The Edmonton Oilers, coming off back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1988, had offered Wayne Gretzky to the Vancouver Canucks. Brian tells Jeff how he tried to make the numbers work to get Gretzky to Vancouver but ended up getting roasted by the media when the Great One took his talents to the L.A. Kings. The episode is dedicated to the memory of Walter Gretzky.
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31 Comments
RIP Walter Gretzky. Thank you for making me feel like a friend every time we met. Hockey wouldn’t be what it is without you. I’m sure you’re laughing and smiling with Phyllis. In the meantime, my condolences go out to #Wayne99, Brent, Glenn, Keith and all those affected by such a enormous loss. #WalterGretzkyLivesInAllOurHeart
#WayneGretzky
This is like saying we almost won the lottery. Yes almost but didn't so who cares.
these should be a weekly thing that takes the place of coachs corner. might be hard with burkie being a gm or whatever, but these are simply gold
That Steve Dangle easter egg though … 😀
My wife works at a grocery store. she met Walter Gretzky when he came in to endorse a product or something. Everyone said he was such a nice man and left smiles behind him wherever he went!
If they had done the deal, Vancouver would have won a Cup by now, and the Canadian teams would not have a 28 years and counting Cup drought.
Elliot just stuffing his gullet kills me.
Kings never won a cup with Gretzky and Vancouver got to game 7 against the rangers and nearly won that. I think they faired better. Although seeing Gretzky vs Messier wouldve been cool. Not sure the canucks wouldve done it without maclean.
when i was a kid in the late 80's early 90's there was an exhibition game in seattle between the kings and the canucks, one of the dads on my team had a connection to the local WHL team and managed to get us back into the tunnel before the game and back in the locker room after the game, i'll never forget getting to meet my heroes, Wayne Gretzky,Luc Robitaille,Marty McSorley,Petr Nedved,Pavel Bure and Trevor Linden, all in one night and the first actual NHL game i ever saw….even to this day as a 40+ year old man it is still a life moment for me, nothing like getting to meet your hero's as a kid and having them be larger than life. they were all very good to us children and i can never thank Big marty enough for getting me in there and the guys taking to time to entertain a group of 5-6 children after a preseason away game.
i liked how things were back then, just a lot more loose really. glad i got to experience that time in hockey and getting to see legends of the game play in real life.
Imagine, we could trade a few picks, players, and Mitch Marner's salary for Gretzky
These cartoons are lame. Show actual photos.
Toronto could have gotten Gretzky in free agency and they passed. Only interested in Europeans at the time.
So Burke admits he has no alibi for when JFK was assassinated. 🤔
The Canucks have always been dysfunctional
Such an awesome series. Well done
Whatever I never wanted Gretzky anyways
That’s too much for Gretzky but he’d totally give that much of for a stud like Kessel
I saw this thinking it was how Vancouver almost signed Gretzky as a free agent in '96. Now I'm double pissed.
For anyone who wants to compare this to Messier, you’re not paying attention. Gretzky was coming off a 97 point season and would go on to have another 90 point season in the middle of the dead puck era. You think the Canucks could have used that in ‘97-98? Gretzky and Messier were 2 completely different players, especially at that time in their careers. Gretzky could have turned Bill Muckalt into a scorer, even then. Messier was brought in specifically because the Canucks had botched the Gretzky negotiations. And Gretzky wouldn’t have had Linden chased out of town. Messier was “the greatest leader of all time” only to Ranger fans and American hockey fans who don’t know any better because they won the cup in ‘94 thanks to Bettman. A great leader doesn’t fragment a team and have their most beloved player shipped out of town to soothe their own ego and then after decimating the team sued the pants off them. Some “leader.” But he was only here because Quinn, like he did with Bure and Mogilny, turned off Gretzky. Was he GM when Gretzky was considering coming to Vancouver in ‘88? LOL. I actually think he was. Or it was around the same time. Quinn made some good decisions and some horrible ones, like pretty much every Canucks GM. Benning is not an anomaly. We just have short memories. That’s why I laugh when I hear Canucks fans call for JB’s firing. Amnesia much?
GOD BLESS ARTHUR GRIFFITHS xo
Gretzky is a good guy.
Obviously the Canucks would have improved instantly with the greatest player in the world. But you also have to remember that at the end of the day: in the mid-90s, Vancouver got two games closer to the Cup than L.A. did (only one year after).
It's hard to say one way or the other if Vancouver would have ended up any further along if the trade had happened. LA was bad but they at least had some potential players (Nichols, Robitalle) already there that they didn't need to trade to get Wayne. Vancouver was definitely worse at that point and he wouldn't have had a ton to work with. On top of which, the Canucks probably wouldn't have finished poorly enough with him in '88-89 to draft Bure…(or would have traded it to L.A. to get Gretzky in the first place…..could you imagine Bure and Messier playing together in the early 90s?).
The '87-88 Canucks' best skater was…..Barry Pederson, maybe? And if you offload McLean, you're left with…..Frank Caprice in nets? They would have absolutely improved in the short term but I still don't know if they would have made Conference Finals anytime soon, unless Gretz could have been cloned to play on the 2nd and/or 3rd line…
The animation renditions are the bomb so funny! Raise $30 to $35!!! For Gretzky! Hey I was home sick the day Kennedy got shot too! Because of Gretzky we Have THE DUCKS, THE SHARKS, and 100,000 kids that wanted to play ice hockey in SoCal!
Kirk & Greg for Gretzky…throw in a couple of measly million and you've got yourself a deal. No, Kirk & Greg are too big of stars. LOL
I love these I've watched them over and over a few times.
“Burkie” is disturbingly clueless in this story. First off, Pocklington might have called Vancouver, but Gretzky orchestrated that trade and LA was the only destination because of his new wife, Jennifer Jones. Do people seriously not know the story of Gretzky sitting in McNall’s office (while still an Oiler) and McNall putting Pocklington on speaker phone so that Gretzky could eavesdrop in on Puck saying negative things about Gretzky?? Research it. The Oilers gave LA Gretzky, McSorley, and Krushelnyski. The compensation was not more. Only $15M, Jimmy Carson, Gelinas, and 3 draft picks went back. Never mind the $15M would have been EASILY recouped because the Canucks had more than 5,000 empty seats on average during the 1988 season.
How was Adams and McLean “too good” to trade for Wayne lmao
that's a hockey story! and mr. burke coming off the ice. that doesn't really seem like a solely "respect for gretz" moment. that sounded like a father doing something for his son. the moment was burke being able to do that for his son. and for all intents and purposes, it probably benefited burke to skate off to the bench. way better view.
Anaheim ducks was the best thing to happen for California. Rivalry.
Could you imagine if it actually happened that would have been insane
Man I wish this trade had happened. Imagine him playing on the same line as Bure!