OilFans.com :: Fan Forum: Oilers => Gretzky Trade Questions

Guest

This day on May 17
None

Happy Birthday To: vikingkid, Moreau#18

OILERS INFO OILFANS
Sunday, May 17, 2026 7:33 AM MT

F.A.Q.

Members

Home

Oilers » Gretzky Trade Questions

Re: Gretzky Trade Questions [message #840995 is a reply to message #840989 ]	Thu, 13 February 2025 12:55

Adam
Messages: 7757
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB

6 Cups

Babaganoosh2.0 wrote on Thu, 13 February 2025 01:52

Adam wrote on Wed, 12 February 2025 23:20

I agree with a lot of this.

Pocklington was the villain to be sure - although he made a deal with Gretzky that 99 would suggest that he wanted to be in LA, to try to take the heat off him. Gretzky changed his mind on that after Pocklington specifically started suggesting it was Janet's fault. At that point he came clean and said that Janet was happy to move to Edmonton and he would have been happy to stay.

Pocklington was seeing financial difficulties and Gretzky did have an impending free agency coming. Pocklington started talking to another team - I've heard it was Vancouver about essentially a sale. Gretzky's agent and his father heard through the grapevine and confronted Pocklington on it, and they pushed for LA to be the destination when it was clear that there wasn't going to be a happy ending here.

McNall was kind of cut from the same cloth as Pocklington. Shysters made good, based on a little luck and a little bank fraud. They were made to deal with one another. Sather was brought in to the loop really late, which apparently is the only reason the deal wasn't just all cash for Gretzky. He HATED the deal, and was open that we were always going to lose it, but he managed to get the non-money return (Carson, Gelinas & 3 first round draftpicks).

I was 11 and it was maybe the worst day of my life up to that point. I remember we got a call from my aunt saying she heard we traded Gretzky. I was in full-on denial. And then we watched that press conference and I probably cried more than 99.

Many of my friends and classmates became Kings fans overnight. I stuck with the Oilers but it was super hard for the first while. Oilers fans were super conflicted in 1988-89, but after he knocked us out of the playoffs that year with a huge performance against the Oilers, it became a much easier. Typically at the start of the game he'd get a big cheer, and then he'd be booed all over the ice when he touched the puck.

Did free agency even exsist yet? I thought Pocklington had him signed to some bizarre "personal services contract" for 20 years.

That personal services contract had been torn up some years before and replaced with something more conventional. Free agency was not the same, but there was apparently a feeling that the Oilers might not be able to afford a big increase, because the owner was a crook whose house of cards had started to fall.

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks

Report message to a moderator

Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Wed, 12 February 2025 15:52
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Babaganoosh2.0 on Wed, 12 February 2025 16:50
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Adam on Wed, 12 February 2025 23:20
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Babaganoosh2.0 on Thu, 13 February 2025 01:52
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Adam on Thu, 13 February 2025 12:55
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: welcometotheOC on Thu, 13 February 2025 19:39
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Babaganoosh2.0 on Fri, 14 February 2025 00:16
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Adam on Fri, 14 February 2025 12:36
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Mike on Thu, 13 February 2025 12:05
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: DeZoE on Fri, 21 February 2025 23:54
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: bigEfromGP on Thu, 13 February 2025 13:02
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Fri, 21 February 2025 10:53
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: g2k on Fri, 21 February 2025 15:14
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: welcometotheOC on Fri, 21 February 2025 17:30
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Fri, 21 February 2025 23:03
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: g2k on Sat, 22 February 2025 07:22
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Sat, 22 February 2025 10:58
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: g2k on Sat, 22 February 2025 13:22
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: Jay on Sat, 22 February 2025 13:25
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Sat, 22 February 2025 14:14
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: g2k on Sun, 23 February 2025 06:32
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: smyth260 on Sun, 23 February 2025 10:34
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: welcometotheOC on Sun, 23 February 2025 11:10
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: g2k on Sun, 23 February 2025 11:29
Re: Gretzky Trade Questions	By: inverno76 on Fri, 21 February 2025 21:44

Previous Topic: GDT: Edmonton @ Washington (Game #57)
Next Topic: Pregame: Edmonton @ Washington (Game #57)
Oilers NHL Minors Speculation For Sale

Copyright © OilFans.com 1996-2022.
All content is property of OilFans.com and cannot be used without expressed, written consent from this site.
Questions, comments and suggestions can be directed to oilfans@OilFans.com
Privacy Statement

Hosted by LogicalHosting.ca