The Kings would reach new heights in the 1992–93 season, but the campaign started badly when it was learned that Gretzky had suffered a career-threatening herniated thoracic disk before the season began. The concern was not mainly whether Gretzky would be able to play that season, but if he would ever be able to play again. But even without their captain and leading scorer, the Kings got off to a blistering 20-8-3 start, with left-winger Luc Robitaille, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the 1986–87's NHL Rookie of the Year, filling in as captain for the ailing Gretzky. Robitaille led the team until Gretzky returned after missing the first 39 games. Robitaille would go on to retire at the end of the 2005–06 season as the highest-scoring left winger in National Hockey League history. (*)