It was 20 years ago today that Sgt. Gretzky taught the band
Moderator: Shoalzie
Re: It was 20 years ago today that Sgt. Gretzky taught the band
The single most impactful trade in pro sports history...period. Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees so I don't think that counts as a trade. Gretzky moving to the Sun Belt changed the NHL unlike any league has changed before. I'm not a fan of all the odd markets in the league as a result of that deal and the mad imagination of Gary Bettman. I just started watching hockey after the trade so I didn't know the impact of the deal back then. Looking back at it now, that single transaction started the breakup of a great dynasty but it also changed the future of the NHL.
Supposedly the Wings were one of the teams in the talks to get Gretzky...I couldn't imagine that would've done for the Wings franchise. Would they have had to give up Yzerman to get him? The NHL definitely wouldn't have changed had Gretzky went to an Original 6 city instead of a non-traditional hockey market. Gretz in red and white would've been pretty cool because he was still very much in his prime. That was a team that had been a couple conference finals and faced his Oilers.
Just thinking out loud, had they moved Yzerman, who was 22 at the time...a little more established player than 19 year old Jimmy Carson but had better numbers in '87-88 with the Kings. They didn't have an exciting prospect like Gelinas in their system so they probably would have had to give up four 1st round picks instead of the three the Kings gave up. Gelinas was essentially like a 1st round pick since he was the Kings 1st round pick in '88. The Kings gave up picks in '89, '91 and '93 plus cash. The Wings ended up picking Mike Sillinger in '89, Martin Lapointe in '91, and Anders Eriksson in '93. Lapointe was on the two championship teams with Yzerman and Eriksson was eventually traded for Chris Chelios.
Would've been very interesting had they had Gretzky, Krushelnyski and McSorley instead. He would've had a great bodyguard with a young Probert and they had some pretty good firepower with Gallant and Klima. Ironically, Krushelnyski played with the Wings in '94-95 and was on the coaching staff briefly and McSorley closed out his hockey career in Grand Rapids, who wasn't the Wings minor league affiliate at the time but is now. Yzerman ended up posting incredible numbers in '88-89...a career best 155 points. They did eventually get Jimmy Carson from Edmonton for Petr Klima, Adam Graves, Joe Murphy and Jeff Sharples.
Supposedly the Wings were one of the teams in the talks to get Gretzky...I couldn't imagine that would've done for the Wings franchise. Would they have had to give up Yzerman to get him? The NHL definitely wouldn't have changed had Gretzky went to an Original 6 city instead of a non-traditional hockey market. Gretz in red and white would've been pretty cool because he was still very much in his prime. That was a team that had been a couple conference finals and faced his Oilers.
Just thinking out loud, had they moved Yzerman, who was 22 at the time...a little more established player than 19 year old Jimmy Carson but had better numbers in '87-88 with the Kings. They didn't have an exciting prospect like Gelinas in their system so they probably would have had to give up four 1st round picks instead of the three the Kings gave up. Gelinas was essentially like a 1st round pick since he was the Kings 1st round pick in '88. The Kings gave up picks in '89, '91 and '93 plus cash. The Wings ended up picking Mike Sillinger in '89, Martin Lapointe in '91, and Anders Eriksson in '93. Lapointe was on the two championship teams with Yzerman and Eriksson was eventually traded for Chris Chelios.
Would've been very interesting had they had Gretzky, Krushelnyski and McSorley instead. He would've had a great bodyguard with a young Probert and they had some pretty good firepower with Gallant and Klima. Ironically, Krushelnyski played with the Wings in '94-95 and was on the coaching staff briefly and McSorley closed out his hockey career in Grand Rapids, who wasn't the Wings minor league affiliate at the time but is now. Yzerman ended up posting incredible numbers in '88-89...a career best 155 points. They did eventually get Jimmy Carson from Edmonton for Petr Klima, Adam Graves, Joe Murphy and Jeff Sharples.
Re: It was 20 years ago today that Sgt. Gretzky taught the band
I was 12 at the time and mowing lawns that summer. The entire central part of ther province went into funeral mode for the next month. Peter Pocklington was too scared to show his face in Edmonton for years.