When was gretzky traded to the kings

It was a stunning blockbuster trade in itself because of how much success Carson had already experienced, and because he was traded for the guy that Detroit felt was better than him a few years earlier in the draft. Carson also made no secrets about his desire to get out of Edmonton due to the pressure that came from being acquired for Wayne Gretzky.

When he was introduced as a member of the Red Wings following the trade, Carson had this to say, via The Times Herald:. I wanted to be drafted by them, but most of the general managers in the league had Joe Murphy rated No. It was the negative feelings of the Wayne Gretzky departure that did it. The whole Gretzky syndrome. We would lose three games and everyone would start to analyze the whole trade over again. So, basically, he did not like being known as the guy who was traded for Wayne Gretzky.

And honestly, who would? That is immense pressure, especially in Edmonton, where Gretzky basically walked on water in the eyes of the locals and the team shouldered constant Stanley Cup expectations. This trade actually ended up working out quite well for the Oilers. While Carson would have a solid NHL career, his production drastically dropped off in the coming seasons and he never really recaptured the production he had during his first three years.

The Graves and Sharples branches were otherwise short-lived. Graves signed as a free agent with the Rangers following the season, while Sharples never actually played a game in Edmonton and was later traded to New Jersey for Reijo Ruostalainen , who would go on to play 10 games for the Oilers. Eventually, Klima was traded to Tampa Bay in for a third-round draft pick Brad Symes that never panned out. The Kravchuk portion of that branch ended in after several minor trades involving the likes of Bobby Dollas and Jeff Norton with German Titov leaving as a free agent.

The McAmmond portion of the branch ended up growing for years. Moreau ended up spending 11 years with the Oilers until the season before being lost on waivers to the Blue Jackets, while the Laflamme portion of that branch made it until thanks to a series of smaller trades that ended with Igor Ulanov.

President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, purchased ice-level seats, as did a number of famous actors. When Michael Ovitz, the founder of Creative Artists Agency and arguably the most powerful man in Hollywood, requested four ice-level seats, the team had to be inventive. I said, 'We'll give you four second-row seats for free for life if I can get these seats back,'" McNall said. I never before had invoiced someone for that kind of money and got such a big thank you. Pocklington immediately became the sworn enemy of Edmontonians everywhere and some Canadian members of Parliament proposed legislation that would stop the trade.

With the Oilers in damage control, the team's phone lines were jammed with angry fans, a number of whom threatened to cancel their season tickets. It was no fun. A lot of death threats. It bothered my family more than me," said Pocklington, who sold the team in after taking on millions of dollars in debt. We didn't have the revenues from television. The only revenues we got were at the gate. Edmonton would come to terms with the trade and the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in And with Gretzky turning hockey into a favorite sport among warm-weather fans, the game would never be the same.

It did great things for everybody," Pocklington said. We encourage you to review it carefully. The NHL uses cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies. Enter Search Term. Use arrows to navigate between autocomplete results. If no results appear, use Enter to do a full site search. This was amazing. He led the team with 49 goals and total points. It seemed all was well. But, in his second campaign with Edmonton, after just four games, Carson seemed weary of the comparisons to Gretzky and requested a trade to his hometown Detroit Red Wings.

I wanted to be drafted by them, but most of the general managers in the league had Joe Murphy rated No. Carson was a solid NHL player, but his statistics dropped off significantly in the years after the trade. He never came close to the success he achieved in his first several seasons. He was eventually traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in for a third-round draft pick. Gelinas, who was also acquired in the Gretzky deal, ended up playing five seasons with the Oilers before being dealt to the Quebec Nordiques after the season.

He accumulated 60 goals and 60 assists in games for Edmonton. After retiring from the game, he tried his hand at coaching the then Phoenix Coyotes.