This Day in History: The Trade.....

VintageHky

VintageHky

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The trade they say changes the face of hockey. Wayne Gretzky traded from the OILERS to the LA KINGS... My sister told me and I didn't believe it.
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=23298

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Ron

Thanks for the reminder... :p 'Tis was a very sad day in Edmonton 20 years ago today.... :o

And here's a better LINK: tsn.ca/nhl/ :rolleyes:

Plus the above link has the video attached to it...

Brian
 
I get angry every time I think about that deal. It had absolutely nothing to do with hockey. Did the trade make the Oil a better team? Not in my opinion. Did it make the Kings better? Sure it did, but it was steal in my opinion for them. 25 years from now when all the persons (management) involved are dead and gone, The Great One will tell his story. I hope it’s titled “Peter is a Schmuck” or replace schmuck with any vulgar 4-letter word.

I don't have a picture as it's in PEI, but I have a Gretzky lunch box.
 
I was almost 18, and I cried like a three year old girl for the entire day. I remember Peter Puck originally blaming it on Janet and her desire to move Wayne to LA, and saying it had nothing to do with money. What a terrible event.
 
A question for you folks who witnessed it: Was there any buzz or warning that this might happen? Or was it a total surprise and shock? I wasn't following hockey yet back then.
 
tealfan said:
A question for you folks who witnessed it: Was there any buzz or warning that this might happen? Or was it a total surprise and shock? I wasn't following hockey yet back then.
Click to expand...


I don't remember any talks prior. It was right out of the blue on the East coast. Maybe their were rumours in the West.
 
tealfan said:
A question for you folks who witnessed it: Was there any buzz or warning that this might happen? Or was it a total surprise and shock? I wasn't following hockey yet back then.
Click to expand...

There was a bit of a buzz, but I remember not taking it seriously. When Wayne married Janet (just a few weeks before the trade), I remember hearing a rumor that Janet was wanting Wayne to move to LA, because she was, at the time, still trying to have an acting career.

I wouldn't doubt that rumor was started by Pocklington, in order to set up the trade as Janet's fault, instead of a result of his own greed. Pocklington even announced the trade as "a favor to Wayne and Janet". It made me think Wayne had requested out of Edmonton, which at the time broke my heart. I later found out that was not the case at all.

It was still a shock. No one at the time believed it would be possible to trade the Great One. Any rumors were followed by king of a "yeah, right, as if" attitude. I mean, who could you ask for in trade for the greatest player ever at the pak of his career? You'd need 10 players, all stars, 20 years old.

It turned out the $15 million was all the incentive Pocklington needed.
 
Yeah, there was some buzz, but there was Gretz trade rumors always flying in the offseason. The Maple Leafs often were at the centre of those rumors...I would think to myself, "who could TO send us that would make up for losing Gretz?" It truly was a loaded question, as the only player in the world who could have been involved in a deal and have it NOT look extremely one sided was Mario, and that wouldn't have happened. My point is, that nobody thought trade rumors could be taken seriously, as nothing could make up for losing Wayne. And really, it wasn't so much a trade as it was a sale, so we were all right.
 
sholi2000 said:
I get angry every time I think about that deal. It had absolutely nothing to do with hockey. Did the trade make the Oil a better team? Not in my opinion. Did it make the Kings better? Sure it did, but it was steal in my opinion for them. 25 years from now when all the persons (management) involved are dead and gone, The Great One will tell his story. I hope it’s titled “Peter is a Schmuck” or replace schmuck with any vulgar 4-letter word.

I don't have a picture as it's in PEI, but I have a Gretzky lunch box.
Click to expand...

Gretzky has already come out and said he didnt want to be traded. Peter the you know what needed the money because he was a horrible business man, and was losing money everywhere else. Bruce McNall, who we all know was a crooked as they come, called him because he had the boat load of cash to spend. McNall and Gretzky actually worked out the trade, as Gretzky demanded McSorely be traded with him because the kings did not have any tough guys. Gretzky even told of how Peter the you knwo what asked Gretzky to say it was his idea at the press conference. indeed a dark day in hockey. Thats why we have the Phoenix Coyotes and not the Hartford whalers or Quebec Nordiques, or the winnipeg Jets anymore.


Bill
 
According to the interview TSN ran with Bruce McNall, Pocklington didn't have very many nice things to say about Wayne, including calling him a whiner. So one day, while discussing a trade possibility, he put Pocklington on speaker phone, with Wayne in the room (unbeknownst to Pocklington of course) and let Pocklington lambaste Gretzky as soft and whiney. Gretz started working with McNall immediately to engineer the trade.

Not to mention of course, McNall contacting Gretzky regarding the issue without Oiler permission was highly outside the rules (tampering anyone) and reflects poorly on both McNall and Gretzky in my opinion.

Cory
 
I remember how sad I was when it happened. I can remember questioning why they didn't try and get Lucky Luc back in the deal, then I realized that it was a sale and not a trade:(

I still cheered for the Leafs but I have to admitt that I cheered for the Kings alot that year. I was very happy when they beat the Oilers in the first round. I even went out and bought the new black Kings jersey with Gretzky on the back.
 
Yeah - I still have a half a dozen newspapers from northern Minnesota from the day when this happened - I was working with my dad over the summer (more like tagging along as a 13 year old) when the news came accross - I was shocked. For the rest of the day we drove around listening to the radio and picking up all of the different newspapers to read each different article...what a mess.

Thanks for the stories - I hadn't heard them before, or if I had the facts have been destroyed by years of malted hop consumption.
 
GrimUSMC said:
Gretzky has already come out and said he didnt want to be traded. Peter the you know what needed the money because he was a horrible business man, and was losing money everywhere else. Bruce McNall, who we all know was a crooked as they come, called him because he had the boat load of cash to spend. McNall and Gretzky actually worked out the trade, as Gretzky demanded McSorely be traded with him because the kings did not have any tough guys. Gretzky even told of how Peter the you knwo what asked Gretzky to say it was his idea at the press conference. indeed a dark day in hockey. Thats why we have the Phoenix Coyotes and not the Hartford whalers or Quebec Nordiques, or the winnipeg Jets anymore.


Bill
Click to expand...

Actually the Kings had a great enforcer in Ken Baumgartner.
 
fly4apuckguy said:
I think it was more the fact that Marty and Gretz were buddies, and Marty had Hollywood aspirations (who can forget his amazing cinematic debut in "Bad Boys")? ;):)
Click to expand...

Marty is A list for sure! Haha. What was the name of the other movie he played in with billy crystal. Bill was a basket ball ref and marty was a heckling fan haha! :beer:
 

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