25 Years Ago Today: Where were you when Wayne Gretzky became a L.A. King

[Face Wash]

Each year on this day I always take a moment to think back about what I was doing when the unthinkable was announced. I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was meeting a good friend of mind for a work ride-along with him. He was a stock merchandiser for Carnation and I was about to get a job with them doing the same thing. He had a daily route stocking the shelves of local supermarkets with Carnation ice cream and dairy products. We hopped in his Blue Toyota pickup truck and made the rounds through Burbank, San Fernando and Granada Hills around 5:30am. What I remember most is, he didn't have a car stereo installed so he brought a mini-boombox which I had to hold in the passenger seat while he drove down the 405.

I was 18 at the time, I'd just graduated High School and wasn't as dialed into the sports scene through media contacts as I've been over the last decade or so, so I'd heard nothing about it even as a possibility. In fact I can remember kidding around about what we'd have to give up just to get Gretzky from EDM with another buddy I used to go to games with at the Forum (Thank God for $5 student seats back in the day).

So we're on our way and I turn on Mark & Brian because that's who I used to listen to back then....and all of sudden..Brian breaks into whatever it was they were joking about to announce the news. Shortly after, they had Jim Hill on the phone, who had left CBS for ABC the year before, to talk about it and the huge impact it was about to have on hockey on the west coast.

The friend I was driving with, grew up on Long Island and followed the Islanders, had come to a lot of games with me over the years as well and had become more of a Kings fan when it came to hockey realized what a big deal it was, and we had to pull over because neither of us could concentrate on what it was we were supposed to be doing (talking about Carnation merchandising).

To this day, thinking back on the whirlwind announcements in EDM & in LA, and thinking back to the impact it had on sports in general, I still believe it was the biggest trade in the history of professional organized sports. It brought two new franchises to the west (and subsequently maybe a third if Seattle gets a team), it helped make it possible to sell hockey to Phoenix, Dallas & Denver and it sparked an infusion of hockey talent from the western USA as well. To this day, the Kings travel really well with fans across North America because of Gretzky's influence.

I mean does a kid like Brad Doty grow up a Kings fan in London, Ontario any other way?

Where were you when you found out 25 years ago Wayne Gretzky was being traded to the Kings?!

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[HYORI 1963]

I was in my mid 20s, and I actually attended that game at the GWF. I believe Gretzky scored the first goal on an assist from Dave Taylor.

 

[kingsboy11]

I wasn't alive at that point. I really wish i could have seen him play in his prime.

 

[Whiskeypete]

i was in Newport "working" a parking lot, which entailed towing cars of beach goers that parked in the lot if they weren't shopping in the stores. i was in college, it was summer (hell like that was needed) and we had partied big the night before. i grabbed some coffee, the Times and my beach chair. when i opened the paper it was an immediate GTFO here....

i grew up playing and had been in hockey from the age of 7-14, but drifted away due to moving away from MN.

the "trade" changed everything. suddenly the interest in SoCal was rampant. suddenly we were playing inline, which eventually lead to the ice. i was back playing the game i had lost. what went from 1 or 2 times a week playing inline, was now a 4-6 days a week schedule between adult leagues, coaching and in house kids league games.

i've read a few of the articles floating around this week about the trade. amazingly McNall is quoted as saying he didn't think about the long term effects it would have on the area and the league as a whole. i think the long term results have been more instrumental than the trade and Gretzky years. it solidified and improved CA to the point it is a hockey state.

 

[HYORI 1963]

The best thing about the Gretzky deal was that we traded away Jimmy Carson and not Luc Robitaille. I believe we gave Edm the choice of either one, and they chose Carson.

Lucky for us!

 

[Telos]

I was very young and I heard it from my dad who had to explain what happened. The Kings were my favorite team, but I didn't understand the gravity of it at the time, but did soon after. Watching games in the forum were a blast though, and I remember following Gretzky and Luc on the ice with my binoculars during every shift. Robitaille was still my favorite player though growing up. He was always the nicest to me. I would go to Kings practices and he would always talk with you, give you a high five, and sign anything. Gretzky always plowed through people, often had a bodyguard/driver that would haul ass out of the parking lot in a big tinted windowed SUV, never stopped to sign anything of mine once. Taylor, Robitaille, and Huddy were the easiest to hang out with.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

One of my friends who was not a hockey fan, at all, told me the trade was about to go down. He knew someone who knew someone.
I thought he was full of **** and eventually lost $20 on a bet that Gretzky would not be traded and especially not to LA

 

[Face Wash]

One of my friends who was not a hockey fan, at all, told me the trade was about to go down. He knew someone who knew someone.
I thought he was full of **** and eventually lost $20 on a bet that Gretzky would not be traded and especially not to LA

I'm still trying to understand the concept of having friends that don't like hockey. That's like pre-req #1.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

I'm still trying to understand the concept of having friends that don't like hockey. That's like pre-req #1.

This was the 80's man. It was the Cosby decade



:59 mark

 

[Vic Vinegar]

I wasn't alive at the time, but thank God this trade went down. I first started playing hockey at one of the Wayne Gretzky roller hockey rinks. I probably would not be a hockey fan today if not for Gretzky.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I was 9, and in Philly. Wasn't even a Kings fan. Was a Flyer fan, and Mark LaForest was my favorite player for some reason. Played street hockey with a couple kids that had moved from LA a few years earlier though, and they were the ones that introduced me to hockey.

I'm not even sure Gretzky being dealt really registered with me, other than hearing that Gretzky had been dealt. Then the Flyers lost in the conference finals in 89, I cried, and vowed to never be a Flyer fan again. I sort of knew LA had a team, and since I had a couple friends from LA, and then I found out that the Kings had a guy named Luc on the team, being a Star Wars fan as a kid, I just kind of became a Kings fan. Which in terms of crying, was certainly a move in the right direction.

Not easy to do, back then, what with no internet, or Center Ice, or even a subscription to The Hockey News or anything at the time. I do remember my mom letting me stay up late to watch the Kings play the Flyers in LA though. The games always had an exotic feel to them, because it was late at night, it was the high scoring Kings with Wayne Gretzky, they had different jersey colors than anyone else, and no logo at center ice. It seemed like a different planet.

Unfortunately I never really got to experience Gretzky in his first 5 years with the Kings. The games against the Flyers, and some playoffs games in 91 and/or 92 was really all I got to see. I did get to go to a Flyers/Kings game at the Spectrum once. Although in the fall of 1992, my mom did get my first issue of The Hockey News, because Robitaille was on the cover. That was the first time I was able to follow the Kings, even on a bi-weekly basis or whatever it was. Then they got to the conference final that year, and I was able to watch every game of that series for the first time.

My only real experience with Gretzky in a Kings uniform was post 93 Cup Final. So most of my Gretzky memories involve an aging player, an aging Kings roster, and the seemingly slow break up of that 92-93 team. I did get to watch that Toronto series though, with what Gretzky himself calls his best game in Game 7. I just missed most of the glitz and glamour before that.

 

[Ron*]

This date holds special meaning for me, but not because of the Kings trade.

My dad would have been 80 today.

As far as the question where was I at the point in time of August 9, 1988? I had already been a Kings fan for 21 years and was part of the old school that delineated itself from BG to AG.

The Kings BG built the character of the team that still rides high in our minds and souls today, in 2013. Gretzky may have given the Kings a Stanley Cup contender, but the true character of the team was built on the foundation of Cowboy Flett, Eddie Joyal, Frenchy Lemieux, Mike Corrigan, Eddie Shack, Whitey Widing, Butch Goring, Bob Berry, Bob Pulford, Rogie Vachon, Terry Harper, Don Kozak, and countless others I am sure I am leaving out (old age will do that to you).

Who among us that were fans back then will ever forget that 1975 season? Or that unbelievable series against Boston in 1976? And, of course, that incredible series against Edmonton (with G) in 1982 that included the Miracle on Manchester?

Man, those were some exciting times, all BG. So yeah, call me an old curmudgeon who bristles at the idea that Gretzky brought hockey to southern California. No doubt he made it more popular than ever before. But for 21 years before that, the Los Angeles Kings were still full of excitement and surprises that most of us OGs will never forget.

 

[etherialone]

I was at Culver Ice (Kings former practice facility) and one of the players came out of the locker room skated over to me and said "you just aren't going to F'ng believe this but we just got Wayne Mother *** #99 Gretzky in a big trade"!

I will never forget those words and the look on the face of who told me. I didn't say anything or anything I can remember anyways. I just got into my 1980 Toyota 4x4 (it was a white long bed and I would love to have that one again) and drove to the Forum.

I knew Jimmy a little bit and hated to see him go but I just couldn't believe that we just got the greatest player of all time on the Kings. Back then you were lucky to have a radio station to listen to the road games on most of the time.

Wayne going to L.A. made hockey more accessible to everyone who loved the Kings as well as exposing entire new generations of hockey fans to the greatest game ever invented.

If you followed hockey at all back then it doesn't matter where in the world you were that day, you have to be able to remember the greatest trade of all time.

 

[Ollie Weeks]

I was a toddler, being chased by bees in the backyard. Gretzky would have to wait for a few years. I bandwagoned when I was 5 and change when we knocked out the Leafs.

 

[Rorschach]

I was inbetween sports at the time. Too many drugs in baseball, too much irrelevance in other sports. I didn't hook on to the Kings until 1990. I saw several news stories about Kings upsetting Calgary or Edmonton but scoffed each time.

Seeing the Kings on TV in 1990 playing well and then seeing my local newsstand carry 90-91 Pro Set made me into a hockey fan. (Who is Steve...Yezzerman?) Back then it was all about the Bruins and Craig Janney.

 

[KingsFanInRI]

I was 17 and laid up with the chicken pox (thanks to my buddy's gf's little sister). I had heard a day or two before that a trade was possible... IIRC it was during a tennis match on Prime Ticket that featured Chick Hearn doing pxp and he talked about the buzz around the Forum about the possibility of Wayne coming to the Kings... I believe Wayne was at the tennis match (at the Forum) which is why he brought it up.

 

[Butch 19]

I was inbetween sports at the time. Too many drugs in baseball, too much irrelevance in other sports. I didn't hook on to the Kings until 1990. I saw several news stories about Kings upsetting Calgary or Edmonton but scoffed each time.

Seeing the Kings on TV in 1990 playing well and then seeing my local newsstand carry 90-91 Pro Set made me into a hockey fan. (Who is Steve...Yezzerman?) Back then it was all about the Bruins and Craig Janney.

The early '90s had some great card sets.

Most were simple with good graphics and didn't cost an arm and a leg (like they do now).

 

[KingsHockey24]

I was.. dead? Wait no.. I was never alive so how could I be dead? Man tough question.

I'm only 16 years old but I really wish I could have been able to watch the Great One play in LA.

 

[King'sPawn]

I wasn't introduced to hockey until 1990; my dad knew about hockey, but he didn't watch it on TV around me until then. Then I met a kid in school in 1991 who moved from Boston who let me play it with him. I was hooked since; my dad sucked at explaining the rules, so it took me a while to appreciate it.

So, unfortunately, I can't contribute anything meaningful, except that the Gretzky trade did get my dad to start watching it on TV, which in turn introduced me to it.

 

[KINGS17]

I was getting some gas, before driving another block or two to work, got back in the car and heard it on the radio. Stu Nahan I believe.

Great for hockey in the U.S., in the end not so great for the Kings as it took them forever to learn how to build a winning organization. Gretzky has a lot to do though with NHL-caliber players coming out of California and other states in the U.S. where it rarely snows.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I was getting some gas, before driving another block or two to work, got back in the car and heard it on the radio. Stu Nahan I believe.

Great for hockey in the U.S., in the end not so great for the Kings as it took them forever to learn how to build a winning organization. Gretzky has a lot to do though with NHL-caliber players coming out of California and other states in the U.S. where it rarely snows.

The Kings were never going to become a winning organization with the way they were run back then. Hell, we don't even know if they'd even still be playing in Los Angeles had that trade not happened.

 

[KINGS17]

The Kings were never going to become a winning organization with the way they were run back then. Hell, we don't even know if they'd even still be playing in Los Angeles had that trade not happened.

I think the lean years following Gretzky moving on to St. Louis pretty much show that the Kings had enough of a fan base to stay in Los Angeles. Gretzky didn't save hockey in LA. He did make other franchises in the West and other sunbelt cities more possible.

People that were fans before Gretzky arrived never felt the team was going anywhere. Most who arrived on the scene when Gretzky did think he was the reason the team survived.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I think the lean years following Gretzky moving on to St. Louis pretty much show that the Kings had enough of a fan base to stay in Los Angeles. Gretzky didn't save hockey in LA. He did make other franchises in the West and other sunbelt cities more possible.

People that were fans before Gretzky arrived never felt the team was going anywhere. Most who arrived on the scene when Gretzky did think he was the reason the team survived.

The loyal Kings fans before and after Gretzky weren't going to keep the team afloat though. They were getting what, 10,000 fans at the Forum before and after Gretz? I think the Kings needed an aggressive owner like McNall who was going to take chances. It was because of him and the Kings' growth in popularity that merchandising became a big thing. Let's not forget that after the trade Kings jerseys became one of the hottest (if not the hottest) selling NHL merch.

Now going back to team building and winning. This is the team that had traded a young #1 defenseman Larry Murphy for Brian Engblom and Ken Houston, who only appeared in 33 games with the Kings. We can rehash all of their disastrous mistakes throughout the 80s in giving up young talent for has beens or damaged goods.

I could see why fans may have been upset seeing some guys go like Nicholls and Duchesne, but the problem with the Kings during the Gretzky era was their lack of emphasis on player development. They still had draft picks, they still hit some decent picks, albeit sparingly, but look at how dismal their farm team was. Can you name how many NHL players were produced by the Phoenix Roadrunners franchise? Or the New Haven Nighthawks? You can't fault Gretzky for that.

They moved ahead with Gretzky and started to be taken as a serious franchise. Before the trade, the team was a laughing stock.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Let me also add this: without Gretzky in LA, think Doughty would be a Kings fan and want to play in Los Angeles? Would guys like Etem, Bennett, Kozun be where they are today had it not been for Gretzky? Would the Junior Kings program be as successful as it is today, or other terrific junior programs in California like the LA Selects? I highly doubt it. The trade had a significantly positive impact for not just the Kings and the NHL, but the sport of hockey and its sustainability in non-traditional hockey markets.

 

[etherialone]

The Kings had a core fanbase of around 9 to 11k prior to the 99 deal.

While you make that deal 100 out of 100 x's I always wonder what could have happened had we stood pat. We had two of the best young forwards in the game in Luc and Jimmy along with a ton of really talented kids all over the place as well.

Luc Robitaille
Bernie Nicholls
Jimmy Carson (Mr 50)
Bobby Carpenter ("The Can't Miss Kid" one of the earliest to suffer the sports illustrated cover curse)
Phil Sykes (Psycho was one of the better 3rd liners to come through the Kings)
Bryan "Butsy" Erickson (who ended up playing wing for Mario "I am a dick" Lemieux for awhile)

Steve Duchesne
Grant Ledyard
Jay Wells
Tom Laidlaw (one of the best Dmen that ever wore a Kings uni hands down)
Mark Hardy (coming into his own)
Dean Kennedy
Garry Galley (horrible deal sending him to WA happened this season)
Larry Playfair (one great heavyweight who could play a little too)
Craig Redmond
Ken Hammond



Vets like
Dave Taylor (Prime of his career)
Jim Fox (the 20 goal scoring Foxy)
Morris Lukowich
Dave "Tiger" Williams (my favorite fighter and character player of all time
Bob Bourne (a truly great person) to name a few.

Our real trouble was in net with the tandem of
Rollie Melanson/Bob Janecyk and of course our horribly run team/org.

We certainly had drafted well though.

That team had everything it needed to make a run for the cup but dealing Marcel and Gary Galley were the first mistakes made by an over anxious owner and an over eager GM. Another time and another story for sure but the Kings were poised to be a very very good team who could with a little direction and patients made a serious run at the cup with home grown talent.

But that is the story with our team or was up until the greatest GM and ownership in Kings history came along brought us our 1st cup.