BY ROBERT ZUCCARO – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Where to even begin. On the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton oilers trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings it’s still too cliché to even say it was the trade to end all trades. The trade not only shook the NHL, but it impacted professional sports as well as the American hockey market.
Los Angeles needed Wayne Gretzky for two reasons, the first being they needed their first big powerhouse since Marcel Dionne. Secondly, they needed a figure or an idol to grow the sport in the southern United States hockey market, if the NHL ever wanted to expand teams into California and other desert areas (which they did).
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Then there was the financial aspect of it. Peter Pocklington did it for two reasons; he needed the cash, and apparently needed to be rid of Gretzky. For any franchise in financial turmoil, $15 million in cash (back in 1988) is not bad. The interesting thing is this is one of the last trades made in the NHL that involved the exchange of money.
Then there were the players involved in the trade; Jimmy Carson was the center piece going back to Edmonton, and little did the organization or Oilers fans know that Martin Gelinas would turn out to be the biggest return in the trade. The Oilers also got three first round picks, one they traded to the Devils, and two which they kept. Those translated into Martin Ruchinsky and Nick Stajduhar.
Los Angeles also received Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski as per the request of Gretzky himself.
It’s amazing to see all these little things came together in this giant trade. The trade also brought about a great deal of emotions.
To this day, you very rarely see a team trade its superstar and franchise player away. The most recent example would probably be Rick Nash. Will we ever see the day Pittsburgh trades Sidney Crosby? I’m sure the same emotion would be felt if that day ever comes.
In the end, for me, it was such a big trade not so much because it involved one of the greatest players in NHL history, but because of the impact the trade had the day it was announced. It was one that rocked the very core of a fan base, and one that placed hockey on the map in the Southern United States, ultimately creating the league we see today.