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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
 Posted - 08/03/2008 : 13:35:05
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In just a few days we will be on the 20 year Anniversary what many in Edmonton know simple as "The Trade." On August 9, 1998 Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
To commemorate this, I thought I would throw out some trivia regarding the Trade and things related to the trade. The only thing I ask is that do your very very best to not search the internet for the answers. I am intentionally putting in a few obscure questions that may not be able to be found.
I will confirm the correct answers and reveal the answers of the tough ones in the days to come.
1) Name the players from each team involved in the trade and the cash amount involved.
2) Who were the owners and head coaches of both teams at the time?
3) What place on the all time scoring list would Gretzky be at today if that was a retirement press conference rather than a trade??
4) How many franchises either moved to or were born in the USA after The Trade??
5) Shortly after the trade, Gretzky, the owner of the Kings, and a well known Canadian celebrity made two newsworthy purchases together. Name the Canadian Celebrity and the two purchases.
6) There were two major newspapers in Edmonton at the time of the Trade, the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal. The day following the announcement, how many pages in the Edmonton Sun including some kind of story about Gretzky??
7)Gretzky got married on July 17th of the same year of the Trade in Edmonton to Janet Jones. Contrary to popular belief, Gretzky already new he was getting traded. Just prior to the wedding, Gretzky told his best man about the trade. Who was his best man??
8) What phrase was the most replayed comment that Gretzky made at the press conference??
9)There were 3 other teams that Gretzky was being shopped to. Name the three teams?
10) Who was the first person to know that Gretzky was going to get traded other than Oilers management and when did that person know??
11) Nelson Riis, and Leader of a prominent Canadian Political party at the time demanded that the government block the trade and the Oilers owner be buried in the parking lot of Northlands Coliseum. What party did he represent???
That's all I can think of right now, but I might add more.
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Edited by - Beans15 on 08/03/2008 13:35:46
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leafsfan_101
PickupHockey Veteran
Canada
1530 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 06:56:17
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I'll take a guess at these, and see how close I come.
1).
To LAK: Wayne Gretzky
To EDM: Martin Gelinas, ? , ? , 15 mil
2).
EDM: Peter Pocklington
LAK: Bruce McNall
3). Third All Time. Gordie and Mark Messier would be ahead.
4). Many of the west coast teams were born from the trade, primarily because of th success and interest gained from Gretzky in LA. Teams I would include would be Anaheim, Pheonix, San Jose, Florida, Tampa Bay and Nashville.
5). ?
6). I would guess it would be huge, taking up most of the sport section as well as the news section. The sports section would be about 20 pages, but Gretzky would take up maybe 17. In the news section it would be about maybe 8 pages. In total I would guess 25 pages. In my mind, with the trade being so monumental, it would have to be huge like that.
7). The Moose, Mark Messier.
8). " I told Mark that I wouldn't cry / get emotional."
9). I would guess a Canadian team, his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ballard was in charge so It's not a sure bet, but they would've had the money. I would also guess Detroit and New York. All had the money and that's what Pocklington wanted. Those teams make the most sense to me.
10). Obvious one here....the Kings management would know other then Oilers management. If you mean a single person, I would guess Janet.
11). I'll go with the Liberals. |
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OILINONTARIO
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
816 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 13:14:30
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I remember some of this.
1) Gretz, McSorley and Kruschelnysky (sp.) for Gelina, Carson,
and draft picks? 15M USD.
2) Pocklington and Bruce McNall, Sather and Barry Melrose.
3) Woulda guessed first.
4) SJ, ANA, PHX, FLA, TB, CBJ, COL, MIN.
5) John Candy. Argos. And maybe a racehorse?
6) 36?
7) Eddio Mio.
8) "I promised Mess I wouldn't do this."
9) NYR TOR VAN
10) Dad Walter knew during the 88 playoffs.
11) Grits?
The Oil WILL make the playoffs in 2009. |
Edited by - OILINONTARIO on 08/04/2008 13:26:33 |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 15:48:22
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Alright, we have a couple. To confirm the correct answers:
1) $15 million, Krushelnyski, McSorley, Gelinas, and Corson are all correct. Draft Picks were 3-1st round picks (89, 91, 93)
2)McNall and Pocklington were the owners. Sather and Melrose were the head coaches.
3) Not correct yet. (To clarify, NHL total points-reg season)
4)Not correct. Missing a number of teams. Those listed are correct.
5)John Candy is correct, as is the Toronto Argonauts. The 2nd purchase was not a racehorse (They might have bought one but that is not the purchase I am thinking of)
6)One answer is close
7) Eddie Mio was he best man. That was a great answer! For those youngsters who don't know who Eddie Mio is, he was a goalie in the NHL and was part of the trade that originally brought Gretzky to Edmonton in the WHA.
8)"I promised Mess I wouldn't cry."
9)NYR and VAN are two of the three teams. From what I read, Ballard didn't want to spend the $15 million US ($18 million Can) so they were never really in the game. Detroit was the third.
10) Walter Gretzky heard from Nelson Skalbania on a phone call some time during the 2nd round of the '88 playoffs. Literally months before the trade happened.
11) The two mentioned are not correct. Wonder what the third guess will be.
Still a couple out there and I will throw some more up. |
Edited by - Beans15 on 08/04/2008 15:56:53 |
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Guest4126
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Posted - 08/04/2008 : 18:47:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Beans15
5)John Candy is correct, as is the Toronto Argonauts. The 2nd purchase was not a racehorse (They might have bought one but that is not the purchase I am thinking of)
It is either the Honus Wagner card or the rare coin. |
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 01:39:59
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Okay, just got back home from a little 5-day trip when I read this. Excellent highlighting of a historical moment in hockey history, excellent questions!
Without reading anyone else's answers, and without looking up the info, here goes....
1) Name the players from each team involved in the trade and the cash amount involved.
Pretty easy, right? Let's see...Gretzky was traded along with Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley to LA for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas (the last remaining player from the deal) 3 first rounders over the next 5 years (couldn't say which three, but it was spread out over 5 drafts) and a large amount of cash. The amount of money reported varied depending on where you heard it, but it seems to me that the historically accepted amount is $15M.
2) Who were the owners and head coaches of both teams at the time?
I am pretty certain that for Edmonton it was Pocklington and Sather. Of course the owner for LA was McNall, but I simply can't recall the coach that year. I'm going through the mental roll-o-dex but I'm coming up blank. Don't be fooled into thinking it was Melrose either!!
3) What place on the all time scoring list would Gretzky be at today if that was a retirement press conference rather than a trade??
I love these stat questions involving Gretzky!! Well, if you estimate his stats for each of his first 9 seasons, it's about 1700-ish points (137+164ish+5 seasons around 200 + 3 seasons around 185-190 = 1705ish). That would put him right in the mix with a handful of guys. So 3rd place at best, and as low as 6th I believe. I will guess 4th.
4) How many franchises either moved to or were born in the USA after The Trade??
Here goes...San Jose , Tampa , Anaheim and Florida, Winnipeg moves to Phoenix, Quebec moves to Colorado, Nashville, Atlanta, Minnesota, and Columbus. So I guess I'm saying ten. (Sidebar: 2 American teams moved significantly further south too)
5) Shortly after the trade, Gretzky, the owner of the Kings, and a well known Canadian celebrity made two newsworthy purchases together. Name the Canadian Celebrity and the two purchases.
Gretz, McNall and John Candy bought the Toronto Argos and although I don't recall Candy having a part of the second purchase, I would say it was the Honus Wagner card.
6) There were two major newspapers in Edmonton at the time of the Trade, the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal. The day following the announcement, how many pages in the Edmonton Sun including some kind of story about Gretzky??
I could only guess. How about: All of them!! The other possibility would be none of them (zero).
7)Gretzky got married on July 17th of the same year of the Trade in Edmonton to Janet Jones. Contrary to popular belief, Gretzky already new he was getting traded. Just prior to the wedding, Gretzky told his best man about the trade. Who was his best man??
The pride of my neck of the woods: Windsor's own Eddie Mio!
8) What phrase was the most replayed comment that Gretzky made at the press conference??
Probably "I promised Mess I wouldn't do this" (in reference to crying)
9)There were 3 other teams that Gretzky was being shopped to. Name the three teams?
How about: Toronto, Detroit, and NYR?
10) Who was the first person to know that Gretzky was going to get traded other than Oilers management and when did that person know??
I'm pretty sure that Pocklington asked for advice from one-time Canucks owner, and minor-pro ball team owner Nelson Skalbania about it. They were both involved in politics together too.
11) Nelson Riis, and Leader of a prominent Canadian Political party at the time demanded that the government block the trade and the Oilers owner be buried in the parking lot of Northlands Coliseum. What party did he represent???
I'm confused a little due to the typo, but Pocklington and all of his cronies were PC's (weren't they?), so I will assume that an opponent calling for his head would be either NDP or Liberal at that time. I'll go NDP.
Some really great questions there, beans.
Edited to add: I just read all the responses and feedback. I am pretty sure that Melrose wasn't coaching them yet. The only other Kings coach that I can recall from that era was former Spits coach Tom Webster, but I don't think he was there yet. Also, Gretz, McNall and Candy did own horses together - I forgot about that, but as beans said, he wasn't thinking of that. |
Edited by - 99pickles on 08/05/2008 02:00:09 |
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Beans15
Moderator
Canada
8286 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 07:01:15
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Ok, most of the answers are in, but we are still missing a couple.
To confirm a few, I was talking about the Honus Wagner Rookie card which was valued at the time around $485,000.
The expansion or moved teams that are confirmed are :
San Jose
Tampa Bay
Anaheim
Florida
Phoenix (via Winnipeg)
Colorado (via Quebec City)
Nashville
Atlanta
Minnesota
Columbus
There are two that are missing. The question is born or moved. Also remember this is back from 1988. Two fairly notable teams. Both have won the Stanley Cup. Neither existed in 1988.
And the final question was finally answered. NDP House leader Nelson Riis was attempting a motion to get the trade blocked by the federal government.
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99pickles
PickupHockey Pro
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 07:39:29
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I didn't include the Dallas Stars or Carolina Hurricanes in my franchises response because they were not a 'born' franchise, nor did they move to the U.S. - they moved within the U.S. So that makes the aforementioned 10, plus those two, equals 12 new U.S. cities in the NHL. |
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20 Years 
