The Gretzky Trade

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  • 10:30 AM ET  05.13

Twenty years ago, the Edmonton Oilers did the unthinkable when they dealt Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings for two players -- Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas -- $15 million and three first-round draft picks in a trade that would change the history of the NHL. The Oilers had won four Stanley Cups with The Great One and would win one more after his departure, but do you agree with their decision to part with Gretzky in the first place?

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May 17, 2008  11:16 PM ET
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The Oiler team with Gretzky et al was one of the best of all time, and management & the owner lost their chance to make a very substantial mark in hockey history when they traded Gretzky away. Several more Cups and/or Cup runs would have been possible with a complete core group. Instead, only one more was one without Gretzky, and then gradually, all the key players were traded away and the Oilers haven't won nor made much of a mark since.
How powerful were the 1980s Gretzky-Oilers? (1) The league changed the way matching minors were played -- removing the 4-on-4 's -- because nobody could even come close to them when playing 4-on-4. (Heck, they had a hard enough time when playing 5-on-5). And (2) when most of the core group of the 1980s Oilers ended up as Rangers in the 90s, look at how they turned that dismal franchise around. Finally (3), regarding Gretzky specifically, what other sport has had the whole sport retire one player's number? And when I recall how the Oilers just traded history away, I yearn for what might have been.

June 2, 2008  11:37 AM ET
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The kings should get rid of those god awful unis and go back to the 80's laker look....

July 10, 2008  10:50 PM ET
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I'm still in disbelief. Who knows how many more championship banners would be hanging in Northlands Coliseum? Gretzky & management should have worked something out. An Oiler forever, like Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh this entire career.

 
July 11, 2008  06:47 AM ET
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Amen rockyjordan. The ones Marcel Dionne & Luc Robitaille use to wear.

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