The Greatest King’s Arrival

“To love one that is great, is almost to be great one's self.”
--Madame Neckar

Twenty years ago to the day, hockey and the NHL changed forever. Canada lost one of its national treasures; while Southern California added yet another person to its repertoire of famous people. Two decades later and the ever-changing sports landscape has never been the same. Twenty years ago Wayne Gretzky came to L.A.

For all of his triumphs and accolades, Wayne Gretzky’s most enduring legacy is that he made the NHL viable in the Sunbelt. Whether hockey in the warm weather states has a long term future is a different conversation for a different day. If it wasn’t for the trade that Peter Pocklington made to send Gretzky to the Kings, expansion wouldn’t have been an option.

It wasn’t the record breaking skill that proved to be the most important attribute that he could contribute. Gretzky was able to create a buzz around the Kings that the team had never seen before (or since). He provided star power in a city that lives on star power. He personified the boost the fledgling team needed to merely survive. First the first time in their history, the Kings were able to bring-in the casual sports fan around L.A. Celebrities would come out in full force, and they in turn, brought the attention of the average Joe.

Native Canadian and California resident Alan Thicke always had a joke about the state of the Kings franchise before the arrival of The Great One. “What time does the game start?” someone would ask. His response: “What time can you be there?” Attendance wasn’t exactly the Kings strong suit in the early 1980s. As great as the Triple Crown line was, it never permeated the psyche of Californians. Gretzky’s arrival changed all of that.

I’ll never forget when I was in Vancouver 5 years ago for the 15th anniversary of the trade. The local news led with the story, TSN dedicated the first 10 minutes of their broadcast to the transaction, and it was on the front page of the newspaper. An “analyst” on one of the stations was talking about how Gretz left the land that he loved because, “that selfish B-actress wife of his needed to be in L.A. so she could star in Police Academy 7.” I’m paraphrasing there, but I think that captures the general degree of hate that was conveyed. I had no idea that it was STILL that big of a deal in Canada. I can just imagine what they were feeling in Edmonton.

One of the aspects of the trade that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is the part where Bruce McNall sent $15 million to the Edmonton franchise (in addition to the players sent to Alberta). In many ways, August 9, 1988 can be pointed to as the first time where small-market teams were forced to give up a star player because of financial concerns. Even though the Oilers were the dominate team in the 1980s, it was revealed that management was having money problems and THAT was the only reason they traded Gretzky. Little did the sports world know that this issue would be a slippery slope would lead to a pair of work-stoppages in hockey and eventually usher in the salary cap era.

All of the things that Wayne Gretzky brought the NHL have been beaten to death. I thought that on this memorable day, I’d remind all Kings fans to remember the excitement they felt on that historic day. I can’t believe it's been 20 years—but I’m still waiting for that Cup he was supposed to bring with him!

(Pictures can be found at Google Images)