led the team to a Calder Cup championship.

He moved up to play in the NHL full-time the next year, winning three Stanley Cups in five years with the Red Wings and posting a GAA under 2.00 in his first five years in the NHL.

By the time Sawchuk retired in 1970, he had even more records, including for the most shutouts and wins by a goalie in the league. He played a part on each of the Red Wings' three Stanley Cup wins in five years in the 1950s.

Ted Lindsay (kind of)

Ted Lindsay once played in a game for an Indianapolis franchise. The game just didn't end up counting.

According to IndyPuck, a blog detailing the history of hockey in Indianapolis, Lindsay was sent here after signing a contract with the Red Wings in 1944. Management thought it would be best for the 19-year-old to get some experience in the minors before jumping to the pros.

On that October night, the Capitals were on the road against the Hershey Bears. Lindsay assisted on one of his team's goals on the teams' way to a 7-3 win. But five days later, he was in Detroit. That was against the rules.

At the time, the AHL said players sent down from NHL teams had to spend at least two weeks with the league's franchises, in an effort to prevent ringers. The Capitals were thus ordered to forfeit the game, and any official record of Lindsay playing for Indianapolis was dismissed.

Sid Abel

In the Capitals inaugural 1939 season, Sid Abel was sent down from the Red Wings to join the team after a shoulder injury slowed his performance.

He posted 18 points in 21 games with the expansion team, who won their division but lost their first playoff series. Abel returned to Detroit, later shifting to left wing and being named team captain in 1942. But the next season, he'd put his hockey career on hold, fighting in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. 

In 1946, he returned to the ice, with Gordie Howe and Ted Linsay to follow shortly, and the famous, original production line, was born. The trio of Hall of Famers were the top three in league scoring in the 1949-50 season. He played a part on each of the Red Wings' three Stanley Cup wins in five years in the 1950s.

Nate Chute is a producer with IndyStar who can't get enough hockey. Follow him on Twitter at @nchute.