Mar 26, 2020 16:41:21 GMT UT said:

That’s the most engaging things I’ve ever seen about hockey.

Minus the shot at the Bucks. That was uncalled for.

I don’t have much to add to the picture RT painted. I knew who Gretzky was obviously but that was the extent of it. Don’t even remember the trade but even back then hockey on ESPN made me change the channel.

I didn’t even mean to. I just clicked on a team that was almost dead last in the same conference as Chicago at the time for comparison. :lol:

If it’s any consolation I was totally rooting for the Bucks this year since it was likely the Raptors don’t repeat.

Mar 26, 2020 17:52:58 GMT RT said:

Mar 26, 2020 16:41:21 GMT UT said:

That’s the most engaging things I’ve ever seen about hockey.

Minus the shot at the Bucks. That was uncalled for.

I don’t have much to add to the picture RT painted. I knew who Gretzky was obviously but that was the extent of it. Don’t even remember the trade but even back then hockey on ESPN made me change the channel.

I didn’t even mean to. I just clicked on a team that was almost dead last in the same conference as Chicago at the time for comparison. :lol:

If it’s any consolation I was totally rooting for the Bucks this year since it was likely the Raptors don’t repeat.

Well they better let the playoffs roll or I’m just making my own NBA champions shirt.

Would it be akin to the Chiefs trading Mahomes to the Redskins for Dwayne Haskins and some draft picks? Or the Patriots trading Tom Brady in his prime to the Buccaneers for Josh Freeman?

Also to add how wild it all was, hockey changed forever thanks to this trade. I mentioned them changing the rules because of Gretzky. It was because the Oilers would deliberately take offsetting penalties to open up more ice.

In the event of offsetting penalties, both players leave the ice, making it 4-on-4. The Oilers would do this on purpose to give Gretzky more room to make plays. They would almost always score in a 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 situation. So the league changed the rule so that it was like the NFL where nothing would happen in an offsetting penalty situation.

The reverse the rule in 1993, the same year Gretzky got the Kings to the Stanley Cup finals.

Also this trade pretty much directly resulted in the Rangers winning their first Stanley Cup. Mark Messier left the Oilers (as did many players) when Gretzky was traded and it effectively blew up the market and also helped expansion into the United States. Instead of the Oilers hoarding all the best players and winning like 10 Cups in a row, Canadian star power headed south of the border. Messier went to New York, the Red Wings and Devils started their dynasties, young Canadian kids saw their hero living it up in Hollywood and married to a blond super model and were like “wait...why the fuck would I want to play in Canada!?”

The game changed forever on that day and the effects are still felt. Look at Steve Stamkos resigning in Tampa Bay for less money. He just wants to live in Florida. Karlsson leaving Ottawa and signing in San Jose, Subban leaving Montreal to sign in Nashville and marry Lindsey Vonn...the list goes on.

Mar 26, 2020 17:59:37 GMT UT said:

Mar 26, 2020 17:52:58 GMT RT said:

I didn’t even mean to. I just clicked on a team that was almost dead last in the same conference as Chicago at the time for comparison. :lol:

If it’s any consolation I was totally rooting for the Bucks this year since it was likely the Raptors don’t repeat.

Well they better let the playoffs roll or I’m just making my own NBA champions shirt.

Would it be akin to the Chiefs trading Mahomes to the Redskins for Dwayne Haskins and some draft picks? Or the Patriots trading Tom Brady in his prime to the Lions?

Basically yeah. Brady might have been an even better example given they made the slide rule for him. Literal game changer that won multiple championships, then the ownership is just like “think of how much money we could get for him if we traded him now!” and then the Pats sucking for 25 years.

The Gretzky trade was my number 6, I nearly choked on my breakfast when I heard the news. I was (still am) a huge Oilers hater and even I felt a sense of loss when it happened. Everything caught up to Peter Pocklington, the shady Oilers owner, and he had to do what he had to do. Also not to be underestimated was Gretzky's recent marriage to B-level actress Janet Jones who I'm sure had some influence on the trade. This was my first taste of how fickle the business end of sports could be and how even untouchable superstars could be treated like currency.

Also Jimmy Carson who the Oilers got in the trade wasn't exactly chopped liver. He was a back to back 50 goal scorer going into the 88-89 season. Martin Gelinas also turned into a solid defensive forward for the Oilers in later years and was a clutch playoff performer, just sayin'.

I'm striking out on this list so far. I feel like bodyslam does when we do wrestling countdowns.

Mar 26, 2020 18:11:25 GMT Shootist said:

The Gretzky trade was my number 6, I nearly choked on my breakfast when I heard the news. I was (still am) a huge Oilers hater and even I felt a sense of loss when it happened. Everything caught up to Peter Pocklington, the shady Oilers owner, and he had to do what he had to do. Also not to be underestimated was Gretzky's recent marriage to B-level actress Janet Jones who I'm sure had some influence on the trade. This was my first taste of how fickle the business end of sports could be and how even untouchable superstars could be treated like currency.

yeah I forgot to include that Gretzky actually had to request the trade in order for it to be legit. Recently married to an actress, and the fact the Oilers fucked him probably made it so that LA was the only real destination and they took Poklington for all they could.

Mar 26, 2020 18:25:33 GMT Shootist said:

Also Jimmy Carson who the Oilers got in the trade wasn't exactly chopped liver. He was a back to back 50 goal scorer going into the 88-89 season. Martin Gelinas also turned into a solid defensive forward for the Oilers in later years and was a clutch playoff performer, just sayin'.

I supposed Carson did have some good seasons but at the same time, everyone was scoring 40 or more goals in the 80s and early 90s because goaltending was non existent until Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy showed up and they made more rule changes.

Gelinas was fine but got traded a lot. Not really an asset you want when you’re giving up literally the greatest player of all time.

If I was more of a hockey fan this definitely would have made my list. By the time of this trade Gretzky was already considered the GOAT of hockey by a pretty big consensus. Yet Edmonton traded him for a box of doughnuts. I'm not sure this idiocy has ever been equaled in any other sport. Maybe Boston trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Or the Vikings trading Boardwalk, Park Place, all 4 railroads and Water Works just for Herschel Walker.

Didn’t Ditka trade the whole monopoly board plus Lance Armstrong’s good testicle for Ricky Williams? That’s pretty big too.

I think the biggest thing about the Gretzky trade is how much it changed the landscape of the NHL. Like Shootist pointed out, the return on Gretzky wasn’t all bad. They did get a decent goal scorer out of it and Gelinas wasn’t all bad, but it still wasn’t anywhere near good.

I’m sure there have been trades in other leagues that were just as bad, but I don’t think the league changed forever after any of those happened. The NHL couldn’t wait to expand into more American markets after it happened, and no Canadian team has won the Cup since Montreal in 1993. Prior to that at least one Canadian team dominated in every decade.

EDIT: I guess Ruth to the Yankees is on the same scale. Imagine he never left and the Red Sox dominated baseball for 100 years.

I'll tell you this. You wouldn't have NHL teams in San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix, Dallas, Florida, Tampa, Columbus, or Vegas without that trade. Wayne Gretzky made hockey in mainstream America.

This is my favorite entry yet because it's the one I knew the least about and also because of all those great RT posts (I popped especially hard for the mention of Arkansas Razorbacks legend Todd Day).

I knew Gretzky was already a legendary GOAT contender who broke all kinds of records and won a bunch of Stanley Cups with the Oilers before he went to the Kings. But I never really knew, or thought about, how he got from Edmonton to LA. Had no idea it was the NHL equivalent of the Babe Ruth trade.

Brief Storytime: NHL/Hockey was the last (and least) Big 4 sport I got into. I didn't really follow it, even on a casual basis, until like 1992 when Gretzky was well-established as a King and behind Mario Lemieux in the Best In The World rankings. And 99% of my fairly short-lived hockey fandom (like 4 years) was due to the awesome NHL series on Sega Genesis.

Mar 26, 2020 22:57:08 GMT Baker said:

This is my favorite entry yet because it's the one I knew the least about and also because of all those great RT posts (I popped especially hard for the mention of Arkansas Razorbacks legend Todd Day).

I knew Gretzky was already a legendary GOAT contender who broke all kinds of records and won a bunch of Stanley Cups with the Oilers before he went to the Kings. But I never really knew, or thought about, how he got from Edmonton to LA. Had no idea it was the NHL equivalent of the Babe Ruth trade.

Brief Storytime: NHL/Hockey was the last (and least) Big 4 sport I got into. I didn't really follow it, even on a casual basis, until like 1992 when Gretzky was well-established as a King and behind Mario Lemieux in the Best In The World rankings. And 99% of my fairly short-lived hockey fandom (like 4 years) was due to the awesome NHL series on Sega Genesis.

You should read up on Peter Pocklington, first time I heard the term shyster was when my parents would talk about this guy. Bruce McNall was another shady character in the whole Gretzky trade, he was on the LA side of things.

Mar 26, 2020 23:42:54 GMT Shootist said:

Mar 26, 2020 22:57:08 GMT Baker said:

This is my favorite entry yet because it's the one I knew the least about and also because of all those great RT posts (I popped especially hard for the mention of Arkansas Razorbacks legend Todd Day).

I knew Gretzky was already a legendary GOAT contender who broke all kinds of records and won a bunch of Stanley Cups with the Oilers before he went to the Kings. But I never really knew, or thought about, how he got from Edmonton to LA. Had no idea it was the NHL equivalent of the Babe Ruth trade.

Brief Storytime: NHL/Hockey was the last (and least) Big 4 sport I got into. I didn't really follow it, even on a casual basis, until like 1992 when Gretzky was well-established as a King and behind Mario Lemieux in the Best In The World rankings. And 99% of my fairly short-lived hockey fandom (like 4 years) was due to the awesome NHL series on Sega Genesis.

You should read up on Peter Pocklington, first time I heard the term shyster was when my parents would talk about this guy. Bruce McNall was another shady character in the whole Gretzky trade, he was on the LA side of things.

I think there’s a 30 for 30 episode on the trade too. Or some kind of Sportscentre special. I can’t remember where I saw it but it’s out there. Definitely worth a watch.

On a side note, how can you own a franchise that won back to back championships twice in a row and lose money?

Mar 27, 2020 2:49:34 GMT thereallt said:

On a side note, how can you own a franchise that won back to back championships twice in a row and lose money?

Give his wiki page a look. There’s a lot to it, but the gist is that he made most of his millions off of the Alberta oil boom, which in the 1980’s caused a lot of problems. And there’s other things like union strikes and getting in bed with the Alberta government and whatnot.

Here’s the first paragraph of his wiki page which is just hilarious:

“Peter Pocklington first earned his place in the consciousness of North American sports fans as "Peter Puck", the maverick entrepreneur from oil-rich Alberta who made millions, employed thousands, bucked the political establishment, was the hostage in a famous kidnapping and, most prominently as the owner of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Edmonton Oilers during the time when they were one of the best and most dominant teams in the league. Pocklington is perhaps best known as the owner of the Oilers and as the man who traded the rights to hockey's greatest player, Wayne Gretzky, to the Los Angeles Kings.”

Mar 27, 2020 2:43:35 GMT RT said:

Mar 26, 2020 23:42:54 GMT Shootist said:

You should read up on Peter Pocklington, first time I heard the term shyster was when my parents would talk about this guy. Bruce McNall was another shady character in the whole Gretzky trade, he was on the LA side of things.

I think there’s a 30 for 30 episode on the trade too. Or some kind of Sportscentre special. I can’t remember where I saw it but it’s out there. Definitely worth a watch.

I still find one of the best accounts of the trade was on the Wayne Gretzky: Above and Beyond VHS I used to get from the library in the early 90's. Still overall one of the best sports documentaries I've seen.

4. Malice at the Palace 

Malice at the Palace had to make my list , that shit was absolutely insane. I mean the brawl itself escalated but once you started getting players going into the stands and grabbing fans than it crossed the line from "crazy NBA brawl" to "holy fucking shit , what is happening". I remember it being THE talk of sports for a solid week or two and for good reason - the talking heads had a field day with it and the looming suspensions altered a season of both teams.

OH! THIS ONE COMPLETELY SLIPPED MY MIND!

This would've definitely been top 3 for me. Holy shit was this insane. The fact that I watched this LIVE WHILE ON PW~! makes this even more insane for me. I remember jumping out of my computer chair in amazement to what I was witnessing. Rewatched this for years and years, read up on the stories on the day and it's just unbelievable. Jumping into the fans was one of the most surreal moments ever. That fat guy that got leveled by Jermaine ONeil was hilarious. This whole 'Malice at the Palace' was legendary. From the teams feud, to the fight to the suspensions. One of the wildest things to ever happen in sports and I am so glad to see it made the list so high.

Also Malice at the Palace is one of the instantly great names assigned to an incident. Fuck all this "[blank]-gate" stuff from the modern media and fans. Malice at the Palace is a GOAT headline.

Mar 27, 2020 14:46:29 GMT UT said:

Also Malice at the Palace is one of the instantly great names assigned to an incident. Fuck all this "[blank]-gate" stuff from the modern media and fans. Malice at the Palace is a GOAT headline.

Agreed and this was the moment Ron Artest became a legend to me.

Hearing how mad some of the Pacers players were at him afterwards, like Stephen Jackson saying that he felt betrayed because Artest didn't communicate afterwards and packed his bags and left and it kind of got me iffy on him. But him laying on that table, getting hit with the cup and going HAM was just legendary. 

Also hearing how Ben Wallace had his brothers in the halls (who were bigger then him!) staring holes through everyone in Pacers jerseys after was pretty damn cool to read, too.

The talking heads were being such pussies afterwards saying how disgusted they were and what a black eye this was to the sport and yada, yada. This was MADE FOR TELEVISION and was absolutely fucking awesome.

If I had actually seen when it happened I probably would have ranked it. But I only saw it on Sportscenter so it didn't have the same impact.

I only saw it on Sportscenter as well but it still made my list at number 5. Part of our hockey culture in Canada was to always look down on basketball and it's players as being a bunch of pussies (something I didn't fully agree with). Nothing quite this crazy happened in the NHL, the closet thing were the Tie Domi and Mike Milbury incidents which were on my initial list. This changed a lot of people's perception of the NBA for good and bad.

I'm still bodyslam-ing this list.

lol I completely forgot this happened. I also referenced two lists and neither had this on it.

This also just reminded me of a moment that I forgot about that definitely would have been on my list had I remembered because I watched it live and probably laughed for a good half hour when it happened:

And the Mike Milbury incident that I mentioned for posterity:



I did have a huge hockey brawl on my list but it happened in junior.

Mar 27, 2020 18:19:07 GMT Shootist said:

And the Mike Milbury incident that I mentioned for posterity:



I did have a huge hockey brawl on my list but it happened in junior.

Would it be the Pierstany Brawl at the '87 World Junior Champioships?