MS
1%er
You bet. This was in Gretzky's book. Gretzky said to the Canucks that he will sleep on it, intending to sign with them in the morning, but an impatient Pat Quinn phoned Gretzky at absurd hours in the morning demanding for a answer. That was enough to sway Gretzky away from Vancouver altogether. Gretz wanted to play with Bure pretty badly, and eventually did when Bure went to the Rangers. Typical depressing Canucks news.
As for the trade, Gretzky would of brought Canucks revenue to an all time high, even if the Griffiths couldn't afford him. Gretzky merchandise alone would have brought in a boat load. GM place would have been built sooner than 95, with the crowds Gretzky would have brought in. Even more so than Bure.
The trade although getting the best player ever to play the game, would have hurt us. Adams was a clutch player in the playoffs. While McLean was a very good #1 goalie stuck on terrible teams. We wouldn't have gone far in 94 if McLean wasn't a brick wall.
Who knows what would have happened if we traded for Gretzky, I'm sure having the greatest of all time on your team would of drawn interest for very good players wanting to sign here.
Oh well, this is ancient history now, but fun to discuss.
This whole narrative is BS.
Gretzky was using the Canucks to leverage a better offer from NYR, which is where he really wanted to go.
He told the Canucks he wanted to ‘sleep on it’ but the Canucks were then tipped off that he had a meeting with the Rangers early the next morning.
This why George McPhee phoned Gretzky in the middle of the night.