Behind the boards, away from the lights, two of the NHL's most infamous owners concocted a deal to alter the fabric of the hockey cosmos.
No deal had ever equalled it. None has approached its audacity since.
The Leafs for the Oilers. Almost. In the 1980s.
Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and the rest of the young Edmonton Oilers nearly ended up in Toronto in a $50-million blockbuster swap of the two entire teams hatched by Harold Ballard, then-owner of the Maple Leafs, and Peter Pocklington, then-owner of the Edmonton Oilers, a new book claims.
"Ballard would move his fading Leafs to boomtown Edmonton, while Peter would bring his up-and-coming Oilers to Toronto — provided, of course, that he also wrote Ballard a cheque for $50 million," says the book, I'd Trade Him Again, a Pocklington biography written by Terry McConnell and J'Lyn Nye in collaboration with Pocklington.
But the deal fell through.
"Ballard backed out. He was a crazy old bugger," Pocklington says in the book. "I was actually pretty excited about it . . . I would have made a fortune in Toronto."
Pocklington did leave his mark on hockey history. He's forever known for The Trade — the famed August 1988 deal that sent Gretzky to Los Angeles from Edmonton.
Pocklington admits in the book that he wrestled with his own emotions over the Gretzky trade.
"It took me nine weeks to kind of get over the emotional shock of 'Do I really want to do this?'"
The Gretzky trade paled in comparison to swapping the Leafs for the Oilers.
Pocklington says he doesn't know why Ballard wanted the deal.
The book speculates the 77-year-old Leafs owner was looking for some quick cash because he was deep in debt and faced losing Maple Leaf Gardens. The book says Ballard may have passed on the swap after he struck a deal with Molson Brewery to pay off his bank debt.
"For Peter, the benefits were more long term. For Ballard they were immediate," says the book. "For fans in Toronto, it might have meant a whole bunch of Stanley Cups were on the horizon. The only ones bound to lose out were the fans in Edmonton."
Edmonton fans would have cried more than 99 tears. Infinitely more.
WOWzers...
I don't know if its just me, but Gretzky doesn't look right in a Leaf Jersey.
Thats cause thats one of our new jerseys. Nobody looks right in them.
The classic leafs jersey... that would of been beautiful.
Maybe more canadian would of liked Gretzky if this happened.
Also, I doubt TML would of traded the Great one and therefor no deal to LA, therefor no expansion in the south, therefor no San Jose, Anaheim or Florida teams. Instead, Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton.
As an Edmontonian, I'm incredibly glad that never happened.
But man, who knows how the league would look if that had taken place. Gretzky is likely never sold to the Kings, so where does that leave the southern expansion?
the Edmonton Maple Leafs ( ) with Toronto's group of inept scouting staff would still miss the mark drafting at #1 or top half of the draft.the next 5 + years.
they would miss drafting the following:
1990 Jaromir Jagr
1991 Eric Lindros or Scott N or Peter Forsberg
1993 Paul Kariya or Chris Pronger
1994 Ed Jovo or Ryan Smyth
1995 Jarome Iginla or J.S.Giguere
the Edmonton Maple Leafs ( ) with Toronto's group of inept scouting staff would still miss the mark drafting at #1 or top half of the draft.the next 5 + years.
they would miss drafting the following:
1990 Jaromir Jagr
1991 Eric Lindros or Scott N or Peter Forsberg
1993 Paul Kariya or Chris Pronger
1994 Ed Jovo or Ryan Smyth
1995 Jarome Iginla or J.S.Giguere
Right, minus the part where they keep their winning core due to Pocklington having TO money and the team wins 3 or 4 cups in those 5 years.
As an Edmontonian, I'm incredibly glad that never happened.
But man, who knows how the league would look if that had taken place. Gretzky is likely never sold to the Kings, so where does that leave the southern expansion?
Thats a very interesting thought. I think future expansion would have happend inevitably, but I dont think that it would have happened at this rate. thias because without the gretzky star power i dont the NHL could have gotten the 90's tv deals and without large tv, the expansion would have been more like the cfl's expansion, and might have envolved contraction at some point due to lack of attention
This happened in the NBA at around the same time. The Boston Celtics went to San Diego and became the San Diego Clippers, and the Buffalo Braves went to Boston and became the Boston Celtics.
he cant just quote peter pocklington unless pocklington said that....
so this is like literally trading teams? like where edmonton owuld have relocated to toronto and toronto relocated to edmonton? if this is so would that mean they would have been like the toronto oilers and the edmonton maple leafs? if so that would def. be weird, but i was born in 1990, so i wouldnt have known the difference.
he cant just quote peter pocklington unless pocklington said that....
so this is like literally trading teams? like where edmonton owuld have relocated to toronto and toronto relocated to edmonton? if this is so would that mean they would have been like the toronto oilers and the edmonton maple leafs? if so that would def. be weird, but i was born in 1990, so i wouldnt have known the difference.
My understanding is that the players would've all traded teams. Not the brand.
When I was young I had a dream that Gretzky played for Toronto for 2 months before we traded him to St. Louis. Throughout my early years I convinced myself this was true and that Gretz actually played for Toronto.
This happened in the NBA at around the same time. The Boston Celtics went to San Diego and became the San Diego Clippers, and the Buffalo Braves went to Boston and became the Boston Celtics.
The Buffalo Braves (1970-78) moved to San Diego (Clippers) then moved to L.A. (Clippers) in 1984.
The Celtics were founded in 1946 and have been in Boston ever since.
The Buffalo Braves (1970-78) moved to San Diego (Clippers) then moved to L.A. (Clippers) in 1984.
The Celtics were founded in 1946 and have been in Boston ever since.
Right, but the owner of the Braves became the owner of the Celtics, and the Celtics owner became the owner of the Clippers.
) with Toronto's group of inept scouting staff would still miss the mark drafting at #1 or top half of the draft.the next 5 + years.
