The ultimate record-holder wants to set the record straight. Who among us has more of a right to do that than Wayne Gretzky?

“People out there think I’m mad at one side or the other, or that I blame one side or the other for what happened in the meeting, but that isn’t the case at all,” The Great One told The Post by phone last night in explaining his unsuccessful attempt here on Saturday to help broker a deal between the NHL and NHLPA.

“Right now, I’m just completely disappointed that we’re in this situation and that we’ve been unable to come up with the solution that will get the game back on the ice. It’s just not healthy for our game or anyone in it, from players to owners to ushers to vendors to all the people who work in the team and league offices. It’s terrible.”

Gretzky confirmed that both he and Mario Lemieux had been invited to the meeting by the PA. Gretzky said that they – as well as Gary Bettman – expected the players to present a proposal that would include the hard cap number they’d be willing to accept.

“Mario and I believed our role was going to be to do what we could to help the players get to the number that was going to get a deal done,” Gretzky said. “Gary never told me or led me to believe [the NHL] was coming to the meeting with a new proposal, or had committed to raising the hard cap number from the previous $42.5 million. Gary never told me the league was prepared to go to $45M.

“I wasn’t there to negotiate, and neither was Mario. That wasn’t our role. You have to remember, this wasn’t the NHL’s meeting. If Gary had wanted to call another meeting, he would have done it Wednesday morning before he announced cancellation of the season.

“So when the meeting began, I took Trevor and Vincent aside and asked how they thought we could bridge the gap between $42.5M and [the PA’s last proposal of] $49M to make it work,” Gretzky said, referring to PA president Trevor Linden and VP Vincent Damphousse. “They told me they weren’t prepared to talk about a hard cap number until the other issues like arbitration, qualifiers and entry level were done.

“That’s when I told them that I didn’t have a role in that at all, that I wasn’t there for that. And that’s kind of the way it went. There never was real discussion about the cap number.”

Gretzky said that Bettman had told him and Lemieux both during a late Friday night dinner that even if the parties did succeed in reaching an agreement the following day, it was no sure thing the league would be able to resurrect 2004-05.

“Gary made that clear that there weren’t any promises about this year,” Gretzky said. “I know everything that was on television Friday and Saturday, but that just wasn’t so. I just think everybody was so excited they hoped it was so.”