History Revised - The Gretzky Trade

[swiss_fan 3]

Did we come close? Because I remember whispers and hopes, but I didn't know we were close.

I ve read we were awfully close: 1 spot away!!!! and that the wings had to their plans to draft him

[Red Crazy 201]

For what it is worth. I am reading Walter Gretzkys book right now and he touchs on this trade and he wanted Wayne to go to Detroit because it was close to home. He does not say if this trade was close but knowing how tight he and his father are I bet it was.

[BeeRYCE 2]

I would have been more thrilled with Bure... Bure, Fedorov, and Yzerman would have all been here at once for at least a couple years.

[StevieY9802 6]

I am very happy it didn't happen because who knows where the team would be now or how many Cups they would have won. Gretzky won 0 Cups after leaving the Oilers. yeah we had to wait 8 years for them to win a cup but they won 3 in 6 years once they got the first one.

While it's nice to think about I believe Yzerman would have been part of the deal to LA. Gretzky retired in 99 so I doubt there was a Cup in 02. He started slowing down in 99 so I don't see him playing until 02. So many things could have been different that maybe they win 0 Cups or maybe a couple. But I'll take knowing I've seen 4 Cups in 12 years.

[egroen 384]

I am biased but I like the fact that we had Yzerman not Gretzky.

sure, he was more talented and scored much more points but I like

the spirit and inspiration of Steve Y. because there's no "I" in team.

and the Wings have been a team for a number of years already.

not a bunch of high draft picks but a competitive and hard working

team without ego's. and Stevie Y was surely big part of this

There was no "I" in Gretzky, either -- a completely underrated captain and definitely a team first player who is amongst the hardest working players ever.

LA did not have to trade Robitaille, so I am sure Detroit would have been able to keep Yzerman.

LA gave up $15 million, 3 First round picks, Martin Gelinas, and Jimmy Carson for Gretzky, McSorley, and Mike Krushelnyski.

It's the $15 million that probably put LA over the top.

Edited October 6, 2009 by egroen

[kidish 0]

Culturally speaking, the "Great One" coming to Detroit wouldn't have been as beneficial for hockey. When Gretz came to Los Angeles, the Hollywoodization of the entire thing put hockey on the map for many, many people in the U.S., not just in the West. It turned into one of the best things to happen to hockey in the modern era. Had Gretzky come to Detroit, would it have been as big of press? Hard to say.

I do think he would have won a Cup again with Detroit though.

[StormJH1 231]

I heard about this from Bill Simmons' podcast with the Kings' Ransom director, and was stunned. Being three picks away from Pavel Bure was one thing, but this REALLY would've changed the landscape:

Detroit Impact:

It boggles the mind to think about what would have happened. People assume that Edmonton would've wanted Yzerman, but I'd have to hear more about Gretzky left in the first place. Yzerman was a budding star still early in his career at that point too. My heart tells me that the Wings wouldn't have been the Wings without Yzerman, or with a team where Yzerman is no longer the focal point. But my head tells me that if you can get Wayne Gretzky in 1988, you get Wayne Gretzky. Put Gretzky in a Wings uniform and you have the two greatest players of all time wearing the winged wheel during their prime (him and Howe). The supporting cast certainly would've been better than what he got LA. Even if we had to surrender significant draft picks in the deal, that probably would've made us even more aggressive in trying to hit big with Russian and Swedish players in the later rounds. And if Yzerman and Gretzky could've co-existed, I bet we win a Cup before '97.

NHL Impact

This is the more interesting question to me, and I struggle with it. Somebody pointed out above that Gretzky going to LA was huge for the "Hollywoodization" of the NHL and the boom in the 90's. Not sure I agree with that. Yes, the difference between being in a major market like LA (vs. Detroit) in the late 80's was a much bigger deal in 1988 than it would've been now. But I've said for years that the '94 Rangers and the corresponding East Coast bias with ESPN interest did more to legitimize this league than Gretzky did simply by BEING in L.A. I don't see what the downside of Gretzky coming to Detroit, a recognizable Original Six franchise with an actual fan base, would have been. I think the fact that Gretzky came to America was significant in and of itself, and he still would've been very marketable. And if he had been more successful from the get-go, he might have been more marketable, in some ways.

Gretzky coming to L.A. put hockey "on the map" in the West and established Gretzky himself as a marketable product. But beyond that, I think the impact is overblown. We ended up with a bunch of phantom franchises that never should've happened (including the Kings themselves, which are a disaster now). I think "Hockey Fever" still hits New York/New Jersey in the mid-90's, and of course in Detroit in the mid- and late-90's. And if you add Gretzky to a legitimate franchise within the region actually interested in the sport, we might have had a small, but more vibrant league in places that really cared about it, rather than what we ended up with, which was part of the reason for the lockout and continued problems.

[kidish 0]

Gretzky coming to L.A. put hockey "on the map" in the West and established Gretzky himself as a marketable product. But beyond that, I think the impact is overblown. We ended up with a bunch of phantom franchises that never should've happened (including the Kings themselves, which are a disaster now). I think "Hockey Fever" still hits New York/New Jersey in the mid-90's, and of course in Detroit in the mid- and late-90's. And if you add Gretzky to a legitimate franchise within the region actually interested in the sport, we might have had a small, but more vibrant league in places that really cared about it, rather than what we ended up with, which was part of the reason for the lockout and continued problems.

For better or worse, Gretzky coming to L.A. is one of the biggest contributing historical events that shaped the league today -- with teams in nontraditional markets and all that. In some cases, it hasn't worked, but to say that it's a wholesale failure is also ignoring facts. Los Angeles is a joke team now, but it has a rabid fanbase (don't know how). Anaheim has a fairly successful franchise, and San Jose does real well too. Dallas doesn't suffer from the same problems as Nashville or Phoenix either. So some of these nontraditional market teams work out...even teams like St. Louis included.

I don't know if you remember or not, but when Gretzky was a King, there was a cartoon about superstar athletes and some kid who hung out with them -- they were a superhero team, basically. The recurring characters? Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. And yeah, maybe Gretzky would have ballooned into the mainstream even in Detroit, but there's something to be said about his coming to L.A. too.

Who knows, it's a cool bizarro reality consideration though.

[paulwoodsfan 52]

1) I wasent alive when this trade happened, but that seems like an insanely low price for Gretzky, especially since half a decade later Eric Lindros more then doubled a return price.

Player-wise, it does seem light (although at the time Carson was considered an up-and-coming star -- which of course turned out to be wrong). But dollar-wise the price was staggering. He fetched $15 million in cash at a time when (according to various online sources) the average player salary was around $184,000 so the payroll for an average team was about $4.6 million and the entire league's payroll was less than $100 million. Imagine a player being sold today for around $150 million -- as far as player salaries go (but obviously not actual inflation), that would be a fair comparison.

[mjlegend 155]

Right around '96-97 or so, Wayne stopped being the best and was merely just great.

Still, a good eight years of having two of the top three players in the league at one time is a very interesting.

Also, we had Probert and Kocur at the time, so we wouldn't have needed McSorley and his wicked stick collection.

[toby91_ca 620]

Wayne Gretzky is still the most recognizable hockey player in the US and he retired a little over 10 years ago, if he had gone to Detroit, I'm not sure if that would be the case had he gone to Detroit, but it could have been.

By most recognizable I mean, if you ask a non-hockey fan down south to name a hockey player, Gretzky is more often than not the name that they will think of (this isn't my own opinion, this is based on recent data that I had about and read about).

[toby91_ca 620]

Right around '96-97 or so, Wayne stopped being the best and was merely just great.

Still, a good eight years of having two of the top three players in the league at one time is a very interesting.

Also, we had Probert and Kocur at the time, so we wouldn't have needed McSorley and his wicked stick collection.

I think was somewhere around 1990 or 1991 that Wayne, while playing for Team Canada, got hit from behind into the boards by Gary Suter. After that, Wayne was never the same player. He was still great, but not the same player he used to be.

[Broken 16 381]

Would that have something to do with the fact that he never played for Detroit?

Not one bit. It had more to do with him looking like this:

[Broken 16 381]

I ve read we were awfully close: 1 spot away!!!! and that the wings had to their plans to draft him

Actually, I think Carman was talking about the rumors back when he played for Vancouver. Either way, it would have been awesome to see him line up with Fedorov.

[Stiffy 0]

For some reason I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the idea of having Yzerman AND Gretzky on the same team. Either way, I'm glad it didn't happen. I always admired Gretzky's skill... but never really cared for him as a person. I'm glad he didn't get a chance to influence Stevie.

I'm with you, but Stevie's character would have been fine. Wayne's behavior on the Phoenix bench was really immature. He was creaming the f bomb constantly and seemed on the verge of tantrums. Sure he had a lousy team, but you never see good coaches doing this. Obviously, it didn't motivate his team any.

[AtomicPunk 296]

I'm not interested in him at all as a coach.

[Statts 4]

Off topic a little, but ESPN classic is showing Gretzky's first game played with the kings which happened to be against the Wings right now.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Statts

[weGotTheCup89 41]

I find it very surprising how many people are saying that they would simply "not be interested" in having Gretzky added to that 90's Wings lineup. I kind of see people don't want to alter something that was already great, with Cups in 97 98 and 02, and that people had a strong affection towards. However, assuming we don't give up Yzerman, why not add him to the team? If they coexist (and someone please tell me why they wouldn't), Yzerman, Gretzky and Fedorov throughout the 90s give you one of the most exciting 1-2-3 punches of all time. OF ALL TIME!

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

I find it very surprising how many people are saying that they would simply "not be interested" in having Gretzky added to that 90's Wings lineup. I kind of see people don't want to alter something that was already great, with Cups in 97 98 and 02, and that people had a strong affection towards. However, assuming we don't give up Yzerman, why not add him to the team? If they coexist (and someone please tell me why they wouldn't), Yzerman, Gretzky and Fedorov throughout the 90s give you one of the most exciting 1-2-3 punches of all time. OF ALL TIME!

Drop the "one" before the "most exciting".

You'd have the 2nd best forward to play the game, then a top 20 alltime player/ arguably top ten forward ever, then a top 30 all time forward ever all on one team.

[BeeRYCE 2]

I find it very surprising how many people are saying that they would simply "not be interested" in having Gretzky added to that 90's Wings lineup. I kind of see people don't want to alter something that was already great, with Cups in 97 98 and 02, and that people had a strong affection towards. However, assuming we don't give up Yzerman, why not add him to the team? If they coexist (and someone please tell me why they wouldn't), Yzerman, Gretzky and Fedorov throughout the 90s give you one of the most exciting 1-2-3 punches of all time. OF ALL TIME!

Not as exciting as BURE, Yzerman, and Fedorov.