Each season, the NHL will have a lot of trades. Among them the one that Edmonton trades Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round picks and cash can be called the biggest one.
Gretzky had just led the Oilers to their fourth Stanley Cup in five years, and the team's nucleus still was in its prime. But owner Peter Pocklington decided that Gretzky, whose contract was due to expire a year later, would become unaffordable and began shopping him. He found a willing partner in Los Angeles Kings Owner Bruce McNall, who was looking to making an impact with a team that never had enjoyed much success.
The deal rocked the sports world. The idea that Gretzky could leave Western Canada for Southern California left Canadians in shock. The Los Angeles Kings gave up Carson, a 50-goal scorer who was just turning 20; Gelinas, a promising young forward, first-round picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993, and $15 million for hockey's greatest player and a pair of veterans in McSorley and Krushelnyski.
The trade was an instant win for the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky immediately made the Los Angeles Kings relevant in Southern California, and attendance soared as Los Angeles Kings Games became celebrity-filled events. The Los Angeles Kings beat the Oilers in the playoffs that spring, and in 1993 made the only trip to the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
Even more important was Gretzky's impact off the ice. The growth of hockey in warm-weather markets -- with talent already in the pipeline and lots more on the way -- may be Gretzky's biggest legacy to hockey, even more than all the records he holds.
The Oilers rebounded from their 1989 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Kings and won the Cup again in 1990 -- their fifth championship in seven years. They haven't won since, and haven't made the playoffs since 2006, the only time since their last Cup that they got to the Final.
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