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.
God damn, Pocklington and Ballard working hand in hand. This would have shaken hockey a hell of a lot more than the Gretzky trade.
Silly me. I thought I couldn't hate Pocklington any more then I did. Was I ever wrong. That guy needs to be dropped out of a plane and into a live volcano.
Silly me. I thought I couldn't hate Pocklington any more then I did. Was I ever wrong. That guy needs to be dropped out of a plane and into a live volcano.
I don't think the volcano gods would have accepted our sacrifice to him.
__________________
"Not everyone deserves to have their head crushed, just 99.99999% of them." Mr. Tyzik Head Crushing Explained
Wow, I do remember the Gretzky to Leafs rumours and that the trade fell though.
I didn't know that it was a swap of both teams though PLUS 50 million!!
The fact that Pocklington actually admits this is true shows how much of an idiot he really was!
Idiot?
HE would have owned the hockey team in toronto! Not the teachers pension fund and the million other investors. One man. One very greedy BUSINESS man. He is not a hockey player nor does he care about a hockey team and a city. Never did. Never will
Idiot in terms of reputation with you guys though.
However, if he pulled this off he would've been a genius. He'd make enough money in TO to keep the core together and win several more cups.
The breaking up of the Oilers had nothing to do with the team's financial intake. Pocklington was a terrible businessman, and it was his other companies needing bailing out that sunk his ship. Plus, he was leverage to the hilt in all his endeavors, writing a cheque for $50 million wasn't going to help that scenario.
The breaking up of the Oilers had nothing to do with the team's financial intake. Pocklington was a terrible businessman, and it was his other companies needing bailing out that sunk his ship. Plus, he was leverage to the hilt in all his endeavors, writing a cheque for $50 million wasn't going to help that scenario.
I know that, but I'm saying that the Leafs would've made so much MORE money than the Oilers we're already making that it would've offset his other companies.
Or at least if he needed to jump **** he'd get exactly one ****ton for the team.
HE would have owned the hockey team in toronto! Not the teachers pension fund and the million other investors. One man. One very greedy BUSINESS man. He is not a hockey player nor does he care about a hockey team and a city. Never did. Never will
Agreed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ol' Jase
The breaking up of the Oilers had nothing to do with the team's financial intake. Pocklington was a terrible businessman, and it was his other companies needing bailing out that sunk his ship. Plus, he was leverage to the hilt in all his endeavors, writing a cheque for $50 million wasn't going to help that scenario.
In fairness terrible businessman is harsh. Pocklingtons house of cards fell apart in the 80's and after the dreaded NEP and when Edmonton's economy was extremely hard hit. He was over leveraged when the crash happened and the results of that were going to be inevitable. Many business owners lost their shirt at that time or moved on out of dodge.
People tent do forget that for some reason and isolate it all on Pocklington.
Edmonton was a horrible market to do business in at the time. We were also losing what business we had, and what opportunities and start ups there were to Calgary.
Save for liguidation businesses and dollar stores which were the hottest things going in Edmonton for awhile
if Pocklington could have moved into the Toronto market he could have also done business in much healthier market and with the prestige and leverage that the Maple Leafs would afford him there.
We don't know what year this was so maybe he could've put it together.
Another lame effort by Pocklington to show Edmontonions how "lucky" we were to have him around, and how he could have done so much better elsewhere. Of course, he'll have lots of time to think of these things while he sits in jail. What a pathetic, loser, con man. Not a dime to his name, and still stirring the pot.
