"I always tell people he's like Santa Claus," Wayne Gretzky said Thursday with tears in his eyes, honouring his longtime Oilers teammate and protector.
"Parents couldn't wait to meet him, parents couldn't wait to get a picture taken with him. And kids were scared to death."
A few thousand Oilers fans joined family, friends and teammates at Rogers Place on Thursday to celebrate the life of Dave Semenko, 59, the "gentle giant" who died June 29 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Many close to the former Oilers enforcer shared their memories and funny stories, including Gretzky, Glen Sather, Paul Coffey and Kevin Lowe.