Gretzky question
Jim Clark
Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year)
or was it because Gretzky was asking for too much money.
Jim
Sean Christian Berends
From what I remember, Gretzky has just gotten married to that actress.
He wanted to be closer so he asked to be traded to LA. It also cut costs.
It was not because he was asking for too much money. I think Edmonton
was willing to do whatever to keep him there. Edmonton might have gottem
rid of other people though.
Sean
Richard St. Pierre
>
> I can't remember, when Gretzky was traded by Edmonton to L.A., was it because
> Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year)
> or was it because Gretzky was asking for too much money.
>
that came with the trade. I can't remember the exact figure!
cheers
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Richard St. Pierre
Garry Holmen
: Jim Clark wrote:
: >
: > Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year)
Sather did not dump Coffey the previous year. Coffey was traded after
only two Stanley cup wins.
Garry
Gerald Olchowy
>I can't remember, when Gretzky was traded by Edmonton to L.A., was it because
>Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year)
>or was it because Gretzky was asking for too much money.
He refused to sign a new contract...i.e. he wouldn't make a commitment
to Edmonton for the remainder of his career.
Gerald
Gerald Olchowy
Jim Clark
>>Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year
Garry Holmen wrote:
>Sather did not dump Coffey the previous year. Coffey was traded after only two
Stanley Cup wins.
Coffey was traded in November of 1987 and Gretzky was traded August 1988. And,
though I may be mistaken, I thought Coffey won three cups in Edmonton.
Jim
Mike Eisler
>I can't remember, when Gretzky was traded by Edmonton to L.A., was it because
>Sather was already starting to cut costs (he dumped Coffey the previous year)
>or was it because Gretzky was asking for too much money.
Gretzky's contract was due to expire in 1990 and the terms of the contract
were to make him a unrestricted free agent without compensation.
With two years left, Pocklington and Sather felt they had to either trade
him now (1988) or re-sign him to a longer contract. Otherwise they'd
end up with nothing (although one can argue if a Cup in '89, against
the Montreal Canadiens would be nothing ... hindsight says it would
have been worth it ... beating the Habs in a final is as close
to immortality as it gets).
Gretzky had this contract because prior to that he was under a personal
services contract with Pocklington. When Pocklington was thinking of
bringing in other investors to the Oilers to raise cash (or was it to
get a loan with his interest in Oilers as collateral? same
differencei), he needed to make Gretzky an Oilers' property and not a
Peter property. Gretzky managed to extract this deal since Pocklington
had no alternative.
Gretzky claims in his autobio that his intention all a long was to
re-sign with Oilers in '90 with a rich and long contract ... he wanted
the free agent clause simply to raise his market value. As '90 got
closer, Sather and Pocklington just antsy after Gretzky declined to
re-negotiate in '87 or '88. Dryden, in his book "Home Game", felt that
this was a classic case of a breakdown in communication between an
employee and employer, and when such a breakdown occurs, mistrust
follows.
It is tragic in that Gretzky for all the millions more he made by
agreeing to the trade to the Kings effectively tarnished his career
with the lack championships in the 8 years he spent there. He might
have closed in on Henri Richard's record. Now getting half (or
thereabouts ... 5 or 6 versus 11) as many Cups as Richard is a very
unlikely. Tragic in that the Trade was a catalyst that led to exodus
of the other star players in Edmonton (inevitable, but it could have
been delayed a few years). Tragic in that the money he was paid in LA,
and the money LA paid to Edmonton to get him, made it clear to other
stars in the league that Wayne till then had been holding them back
salary wise and that there was much much more water in the well. This
directly lead to financial problems for the small market franchises and
the loss of the Nords and Jets to southern markets.
--
-Mike Eisler NFS group
m...@Eng.Sun.Com SunSoft