Saturday, Aug. 09, 2008

Where were you when the Great One became a King?

By Eric Degerman, Herald staff writer

It was 20 years ago today — Aug. 9, 1988 — when the Edmonton Oilers traded "The Great One" to the Los Angeles Kings.

The stench of Oilers owner Peter Pocklington's burned effigy may still hang in the minds of some Canadian hockey fans, but the arrival of Wayne Gretzky in the United States generated interest in hockey like never before among those south of the 49th Parallel.

Me? I was standing in the kitchen of my Village at Grandridge apartment when I first learned of the blockbuster. My first season covering the Western Hockey League for the Herald was just weeks away as the Tri-City Americans home, Tri-Cities Coliseum, was under construction.

I long had been a hockey fan. I grew up in Spokane during the days of the Flyers, and I later attended WHL games in Seattle while I studied at the University of Washington. I felt a chill and uttered an expletive or two when I heard the news of Gretzky's arrival in L.A. And the bulletin that got ripped off The Associated Press teletype machine in the Herald newsroom stayed under the countertop glass of my desk for many years. I may still have it in a file.

Pocklington did it for the money, to the tune of $15 million from Kings owner Bruce McNall. But many Americans owe Pocklington many thanks. No sport could have a better ambassador than Gretzky, who made it cool to be a hockey fan in the U.S.

Today's online edition of The Sporting News did a nice retrospective of the historic day. Check out the length of Gretzky's mullet. It doesn't quite compare to that of Ron Duguay.

Kevin Allen, USA Today's long-time hockey writer, wrote an in-depth look at the deal that ran Friday. It included comments from McNall.