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Sunday, August 9, 1998 (SLAM Hockey)
THE GREAT TRADE
SATHER REVEALS HIS SIDE OF THE STORY
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
How would history have changed if Glen Sather had talked Wayne
Gretzky out of it? How many more Stanley Cups would the Edmonton
Oilers have won? How much longer would it have taken for the NHL's
salary structure to go crazy? What would the NHL look like today?
"I guess I think about that all the time,'' Sather says of the deal
he tried to stop at the last minute, the sale of Wayne Gretzky to
Bruce McNall and the Los Angeles Kings. "I think about it every time
I see him. I think about it every time I see something about him in
the paper. "I wonder what we could have accomplished. That team was
settling in pretty good that summer. It had become so strong internally.
There wouldn't have been much that could have torn it apart. "But that
was the one thing that definitely would have done it.'' Aug. 9, 1988.
BIGGEST TRADE IN SPORTS HISTORY
Sports Illustrated called it the biggest trade in the history of sport.
In Edmonton it was instantly viewed as strictly a sale.
And ten years later it still looks like a sale.
Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski for
Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas along with the Kings' first-round picks
in 1989 (acquired by New Jersey for somebody that Sather can't even
remember now), 1991 (Martin Rucinsky) and 1993 (Nick Stajduhar)
plus $15 US, which was worth only $18 Canadian back then.
Sather tried to talk Gretzky out of it all at the last minute.
Ten years later he's willing to tell the whole story.
"I took Wayne into a room with just the two of us at Molsons where
we held the press conference. "I talked to him for a few minutes.
"I told him I'd stop the deal. I told him I'd tell Peter I'd resign
if he didn't stop the deal. But Wayne decided not to because he felt
it was all beyond repair at that point.''
Sather's side of the story has never really been revealed.
"I was the last to know. We went to the Arctic fishing. I think
everybody on the Arctic trip knew about the deal except for me.
"When that was over Peter invited me to President Ford's golf
tournament in Beaver Creek, Colorado. That's when he told me.
'PETER WAS AFRAID TO TELL ME'
"I got on to the phone to Bruce McNall from there. That's when I
began to understand that the deal was already done.
"Peter was afraid to tell me.
"And I don't blame him.
"I was pretty upset at him.
"Krushelnyski and McSorley were already part of the deal. Gretzky
had got them in. By the time I got involved, I got Gelinas and Carson
and the draft picks out of McNall by convincing him I would queer the
deal. But to me it didn't matter. It didn't make any difference. It
wouldn't be the same.'' Sather says it didn't have to happen in 1988.
Or 1989. Or 1990. Or maybe even 1991.
"If the team had been a separate entity, if Peter was not involved in
the other businesses, I think we could have kept that team together for
quite a while longer.
"It was so close-knit. And they could all see the things they could
accomplish together historically.
"I know we would have won more than one more Stanley Cup.
Probably two or three. We were too good at that point. I think,
financially, we would have been able to keep that team together
another three or four years. It was just starting to hit it.
They were just going into the prime of their careers.''
Sather isn't sure what the dollars would be like in the game today.
Gretzky going to L.A. was the one deal which started the spiral.
"McNall was giving money away as if it didn't mean anything because
it didn't mean anything.''
Peter Pocklington fostered the idea that Gretzky's new and pregnant
bride from the Royal Wedding in Edmonton a month earlier, Janet Jones,
was behind it. And some suckered. 'Jezebel Janet' was one headline.
And one cartoon had Janet pictured walking in front of Wayne with
Gretzky hustling behind her saying 'Coming, Dear.'
Pocklington, only weeks before, had denied the whispers.
"He ain't for sale ... It doesn't matter. You can put a price tag
on him and he isn't for sale. He's Edmonton property and hopefully
the longevity of his career will match that of Gordie Howe.''
Pocklington went on record recently in an interview with The Sun on
the subject. "It was strictly a business decision and one that now
I will say honestly I hated to do.
'I am a fan, was a fan and always will be a fan. I love the sport of
hockey and it was a cruel decision I didn't want to make but
unfortunately did. I must admit I'm sometimes not the brightest guy in
the world ... I think in many ways I regret it, in other ways I don't.''
All the best from Gretzky
By DICK CHUBEY -- Edmonton Sun
So it's been 10 whole years since Wayne Gretzky went Hollywood.
Funny, it only seems like yesterday when Gayle and I were returning
from a vacation that began with a trip to my 25-year high school
reunion in Rossburn, Man., (pop: 600) and culminated with 10 days in
New York City (pop: zillions).
We were at the airport searching for a stray bag when the chap in the
lost-luggage department dropped word of the hot rumor: "Never mind
your bag, what about Gretzky being traded?''
I hadn't heard a word on Broadway, but sure enough within a matter
of days newlyweds Janet and Wayne were off to Southern California.
Edmonton has never quite been the same since.
But the truth is that for a decade prior to the tears flowing at Molson
House, No. 99 wove magic that would have defied the wildest
imagination of a Hollywood script-writer.
That was before the term small-market was employed to, I suppose,
make us feel inferior. But it didn't work; We witnessed the Edmonton
Oilers and Gretzky at their absolute finest - magnificent feats we can
cherish for our lifetimes.
As Gretzky himself put it, "Maybe we weren't the best team there
ever was, but we certainly were the most exciting.''
What follows is a Top 10 list of The Great One's accomplishments -
as an Oiler - that underline his declaration. Do you remember these?
10: In November, 1981, Garry Unger snapped a shot by Billy Smith
on Long Island right off a faceoff. "Bleeping Ungie, I've been trying to
do that all my life,'' cussed Gretzky, all of 20 at the time. "I've got to
get him to show me how in practice.'' One full practice later, he
popped two right off faceoffs past Mike Liut in St. Louis.
9: The Oilers were set to face the vaunted Montreal Canadiens during
the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs when Habs goalie Richard Sevigny
proclaimed, "Guy Lafleur will have Gretzky in his hip pocket.''
After No. 99 drew his fifth assist of the game - tying what was then
a Stanley Cup record - he skated past the Montreal goalie and tapped
his own hip pocket while grinning widely. The youthful Oilers swept
the Habs in one of the most stunning upsets in playoff competition.
8: During his first NHL season, Gretzky and L.A.'s Marcel Dionne
each finished with 137 points, but the Kings' centre was awarded the
scoring title on the basis of two more goals. The next time the Oilers
visited L.A., Gretzky drove a point across with a hat trick and the
following season enjoyed two four-goal games at the expense of
Dionne and the Kings.
7: Games at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens always meant something
special for Gretzky. During his first 10 visits over eight seasons, he
scored at least one goal in every game (21 in all) to go along with 23
assists. He was finally held goalless and sans a point at MLG on
March 28, 1987.
6: Gretzky left the sea of red in the Saddledome green with envy on
April 21, 1988. His shorthanded blast over the shoulder of Flames'
goalie Mike Vernon at 7:54 of overtime gave the Oilers a 5-4 win and
a 2-0 lead in a Battle of Alberta they would sweep. "The shot was 280
(yards) right down the middle,'' chirped Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr, an
avid golfer who had a bird's eye view of the fairway.
5: This memory marked perhaps the only time No. 99 put his foot in
his mouth. On Nov. 19, 1983, he had eight points (3-5) in a 13-4
romp over New Jersey. Your agent afterwards inquired if he felt any
remorse for classy Devil goalies Ron Low and Chico Resch. That's
when Gretzky stood up on a soap box and labelled Jersey's management
"Mickey Mouse.'' The Devil made him do it.
4: On Jan. 12, 1984, Gretzky's record point-scoring streak (that was
to reach 51 games) was in jeopardy of being stopped at 43 in
Chicago. But, he played his own version of Beat The Clock, knocking
down Troy Murray's clearing pass and displaying uncanny hand-eye
co-ordination, to score into an empty net with two seconds left. "I
don't know how the official scorer would score than one . . . maybe
a broken-bat single,'' cracked Gretzky.
3: The last time Gretzky wore an Oiler uniform was May 26, 1988
when they won their fourth Stanley Cup. After the 6-3 win over
Boston, he waved the players, coaches and trainers together for an
impromptu photograph on ice - which has become tradition. Not until
after the trade would he admit he felt at the time that was his last
game as an Oiler.
2: Late in a game on Feb. 24, 1982, in Buffalo with Phil Esposito (and
Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds who were filming a movie) looking on
and the score 3-3, three-goal Sabre Gilbert Perreault was being
nominated for first-star status in the press box. But, with a flair
for the dramatic, Gretzky came to life for three goals in the dying
minutes - Nos. 77, 78, 79 to erase Espo's single-season record of 76.
He finished with 92.
1: On Dec. 30, 1981, Gretzky popped four goals against Philadelphia
and added a fifth into an empty net, giving him an incredible 50 in 39.
Fifty in 50 by Rocket Richard and later duplicated by Mike Bossy has
paled since. During that run for 50 in 39 games, Gretzky also hit for
the cycle with 15 goals in five games. He scored three vs. Minnesota
on Dec. 19, two vs. Calgary the next night, one against Vancouver on
Dec. 23, four vs. L.A. on Dec. 27 and five against the Flyers. It's a
wonder he didn't do it 1-2-3-4-5.
BUZZ WORDS
You thought you'd heard it all - until the Gretzky trade came along. It
started with whispers and ended with cries, and it seemed everyone
along the way had something to say. Here are some of the more
memorable quotes surrounding the great trade...
* '`There is nothing to it. Every summer it's a different rumor.
This one goes in the same bin as the other ones. Put it with the
ones about him going to the New York Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings,
the Vancouver Canucks and the Calgary Flames. ''
- Oilers GM Glen Sather, Aug. 3.
* Rumors that Gretzky would be traded to L.A. were '`ridiculous''
and people who started them were ``full of bull.''
- Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, quoted in a story Aug. 7.
* '`As far as I know, though, it's just a rumor.''
- Kings' GM Rogie Vachon, Aug. 3
* '`The last three weeks have been kind of a whirlwind for myself
and my wife. But this was my own gut feeling and my decision.
'`I'm disappointed in having to leave Edmonton. I promised Mess
(Mark Messier) I wouldn't do this ... ''
- Wayne Gretzky, Aug. 9, the day of the trade.
* '`It's tough for people like us to talk sitting down. We're a lot
better standing up, because we make our living on our feet and
through our hearts.
'`I dont want to try and philosophize on what's happened, but we're
all trying to do something that's good for Wayne, the Edmonton Oilers,
and the National Hockey League.''
- Sather, Aug. 9, at the press conference.
* '`Your heart says no but your head says yes ... You cannot replace
Wayne Gretzky, but I guess when we were faced with the fact the
inevitable might happen (losing No. 99 to free agency) it becomes a
business transaction and we had to do what's best for the Edmonton
Oilers, short-term and long-term.''
- Pocklington, Aug. 9
* '`Thank God I believe in life after death. Are the police on call
out there?''
- Oilers co-coach John Muckler, Aug. 9, from his off-season home in
Rhode Island.
* '`Sure, it'll be a pressure-cooker. But I'm not Wayne Gretzky ...
all I can do is play hard and be myself. ''
- Jimmy Carson, who came from the Kings in the trade.
* '`I feel so happy. I know it is the biggest trade ever in the sport.''
- Martin Gelinas, who also came from the Kings.
* '`I've got to do something radical to sell hockey in L.A. and there's
no name in hockey like Wayne Gretzky.''
- Kings owner Bruce McNall, Aug. 9
* '`Everyone we talked to said, `That's it, I'm never going to see
another Oilers game.'''
- play-by-play man Rod Phillips, describing fan reaction Aug. 9
* '`I must admit I never thought Wayne Gretzky would leave
Edmonton. It's very hard for me to believe.''
- Don Cherry, Aug. 9
* '`It appears that regardless of what I say, people are more
interested in defending their hero than me.
'`Wayne made the decision on his own accord to be traded to L.A.
He said he wanted to be traded and that he wanted to be traded
quickly.''
- Pocklington, Aug. 10
* '`He did not want to leave Edmonton ... I don't think they
(Pocklington, Sather) appreciated his talent. This proves that a
lot of what I said last fall was right. They treat you like a
piece of meat.''
- Paul Coffey, Aug. 10
* '`Whether he wanted to go or not is not a big issue. People should
be glad they've seen him play 40 games a year for 10 years. They
shouldn't be really that quick to put a knife in his back.''
- Craig MacTavish, Aug. 10
* '`You hear all these things ... and you think it can't happen.
What the hell brought this all up.?''
- Mark Messier. Aug. 10
* '`All Wayne has left is an empty apartment and memories. But now
he has a new challenge. And it's that drive to attain the impossible
that makes him go.''
- Wayne's dad Walter Gretzky, Aug. 10
Unforgettable day for Edmonton
By TERRY JONES -- Edmonton Sun
The headline will be remembered almost as long as the day will be
remembered. '99 TEARS!'
There was a picture of Wayne Gretzky dabbing at his tears.
There was no subhead. Just two lines of type over the microphones.
"Pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 18, 19, 23, 30, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41,
42, 43, 46 and 47.''
It was the front page of The Edmonton Sun on Aug. 10, 1988.
It was 10 years ago today that Peter Pocklington did the dirty deed
and sold Wayne Gretzky to the current convicted criminal Bruce
McNall for $15 million US.
So No. 99 had a pretty good idea why he was returning the call when
he got off the golf course in his Southern California off-season home
this week.
"It's the hardest thing I've ever been through. I think about it a
lot still. I'll definitely be thinking about it (today),'' said Gretzky.
"I don't think there's an Aug. 9 that's gone by when I haven't thought
about it.''
The Great One says we'd all be amazed just how often the flashback
of it all comes into his head. "It still seems like yesterday, not
like 10 years. And it was something I thought would never end.
'`At the time we were the cream of the crop. We'd just won our
fourth Stanley Cup. And I played as well as I ever played in that final.
Then all of a sudden things happen. And, unfortunately, it all ended a
little too quick. "I've said it many times in private but never in
public until now. But because of that day, playing in Edmonton has never
been a good feeling for me. I hate it. I look in the crowd and I still
see the faces. '`The fans felt like my friends. I skate on the ice in
Edmonton and still see those faces and it's difficult to this day for
me to play in Edmonton.
"The good thing about being with New York is that I only have to go
in there (Edmonton) once a year now. All the guys who played for that
team and had to leave talk about it in private. Edmonton is always
going to have a special place in all of our hearts, not just because of
what we did together there and everything but because of how the fans
have treated us all so well since then.
'`It's very special. But that still doesn't make it any easier.''
HOPING AND PRAYING
One thing, though, is going to make it a bit easier now, he says. With
Pocklington out of the picture and all those new owners in place, the
Oilers have a future again.
"It's been hard for everyone,'' said Gretzky. "Everywhere I went for
the last few years it seemed the second question anybody asked me
was if I thought the Oilers were going to leave Edmonton.
"I was hoping and praying that wasn't going to happen.
"All that history. Edmonton is going into its 20th year in the NHL and
the Oilers have almost done what Montreal and Toronto have done in 75.
"It's great to see that they've stayed and that they have a
fast-skating,
talented team again and that Glen has a little deeper pockets. It
deserves to stay in Edmonton.''
There's no question what it meant for the game for Gretzky to go. By
the time he hangs them up, there are probably going to be 32 teams in
this league, half of them in what he himself would have considered
unlikely locales when he came into the league. And when
ABC-Disney-ESPN bid $600 million for hockey TV rights, who do
you think every NHL owner should thank first?
"I take a lot of pride in those things,'' says No. 99. "But from the
bottom of my heart, I know that nobody is bigger than the game. I was
a factor. But Gordie Howe was a factor. And Bobby Hull. And
Bobby Orr ... a lot of people were factors.''
At the time, when he went to Los Angeles, Gretzky wasn't seeing all
those expansion teams and that big TV deal.
"Skating out on the ice with the Los Angeles Kings, who had been
19th in a 21-team league drawing 6,000 fans and looking up and not
seeing Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen on my wings ...''
Unlike Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe and many more
members of that team, Gretzky is cursed by not having won a Stanley
Cup since he left Edmonton.
"In Edmonton, when we lost our first Stanley Cup final to the New
York Islanders, we knew we were going to get back there and that we
were going to win it a few times. But in Los Angeles ... ''
Gretzky got to the final once with the Kings, meeting the Montreal
Canadiens. And he said there was never that feeling that he was going
to get back with them.
"In Los Angeles we won the first game and then lost three of the next
four by accident. That was a one-chance deal.''
A question he's been asked over and over in the past 10 years is how
many Cups he thinks that Edmonton team would have won if they'd
somehow, some way, been able to keep the club together.
"I think we'd have won seven or eight,'' he says.
"I'll tell you one thing I'll go to my grave believing. There may have
been better teams that have won the Stanley Cup, but those Edmonton
teams were the most exciting teams ever to win it. That team had so
much emotion, energy and excitement.''
Ten years later, and a writer who has been around him all his career
can still tell, by the way he starts to speak so quietly, that he still
has trouble talking about it.
Gretzky says it's now obvious to everybody that the economics of the
game, Peter Pocklington's private finances and the Oilers' own
financial picture at the time made it something that had to happen,
if not when it did, then sooner or later. "People see that now,''
he says.
AN OILER AGAIN?
But that day, despite of how he stood in support of his owner,
Glen Sather was working the other way behind the scenes.
"Glen really wanted me to stay,'' said Gretzky. "It became an even
bigger decision.''
And then it was Pocklington who accused him of manufacturing
movie-star tears when he broke down and cried and created the
freeze-frame and headline that have lived with that day and that
moment ever since.
"The day it happened, there was a lot of emotion,'' said Gretzky.
"We've all grown from it.''
Gretzky says he's friends with Peter Pocklington again. And he never
stopped having a special relationship with Sather.
"In fact, somehow, some way, I can see myself being connected with
the Oilers when it's done,'' he says.
"I'll always be an Oiler when it's done.''
The thought has crossed the minds of a few owners that it might be a
wonderful thing to put some special money aside to make it possible
for Wayne Gretzky, like Kevin Lowe, to skate his last lap around the
league, to play his final season, as an Oiler.
"Stranger things have happened,'' says Gretzky.