Saturday, August 09, 2008

If You Celebrate That Kind Of Thing

Today would be the day 20 years ago that Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. On August 9, 1988 the blockbuster deal is hockey's equivalent to Babe Ruth's trade from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees (there was a curse involved and I am not about to draw direct paralells as baseball purists will rip me apart).

If you want several outlets are using this lull in hockey news to dwell on a trade that pretty much gave any GM for any team to use the phrase, "If they can trade Gretzky..." for any situation when moving talent. Let's just hope George McPhee doesn't say it any time soon about a certian player locked up for several years. The trade also made Gretzky an American icon instead of just a Canadian one.

For news on this very special day you can check out the following links:
TSN.ca
6:00 pm EDT, NHL Network will air Frozen In Time: Wayne Gretzky Trade
Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website
ESPN.com - Scott Burnside
USA Today
LA Times
Edmonton Sun

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