Steady yourself for an onslaught of Golden State clichés. 

The song California Dreamin’ will be front-and-centre.  You can pretty much count on Hockey Night in Canada to air that one over a montage of hockey highlights.

How about Come to California by Matthew Sweet?  That’s what the NHL Playoffs are doing this spring, as for the first time all three California-based NHL franchises are headed to the post-season.

That’s one more team than the entire country of Canada is sending, though the population of California is over 37 million, about three million more people than the entire Motherland of Hockey (C).   Maybe the NHL should move the Coyotes to San Diego, and the Thrashers to Fresno .

The Anaheim Ducks have enjoyed the most playoff success recently, having carved their name on the Stanley Cup only four seasons ago, while the Los Angeles Kings haven’t had the pleasure yet, only making the Final way back in 1993, when Kurt Cobain was still alive, OJ was just an ex-football player, and Wayne Gretzky was a young monarch.

The San Jose Sharks were born out of a divorce in Minneapolis-St. Paul, and for two decades plus they’ve been even less successful in the playoffs than the Kings.  The Sharks are one of the few NHL teams never to have placed a skate on Final ice.

This year, the Ducks are a trendy pick to do some damage in the playoffs, but that may all hinge on the health of their goaltending.  The Comeback Kid, Ray Emery, is always and forever one bad bump away from a lower body injury.

The Sharks may finally be off everyone’s expectation radar, after seasons of coming up small in the post-season.  General Manager Doug Wilson has copied the Stand Pat routine pioneered by famed baseball GM Pat Gillick, when he ran the Toronto Blue Jays in the late 80’s.  Gillick put together a number of talented teams during his watch, and was reluctant to make changes just for the sake of change, even when the Jays came up short time and time again in late September.

Then again, Gillick only won the Big One in baseball when he finally deviated from that plan, and made a big splash one off-season, trading a couple of star players (Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez) to the San Diego Padres for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar.

Alomar joins Gillick in the Baseball Hall-of-Game this July.

Wilson should probably be in the hockey equivalent for his stellar work patrolling the blue line for the Chicago Black Hawks during the 1980’s.  He may get there yet, rewarded for his managerial skills, a resume that will only be taken seriously if he can add at least one Stanley Cup to the masthead.

The California Dreamin’ part, of course, really kicks in if two of these teams meet up in the playoffs.  Particularly the Kings and Ducks.  That could still come to pass, but the first round will feature the Sharks against the Kings.

When it comes to regional rivalries, hockey has the Rangers and Islanders, it has the Flames and Oilers.  It has the Maple Leafs and Senators, when both teams actually put a good product on the ice.  Maybe next season.  The Maple Leafs and Sabres are also a good regional matchup.

It had the Canadiens and Nordiques, but that’s history…for now.  Detroit and Chicago are close, geographically speaking, and certainly historically, so you can add that one to the mix. 

Boston and Hartford once had a thing goin’ on, but that was more like big brother Bruin endlessly beating up on Whale Boy.  Except for that 11-0 thumping the B’s took a long time ago at the hands (fins) of the Whalers.

The Hartford Whalers began life as the New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association, and they initially played out of Boston.  But that’s all dusty history now.

The Kings and Ducks would put on a marvellous show for hockey fans across North America.  The Freeway Faceoff Playoff Edition might even make a few front pages in Southern California.

The Ducks have their own modern day version of the Triple Crown Line.  The Mighty Mallards?  The Quack Attack?  Huey, Dewey, and Louie?

The Kings’ attack has been hampered by recent injuries, though their goaltending appears to be in better shape than the Ducks, unless Mr. Hiller can come all the way back.

The popular choice would probably be the Ducks in that matchup.  Especially considering how Anaheim handled L.A. during the final weekend of the regular season.  Try getting a ticket for that series.

The Boys from Northern California plan to have something to say about all that.  This is the first time they face the Kings in the playoffs, though there has been an All-California playoff series in the NHL before this.

The Sharks fell to the Ducks in six games during the first round of the 2009 playoff, the last time Anaheim has won a post-season series, having failed to make the playoffs last year.

Until a Kings-Ducks playoff battle finally ensues, hockey fans should be more than content with a San Jose – Los Angeles matchup.  Maybe Dionne Warwick can be coaxed into once again singing about all the stars in L.A. who are pumping gas.

 LA is a great big freeway
Put a hundred down and buy a car
In a week, maybe two, they’ll make you a star
Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parkin’ cars and pumpin’ gas

You can really breathe in San Jose
They’ve got a lot of space
There’ll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I’m goin’ back to find
Some peace of mind in San Jose…(C) Burt Bacharach and Hal David

The East Coast might have to get ready for a series of very late nights.

Come To California, indeed.

 come to California
come to California
baby let it all hang out
come to California
tell us what it’s all about
but watch your mind little bit
’cause the future is beginning now
come to California . . .
but watch your mind little bit
’cause you’re headed into the machine
come to California . . . (C) Matthew Sweet

 Mick Kern

Article by Don Schwartz, WG Authentic / Watch Video

It’s been 15 years since Wayne Gretzky set a new standard for scoring with his 802nd goal, but the memories are etched in stone for those in attendance that night on March 23, 1994.

The Los Angeles Kings had just returned home from a game in San Jose where Wayne had tied the NHL’s all-time goal scoring mark, held by his boyhood idol and legend Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe.  Anticipation filled The Forum, the Kings’ home at the time, as fans prepared themselves to witness hockey history.

Not that anyone “really” knew that the record would be set that night vs. the Vancouver Canucks.

“I was on that trip,” said Terry Jones, the long-time sports columnist for the Edmonton Sun, who was assigned to follow Wayne until he set the new scoring mark. “It started with him playing two or three games in the Los Angeles area. I remember going over to Anaheim one night and he was really struggling to get that key goal. There was a lot of banter between the two of us, a ‘you know, don’t keep me out here too long’ sort of thing.”

“So when he scored it in the game against Vancouver, I think it was more of a relief for Wayne than anything just because it was a bit of hockey’s version of the Babe Ruth thing going on with Henry Aaron.”

Despite the magnitude of the record, Wayne had already surpassed many of the NHL’s all-time marks, including assists and points. The challenge for Kings’ TV Play-by-Play voice and Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller with the goal record came down to capturing history in the proper light and being prepared for the moment.

“It was four or five years previous when he passed Gordie Howe (for the all-time record in points), when a friend of mine that summer had asked ‘what are you going to say when it happens?’” Miller recalled. “I said ‘well, I never really thought of saying anything except describing the play. Then I thought ‘maybe they expect me to add a little something to it.’ So when he passed Howe in points, I just said ‘the Great One has become the greatest of them all, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the National Hockey League.’

“Now on this night I thought ‘well, I’ve got to come up with something else to say because he was going to pass the goal scoring record.’ So when it happened, I said ‘the Great One’s NHL record book is now complete, he’s the all-time leader in points, assists and now in goals with his 802nd goal.’”

That goal would finally come with the assistance of teammates Luc Robitaille and Marty McSorely, sending the sold-out and celebrity-filled crowd into a frenzy.

“Kirk McLean, the Vancouver goaltender, was so far out of the net that it was just a wide open net for Wayne to score,” Miller said. “You would think he almost can’t miss this. And he didn’t miss it. There was a tremendous ovation. I remember Wayne with his hands in the air kind of doing a little dance.”

Though he became the all-time leading goal scorer in NHL history that night, the moment overshadowed the all-around game of Wayne and the pride he took in assisting his teammates and the greater team good.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t put (the goal record) up there with some of the others,” Jones said. “The record he broke as a King in Edmonton, the points record, I’d think that probably meant more to Wayne because it was points and he was more about points than goals, even though we all remember that night he scored five to make it 50 in 39 games and breaking Phil Esposito’s single season record and all that stuff.

“At the end of the day, Wayne was about being a playmaker more than a goal scorer, so I think those records probably meant more to him.”

Wayne would go on to tally 92 more goals beyond 802 before his retirement after the 1998-99 season. The current active leader in goals is New Jersey’s 40-year-old veteran Brendan Shanahan with 654. So while the memories of 802 for many are etched in stone, hockey fans wonder if 894 is a record that also needs to be set in stone.

“The way things have gone in the league, it’s a record that, I know it’s been said before, may never be broken,” Miller said. “I don’t think players nowadays are going to play long enough to score that many goals. Everybody that night was feeling that it was going to be a night we’d remember because of the anticipation of seeing an NHL record.”

Article by Don Schwartz, WG Authentic / Watch Video

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

After missing about a week of hockey, thanks to the Great Basement Flood of Oh-Nine, I was finally able to plug back in the HDTV widescreen on Monday evening, and get back into the Coolest Game on Ice, or is that The Fastest Game On Earth, or whatever we’re calling it these days.

Started with the Dallas Stars tangling with the feisty Columbus Blue Jackets.  Those dudes from Ohio, that well-known Western state, apparently are genuine in their efforts to make the NHL post-season for the first time in their relatively short history.

The hometown Blue Jackets poured shot-after-shot at Marty Turco, but the trouble was, this was vintage Marty Turco in net, not the imposter from earlier this season.  Turco made some fantastic saves, and the Stars emerged with the 3-2 win in the shootout, though Brad Richards left the game in the second period with what appeared to be a wrist injury.

Next flipped over to the suddenly firewagon Atlanta Thrashers in L.A. to take on the Kings.  Atlanta are too far out in the East to seriously make a run for a playoff spot, but you never know, particularly with the way Ilya Kovalchuk has been finding the back-of-the-net lately.  The Kings, however, are in a race for the bottom end of the Western Conference post-season invites, and every game will be huge here on in.

Well, it didn’t start that way for the Kings.  The Thrashers pumped three goals quickly past Jonathan Quick, building up a 3-0 lead only 7 1/2 minutes into the game.  Quick found the end of the bench, and Erik Ersberg took over between-the-pipes.

I was tempted to abandon this matchup, and turn my attention to the Oilers and Coyotes; in fact, I quickly checked that game out, before returning my attention to Southern California.

Maybe the Hockey Gods whispered in my ear, but it turned out to be a wise choice.  The Kings finally got on the board, only to see Atlanta answer back 33 seconds later.  L.A. got one more before the end of the first.

After 20 minutes, this game already had six goals, a fight, a goaltending change, a big lead by the road team, the start of a comeback by the home team, and all that with at least 40 minutes to play.

The Kings would outshoot the Thrashers 45-27 in the game, but more pointedly, L.A. outshot the visitors 34-13 in the second and third period combined.

Ersberg made a number of great saves, while Hedberg held his own when he was called upon.  There were nice goals, shorthanded goals, powerplay goals, video replays, and playoff-type tension as the third period wound down.

The Kings fought back from a 6-3 deficit and tied things up with a powerplay marker, and the goaltender yanked, with only five seconds remaining, on a nice goal by Anze Kopitar, who was able to corral a rebound, and had the presence-of-mind, and a boatload of talent, to step back and set himself properly before burying the puck.

I didn’t have a rooting interest in this game, so what I wanted to see was an entertaining hockey game, and both the Thrashers and the Kings delivered that on Monday evening.  Eventually, Atlanta would win 7-6 in the shootout, denying the Kings that vital second point.

Kings’ fans experienced a bittersweet evening of hockey.  They were five seconds away from losing, but at this stage in the season, they really needed that second point as well.

After three-and-a-half seasons, I’m still not totally sold on deciding regular-season games by the shootout, but I recognize the drama that comes with it, and on Monday night, it seemed only fitting that a game such as this would be decided in this manner.   Last man standing.

And the fans were standing.

Sure, three periods of high-tempo overtime would have been preferable, but we know that’s only going to occur during the playoffs.

The Thrashers-Kings game had a bit of everything, but mostly, it was fun to watch.  Credit to the Thrashers for not sitting back when they had the three-goal lead.  It almost cost them that second point, but they won my respect.  Head coach John Anderson and his troops made the game enjoyable to watch, and even though you’ll often hear that tired old “just win, baby” saying that I believe came from the mouth of Al Davis, more importantly, the Thrashers went instead with “let us entertain you”.

After all, sports is entertainment, and if it ain’t entertaining, people will find something else to do with their money, particuarly in these times.

Encore, encore!

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Here’s another one of my seventeen ways to improve the NHL: eliminate all back to back games.  Period. Home and home.  Home and away.  All of them.  They are a recipe for disaster.  The quality of play has to suffer.  It is human nature.  And, while we are at it, let’s get rid of back to back games against the same team.  Can we leave that for the post season?

My instant rationalization for what happened Saturday night at Jobing.com Arena!  Hear what Coach Gretzky had to say after facing the Kings for a second time.

Click to play:

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See you on Fox Sports Arizona and Quest Coyotes Live on New Year’s Eve!

- Todd

This was fun to watch … at least for last 20 minutes.  Admittedly, this was a struggle.  Several Coyotes players telling me afterwards that there were some unkind, but constructive words spoken in the room between the second and third period.

With that said, they won the third period, and won the game. It was a grinder … and if not for another brilliant effort between the pipes, and two third period goals from Enver Lisin, it wouldn’t have happened. But it did … so savor another come from behind victory!

Hear Wayne’s post-game:

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And we’ll see you on Thursday night on Fox Sports Arizona as the Maple Leafs roll into town.

- Todd

What are the keys to winning on home ice?

You would think that the home ice and crowd would be an enormous advantage wouldn’t you?

Why do so many teams struggle on home ice?

I have a few thoughts on this subject as we prepare for the 2008-09 NHL regular season.

Last season in the Eastern Conference, Carolina was the only team that DID NOT make the playoffs with more points than the eighth-place Boston Bruins on home ice. The Hurricanes had an excellent 24-13-4 record on home ice, good for 52 points. They finished one game below .500 on the road to miss the playoffs by just two points.

In the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers had 47 points on home ice, going 23-17-1, and missing the postseason (along with the Blackhawks) by only three points. Nashville snuck into the eighth spot with three more points on home ice than the Oilers.

You might think the power play at home would be a huge factor, right? It didn’t work out quite that way as only 10 of the 16 playoff teams ended the regularseason in the Top 16. New Jersey and Calgary were ranked 28th and 29th overall in PP % on home ice, yet both made the playoffs.

Tampa Bay was fourth and Los Angeles was fifth overall in home PP % , yet neither were close to making the postseason and, in fact, picked first and second overall in this year’s draft.

Penalty killing at home saw the Bruins dead last at only 74.7%, yet they finished eighth and got in. Washington was 25th and Pittsburgh was 27th overall.

Clearly gone are the days of an intimate home building with crowds standing above you and ice dimensions suited to your team’s style of play. Every building is eerily similar, so the only advantage a team has is how many fans are in their building and how supportive they are.

Here are my keys to having a home-ice advantage.

1) Goaltending early in games. If your goalie gives up a soft, momentum-deflating goal early in a hockey game, especially in a non-traditional hockey market, the fans really get frustrated and the players feel it. Your goalie has to show everyone he has the presence to lead, especially early.

2) Every team has to have a line that bangs and crashes and gets pucks in deep, forechecks hard and energizes the bench and the crowd. The visiting team has to come into your rink knowing that they have to survive the first 10 minutes of the game, if they want to have a chance. The home team has to have players that are relentless on the puck and keep the energy high.

3) The “D” has to have the confidence to close gaps. There is nothing like seeing a road team easily skate through the neutral zone, gain the blueline untouched, and score an easy goal on your home ice. That is as deflating as any one thing. When the forwards hustle back and the “D” are standing up and playing physically, then the fans and the bench and the momentum from the home side can take any hope away from a team on the road trying to win in your building.

There is no question that athletes have large egos and love the fans and the noise and the adulation both on and off the ice. Having a jam packed home building can only help out every player. There is nothing like having the pressure and the expectations from your own crowd as they will push you through the tough times in a game.

That being said, not every building is full, so you have to find a way to get it done. The points I made earlier are the keys to getting off to a great start and maintaining that momentum to win hockey games on home ice and getting you team into the postseason.

For gretzky.com, I’m Darren Pang

…That Changed Hockey Forever

By Terry Jones, SUN MEDIA

EDMONTON — When Wayne Gretzky returned to then-Northlands Coliseum as a King on Oct. 19, 1988, fans held up a banner which seemed to sum up how the city of Edmonton was dealing with the trade.

It was Wayne Gretzky’s wedding day.

Eddie Mio was doing his duty as best man, getting the groom to church on time.

“We were on the way to the church when Wayne looked at me. ‘Eddie, I’m getting traded out of here. I’m not going to be here,’ Wayne told me … on the way to the church,” said Mio. Mio looked at Gretzky and played it perfect, considering the situation.

“Wayne, you’re getting married. Don’t even think about it. Enjoy the day,’ I told him. I didn’t believe it. I didn’t think it was possible to take Wayne away from Edmonton. I just didn’t think anything like that could happen. No way.” Don Metz, the high profile Edmonton video maker who filmed the so-called Royal Wedding, couldn’t believe his ears either.

“A few days after their wedding, I drove Wayne and Janet to the airport. They were in the back seat of my Suburban,” said Metz.

“I was chatting with Wayne, looking at him in the rearview mirror. ‘When do I see you again?’ I asked.

“How does Oct. 5 sound?” said Gretzky.

“‘Oct. 5? What about training camp?”

“‘I don’t think so,” said Wayne looking out the window.

I asked him who he’d play for. He kept looking out the window. For those five or six seconds it felt like time stopped. And I knew better than to ask again.

This past week Metz has here. I’m not going to be here,’ Wayne told me … on the been putting the finishing touches on a one-hour show entitled A Day The Game Changed, revisiting a date that became infamous in Canadian history, Aug. 9, 1988.

It will run for the next two weeks on the NHL Network. “It was John Shannon’s idea,” Metz said of the NHL’s VP of broadcasting.

“His idea was to use this as the pilot for a 12-part series on days that changed the game in hockey, to tell cultural stories about hockey like (those that) have been told so often about baseball.”

“I see A Day That Changed The Game as being a concept I’d like to franchise to other sports.”

“If you’re doing days that changed the game of hockey, though, you definitely have to start with this one.”

The Day That Changed The Game?

“It’s pretty hard for me to comprehend that. I don’t look at it that way,” said Gretzky this week from his summer place in Idaho.

“Mark Messier going to New York was great for hockey there. Brett Hull doesn’t get enough credit in Texas. Th ere were lots of guys. I think I was maybe the first piece of that puzzle.”

There may have been 11 other days that changed the game in hockey. But this was the day that changed the game and what probably says it more than anything else is that Gretzky, 20 years later, is coaching the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL.

“Would I be in Phoenix doing what I’m doing today? No. No chance,” laughed No. 99 when he returned the Sun Media call.

“I’d probably still be in Edmonton going to lunches and dinners on behalf of the Oilers.”

Still, there are mixed messages on what hockey means in the U.S. 20 years after the Gretzky trade.

On one hand, in the last few years teams called the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Ducks have won the Stanley Cup.

But on the other, the NHL’s TV numbers in the U.S. are as low as most cult sports and there are plenty of good seats to be had in most of those rinks. As for Gretzky’s legacy with the Kings – during the last two years, the Los Angeles Times didn’t send a beat writer on the road with the team.

“There’s probably some credence to that,” said Gretzky.

The impact is open to great debate, but there is no debate on a couple of other items. Gretzky, until that day, was effectively the league’s salary cap. When somebody wanted more money, all the GM had to say was: “I’m not paying you more than Wayne Gretzky.”

Earlier this week, Gretzky said: “I was making $400,000 and there were a couple of guys getting up to a million. I had a year left on my contract and I was going to play hardball, but I wasn’t thinking of leaving. I wanted to catch up and I felt there were other guys on our team that needed to catch up, too.”

Salaries went up in a hurry. Who knows if it would have made any difference, eventually, in where they ended up today.

Today, players from California and other Sun Belt cities are showing up in the Western Hockey League and getting drafted into the NHL.

On that front, at least, Gretzky has no hesitation to say today that the trade definitely had an effect in a good way.

“I’m ecstatic about it,” said Gretzky. “Absolutely. Kids are playing hockey in California and Arizona, Texas and a lot of those places. Back when I went to Los Angeles, there were maybe six or seven good kids on most of the teams.

“Now, at just about every level, there are teams which can compete with teams of that same level in Canada. And some are making the NHL. There’s such a huge population in those areas and kids are playing the game. And when kids play this game they see how good it is. I’m proud of that.”

TRADE WAS A TOUGH DAY

Aug. 9 isn’t a day Gretzky celebrates. For years after when he came to play in Edmonton, he insisted the bus driver take a route where he couldn’t see his statue in front of the building. From several perspectives, financially for one, his life has turned out better. But that day still isn’t an enjoyable exercise in nostalgia for anybody involved on this side of the border.

Twenty years ago Wayne’s dad Walter said it was all telegraphed to him.

“I knew Wayne was getting traded days before he did because Nelson Skalbania phoned me and asked, ‘How much does Wayne make?’ I said ‘Why?’ He said ‘Because Peter’s shopping him to the highest bidder. I said ‘No he’s not.’ He said ‘Yes he is.’ That was during the 1988 Stanley Cup finals.

“The day after they won that fourth Cup, Wayne said ‘You know, dad, I’m going to shop for a house in Edmonton.’ And I told him ‘You better forget that, they’re shopping you.’ ”

Many people figured Gretzky knew he would soon leave Edmonton when he gathered the team on the ice and posed with the Cup, something that had never been done before and now is a tradition with Cup-winning teams.

Gretzky denies that, saying it was kept from him until after they’d won the Cup. And the first thing he’d heard was that he was going to Vancouver, although over the years he discovered, “(the trade talk) went back to the second round of the playoffs.”

The trade rumours actually first surfaced the year after he’d entered the league.

Then, the year he won his first Stanley Cup, there was the rumour Gretzky was going to the New York Rangers for $15 million US ($18 million Cdn at the time).

Gretzky’s agent Mike Barnett said he’d heard it “six or eight times” in the same day.

“Nonsense,” said Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, who blamed the Calgary Flames for starting the story.

A few days later, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard told me that Pocklington pitched Gretzky to him for $18 million to bail out of bad business deals.

“Happy Harold has obviously lost all his marbles,” said Pocklington. “Wayne Gretzky belongs to me and he always will. That’s absolute rubbish.”

Again the story went away. But it kept coming back and always the number was $18 million. The last time the story was emphatically denied was Aug. 4, 1988.

“There’s nothing to it,” said coach and general manager Glen Sather. “Every summer it’s a different rumour. This one goes in the same bin as all the others. If there’s anything like that I’m sure Peter would let me know. There’s nothing to it.”

FIVE DAYS LATER …

On Aug. 9, 1988, Wayne Douglas Gretzky was sold to the Los Angeles Kings for $15 million US, $18 million Canadian. And like Americans, who remember exactly where they were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated or when man landed on the moon, most Canadians can tell you where they were that day.

Shock. Outrage. Anger. None of those emotions quite covered it, especially in Edmonton where the reaction was not unlike a death in the family, a death not by natural causes.

The Edmonton Sun coverage was incredible the next day. And the front page headline, written by then-sports editor Phil Rivers, will be remembered for almost as long as the day will be recalled: 99 TEARS.

On the cover there was the picture of Gretzky dabbing his tears, the headline and the only other words on the page were: “Pages 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 18, 19, 23, 30, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46 and 47.”

It was called a trade, but it wasn’t.

“It was not a trade,” says Sather. “It was a sale. It was about money.”

Sather, with Pocklington out of the picture, on the 10th anniversary of the day the dirty deed was done, finally spilled the story from his side and tells it the same another decade later.

“I took Wayne into a room with just the two of us at Molson House. I talked to him and said I’d stop the deal. I told him I’d tell Peter I’d resign if he didn’t stop the deal. But Wayne decided not to because it was all beyond repair at that point.”

The way Gretzky remembers it today is: “Glen had me in there a whole hour.”

Sather was in the dark all the way until Pocklington finally told him, allowing him to at least have an influence in getting some players and picks.

“I was the last to know. We went to the Arctic fishing. I think everybody on the Arctic trip knew about the deal except me. Peter was afraid to tell me. And I don’t blame him,” said Sather.

The only thing Sather adds to the story 20 years later is when Pocklington finally told him, he now says he physically pushed his owner.

“I gave him a big shove. I thought about decking him.”

Gretzky had tears in his eyes during the press conference and couldn’t get any words out other than the ones most hockey fans remembered … “I promised Mess I wouldn’t do this.”

Pocklington, who was being hung in effigy in Edmonton, claimed at the time that Gretzky was just pretending to cry, but now admits those were real tears.

At the press conference, he also suggested it was because Janet wanted to live in Los Angeles, but now he admits he said that to try and make himself look better. Now, 20 years later, he says the mistake he made “was not putting my arm around him and saying to the press, that if you don’t want the deal to go through…”

It’ll be interesting to see what Pocklington says on the 25th anniversary.

“I regret doing it and wish I hadn’t done it,” would be nice.

—

THE TRADE

TO LOS ANGELES: Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley, Mike Krushelnyski

TO EDMONTON: Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $18 million (Cdn), L.A.’s first-round pick in 1989 (later traded to New Jersey for Corey Foster; the Devils picked Jason Miller), L.A.’s first-round pick in 1991 (Martin Rucinsky) and L.A.’s first-round pick in 1993 (Nick Stajduhar).