Remembering "The Trade" 30 Years Later

30 years ago today the world was shocked by the Edmonton Oilers sending Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.
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[@hazardous0887]

"He wasn't traded. He was sold." -UrinatingTree

[@vincentshipe6689]

Hazardous 088 I thought The Hockey Guy said that

[@hazardous0887]

Vincent Shipe I originally heard it from Tree so that's who I quoted. As to who said it first, I'm not sure nor do I care

[@helicopterpilot1137]

I was 8 years old when he was traded. I'm positive that I would have never played hockey if it wasn't for that trade. Now my 14 year son is a AAA player in MN. He changed alot of peoples' lives. People like Auston Matthews. Toronto can thank Wayne for making a player like that. BTW - Thank you Canada!

[@TheRealBruceLouis]

auston matthews wouldve never played hockey if gretzky didnt play in LA. i still cant believe he actually came from the desert to be a superstar NHLer. read about how he grew up playin hockey in arizona & shit. so hard to believe.

[@Eladore]

Now Tavares is setting a trend to sign to Canadian team!

[@MrBobby99888]

That little Wussy doesn't have the heart to win anything..Just watch how his game tails off every 3rd period and in OT, especially the last 20 games of each season .... your going to soon learn what hes all about..and don't ever mention him on the same post as Gretzky ..That's insulting to all hockey fans..even the lowly Canadian ones who haven't seen the cup for 25 years and wont see it for another 25 easy..

[@MrMooMoo89]

MrBobby99888 wow.... salty much

[@duncanmacleod4496]

MrBobby99888 Thanks for the laugh 😂

[@watcher6935]

magerageful , um, he's no Wayne Gretzky. This is not even close to the same thing. Go watch some highlights of him and Kurri. There is not a combo in the league like that today.

[@Eladore]

CanadianWatcher 693 I didn’t say he’s Gretzky. I’m saying Tavares an elite hockey player signed with a Canadian team. Which will influence more good players to sign to a Canadian team.

[@tsmpasioikeestijapetsu6996]

greatest undrafted player ever

[@ClipsThatTakeUpStorageOnMyXbox]

Japetsu699 Yes and grass is green.

[@amazinmets8439]

In ANY sport!

[@imaratspal]

Gretzky started playing professionally before he could be drafted so it's kind of misleading

[@ghostspectre1861]

Alan Thicke came back from the grave to comment on the Gretzky trade, huh?

[@parau6870]

GhostSpectre I knew he never really died...

[@ghostspectre1861]

You think so?

[@ckendall67]

- "The Trade" that changed the hockey landscape forever.

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

Now, if you remember the NHL on TSN premiere as the Kings hosted the Red Wings that fall, Jim Van Horne who hosted that game compared "The Trade" to "The Deaths" of John Lennon & Elvis. I agree with him. Do you?

[@devilsadvocacy]

I remember something Craig Simpson said. “That was the day the game became a business“. I don’t think anyone else thought that at the time, but how right he was

[@cloudsopowera6248]

Should be rename as "The Sale"

[@az956]

I couldn’t stop crying!!!!

[@reasonablerage4370]

XBOXRULES xD. How dare you lmao. Lets go Oilers

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

I watched the TSN feed of the Kings Red Wings game on KZbin and according to Jim Van Horne who hosted that game, he compared the Gretzky trade to John Lennon's murder and Elvis's death. I have to admit, I agree with him.

[@MrBobby99888]

Thanks again Canada for putting Money ahead of the Greatest athlete in sports history since Babe Ruth..now you have no cups in 25 years and are lucky when you have more then 1 team make the playoffs.Florida.Arizona,California.Tennesse.Carolina.Nevada and Texas send their regards..Without that trade we would have about 10 less teams ..Your the best...Happy Anniversary.

[@devilsadvocacy]

Indeed, since The Trade, hockey has never been the same. It is an immeasurably bigger and better game. It is played at a much higher level. There are exponentially more opportunities for the best hockey players in the world to play in the NHL; with roughly $6B a year (US) in revenue, it is now the fifth most valuable sports league in the world. Canadians may not have been happy with the trade at the time, but think of how many more Canadian players had an opportunity to play in the NHL since then. The Trade benefitted pretty much everybody

[@neilkorchinski1006]

I was helping my uncle build a chimney. We had the radio playing, and I was half way up the ladder with a bucket of bricks in one hand when that news was broadcasted. I damned near fell off the ladder.

[@joshtj44]

Growing up in Southern California I knew nothing about hockey but I knew he was the Jordan of hockey

[@gymrat2647]

I cried when I herd the news

[@lescobrandon3047]

He thought he was “untradeable”? Babe Ruth probably did too.

[@devilsadvocacy]

Actually, with both Ruth and Gretzky, the better word to describe the transactions is “sold“

[@obey2dmax]

Pocklington sold Gretzky to the Kings. The rest are narrative. In the name of expansion and global recognition, 99 had to be the guinea pig transaction like this and ambassador of the game at the same time. Looking back the sale is actually good for the game. Some Oilers fans are still bitter about this to day, but 99 was the only one who can bring and brought hockey to the next level. 🤔

[@karmaleglass2168]

It was a plan right from the start. They used the number 99 to signify him leaving in 1999. Its in the book.

[@michaelkrolewski6531]

That's right

[@michaelkrolewski6531]

2:55 Hey, it's like the Canadian Conspiracy!!

[@tommclarty17]

Imagine the summer hockey content Sportsnet would have to come up with if ‘The Trade’ happened at the deadline...

[@jonnygrossman7853]

I thought the Gretzky trad was only due to Pocklington's need to make up for his lost revenues for his other businesses. I didn't think that Gretzky would be a UFA in 1989.

[@matt4455]

*G* reatest *O* f *A* ll *T* ime

[@chocolateflat-nosedfreaksh5263]

Took one of ur baseball teams too !!!

[@lordtommatos4353]

LET'S GO LA!!!

[@reasonablerage4370]

ZapDude 07 Boooooo😂😂

[@djrant8992]

I had heard years ago that part of the reason Wayne went to LA was because of his wife.

[@michaelkrolewski6531]

Sounds very probable

[@thesens8]

Gretzky never won a cup after this trade. His career numbers took a downturn after this too. Just a horrible trade in hindsight.

[@kozmeetorez]

thesens8 He was getting older and his prime years were behind him. What else do you expect from any Athlete on Earth?

[@dwm8199]

"Downturn". He won 3 scoring titles over the next 6 years, lol.

[@michaelkrolewski6531]

Hindsight is 20/20

[@marcusabuwasilahfernandes2110]

I member ooh ooh member Messier

[@kevinmcleod7580]

Money money show me the money !!! Lmao crying . You didn't have to sign in LA . You chose to . No trade clause . With 10 mill a season it chushoned the blow ! Omg ! Wayne just tell the real reason you went . It was for the cash . At least I'd belvedere that .

[@6hughmungus9]

"The big time" in hockey is not and will never be Los Angeles. Any Canadian city is a bigger hockey market than those fairweather bandwagoners in southern california.

[@GriffyGrizzly]

s stevenson well that’s exactly why the market happens to be bigger in Southern California than most Canadian teams anyways. It’s LA. Lots of rich their. Lots of money. Rich market. Bandwagon or not, LA will provide much better.

[@BM_2002]

st stevenson To me 60% of California fans aren't real fans

[@WarPigs413]

Blake The Hockey Dude That’s unfair to say. California has been enjoying hockey for 40+ years unlike other states