Gretzky traded to the red wings (what if)

Retire91 · Jan 30, 2015

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=679887

"I tried to reach [Detroit Red Wings owner] Mike Ilitch, because I knew Wayne would have loved to go to Detroit," Pocklington said. "But it was basically done so quickly, and that was it. There was never a bidding war. There probably should have been, looking back."

I never heard about this before pretty interesting I would love to hear some more insider on this, I wonder if the deal was done before Illich realized what was happening. My oh my would history be different lol. I wouldn't trade our real history but its interesting to think that there was a door open like this. I think LA would have won out in the end becasue of Gretzky's marrige to a Holywood actress.

tfong · Jan 30, 2015

I can't even imagine....a 1-2 punch of Yzerman and Gretzky.

Then the pp unit of Stevie Y and Gretzky and Lidstrom......and whatever two other random players you can insert there to become 40 goal scorers???????

Tehre would be a few more cup flags hanging from the rafters I'd imagine.

TouringReg · Jan 30, 2015

I don't know if it was quite as Pocklington describing it. I remember Gretzky saying he had a choice between Detroit and LA. He chose LA because he thought hockey would be ok in Detroit with Yzerman leading the team. In the Ultimate Gretzky DVD he makes it sound like he wanted to play in LA because he wanted to be a driving force in growing the game in a non-hockey market.

ap3x · Jan 30, 2015

I totally get that ambition. That's what people in that area remember you for. In Detroit he would have been one bright spot among others.

Actual Thought* · Jan 30, 2015

Bowman would have made him be a 2 way player. :laugh:

Retire91 · Jan 30, 2015

Couple of articles from last October, guess I just missed this tidbit of hockey history all together.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ed-wings-could-have-happened-but-at-what-cost

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2014/10/08/detroit-red-wings-wayne-gretzky/16904483/

RedWingsForPresident · Jan 30, 2015

What would Detroit have had to give up though?

Graves, Oates etc., like 5 picks+ money? I'm not sure who was in Detroit's system?

Doubt we ever would have been able to draft Fedorov, Lidstrom and Konstantinov if that trade did happen

Hammettf2b · Jan 30, 2015

RedWingsForPresident said:
What would Detroit have had to give up though?

Graves, Oates etc., like 5 picks+ money? I'm not sure who was in Detroit's system?

Doubt we ever would have been able to draft Fedorov, Lidstrom and Konstantinov if that trade did happen

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...t-at-what-cost

Retire91 · Jan 30, 2015

That article was interesting but I feel like they would have ended up lossing more. Lids, Valddy, and Feds were all late round picks though so its quite possible they still would have arrived but would Feds have worked out considering Center would be pretty bottlenecked. Maybe that package in this article would have worked because the biggest component seemed to be the money in the exchange.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ed-wings-could-have-happened-but-at-what-cost

probertrules24 · Jan 30, 2015

Ilitch could of offered a bag of marbles as long as it came with lots of cash. Pocklington cared only about the 15 million USD.

PelagicJoe · Jan 30, 2015

RedWingsForPresident said:
What would Detroit have had to give up though?

Graves, Oates etc., like 5 picks+ money? I'm not sure who was in Detroit's system?

Doubt we ever would have been able to draft Fedorov, Lidstrom and Konstantinov if that trade did happen

Detroit gave up Oates, Graves, etc in bonehead trades anyway. Not much difference there really.

But yeah, our depth at center would have been insane with Gretzky, Stevie, Feds, and Draper. Once Shanny, Lidstrom and Larry Murphy come in to the picture, lights out.

It's a fun "What if?" for sure.

rx7dryver · Jan 30, 2015

Didn't Coffey go for shanny? That trade would have never happened if Gretzky was there.

Hammettf2b · Jan 30, 2015

rx7dryver said:
Didn't Coffey go for shanny? That trade would have never happened if Gretzky was there.

No need for Shanny if we had Gretzky

Claypool · Jan 30, 2015

Hammettf2b said:
No need for Shanny if we had Gretzky

Gretzky would have been pretty useless against Colorado. Shanahan was the exact player the Red Wings needed to get over the hump.

rx7dryver · Jan 30, 2015

McCarty was important against the Avs too. He practically played dueling banjos on the bench.

Hammettf2b · Jan 30, 2015

Claypool said:
Gretzky would have been pretty useless against Colorado. Shanahan was the exact player the Red Wings needed to get over the hump.

ricky0034 · Jan 30, 2015

I wonder if Fedorov would have gotten traded at some point had this happened

he was pretty upset as it was being behind Yzerman,I can't imagine he would have felt good about being behind Gretzky as well

Hammettf2b · Jan 30, 2015

ricky0034 said:
I wonder if Fedorov would have gotten traded at some point had this happened

he was pretty upset as it was being behind Yzerman,I can't imagine he would have felt good about being behind Gretzky as well

Play the wing?

Claypool · Jan 30, 2015

Hammettf2b said:

I have news for you. Gretzky never won a Stanley Cup after leaving Edmonton.

aar000n · Jan 30, 2015

tfong said:
I can't even imagine....a 1-2 punch of Yzerman and Gretzky.

Then the pp unit of Stevie Y and Gretzky and Lidstrom......and whatever two other random players you can insert there to become 40 goal scorers???????

Tehre would be a few more cup flags hanging from the rafters I'd imagine.

Add federov to that

Hammettf2b · Jan 30, 2015

Claypool said:
I have news for you. Gretzky never won a Stanley Cup after leaving Edmonton.

What does that have to do with anything? I'm not saying having Gretzky gaurantees the cup, but with a really good Detroit team, is it so hard to believe that the Wings could have also won a Cup with Gretzky?

Detroit Sports* · Jan 30, 2015

What if we drafted Jagr instead of Primeau is what I always wanted to think

PelagicJoe · Jan 30, 2015

Detroit Sports said:
What if we drafted Jagr instead of Primeau is what I always wanted to think

I never thought of that until now. In hindsight, Primeau wasn't that great of a pick. Was he part of the Shanahan trade? I know we traded him for someone better, but I can't remember who.

InjuredChoker · Jan 31, 2015

PelagicJoe said:
I never thought of that until now. In hindsight, Primeau wasn't that great of a pick. Was he part of the Shanahan trade? I know we traded him for someone better, but I can't remember who.

yeah, it was in shanny trade.

Detroit Sports* · Jan 31, 2015

PelagicJoe said:
I never thought of that until now. In hindsight, Primeau wasn't that great of a pick. Was he part of the Shanahan trade? I know we traded him for someone better, but I can't remember who.

Yeah he was. But Jagr > Primeau and whatever we got for him which is Shanny. Jagr could do everything maybe except fight like Shanny.

Gretzky traded to the red wings (what if)

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