Hell ,I wish I could get the NHL network.I'm stuck with the NFL network ,anybody want to trade?

Mario Lemieux week at GFH has been planned for a while...
a while meaning as soon I heard NHL Network doing "Gretzky Week"

A memorable trade, but I wish there was more interesting reading material...Will October ever get here? :\

Thats the way no one should like it. Dominos is terrible

Being a Californian, it was simply the best day for me. I'm still playing hockey and now my kids are. Some people feel that it was the day that Canada started losing control of hockey, but we wouldn't be near as popular as it is today without it. I am a true Gretzky fan. I only wish he was coaching the Kings and not the Coyotes.

I still remember a poster in the mall (in St. Louis, MO of all places). Wayne Gretzky on a beach, hockey stick over his shoulder, skates hung on the stick, with the words, "Hockey Night in California".
Wish I'd bought it.

I still remember watching take the ice for the first time as a Los Angeles King. We lived in a very rural part of Michigan and certainly had no cable (in fact our telephone line was still a party line), I had to watch it on an aerial broadcast coming over from Canada. I could barely see anything in the weak signal. It was mostly static and what did get through lacked color. However, I was glued to the TV. I remember nothing of the game anymore, just the moment he took the ice. It has stuck with me and will the rest of my life.
We can argue without end about whether the trade was right or wrong. Or about whether it was good for hockey to expand into nontradional markets. But one thing is certain, it was a major event in the history of hockey. It did open up nontraditional markets and led to a greater following in the US, for better or worse.

Didn't he score on his first shift?

@ Gamera:
If you notice, Gretz never put that garbage in his mouth.

Honestly, I don't remember any of the game anymore. I only remember him taking the ice in the pregame introductions. I know I watched the whole game, but have no memory of anything that happened. I am sure it wasn't helped by the fact that I could barely see anything with the aweful reception.

I grew up an hour from the Forum, and man, it was sweet having Gretzky. Getting to actually see him play, that's something I'll always remember. Last game I went to, Anaheim vs Phoenix, I basically just watched Wayne the whole time. OMG thats Wayne Gretzky. Only time I've ever been star struck, wasn't nearly as impressed when Kobe came into a store I was working at

BTW I delivered for Dominos, I wouldn't eat that $h!t either, I'd probably do a flying slow motion movie leap to stop Gretzky from eating it, too.

its too bad he could never take a hit without running to the bench shortly afterwards. Hes half of a hockey player at best. He cant even tie Bobby Orr's shoes.

Yeah Med, it's his fault he's built like a little girl. Orr = ORRVERATED!!!! LOL!! Sorry guy, Gretzky is the second greatest player ever after Lemieux

The Gretzky trade to LA (one could argue) is one of the things that Commissioner Bettman & the NHL should not have allowed. To use the "Domino" commercial as a pun on words, here is the "Domino" effect:
1) Gretzky gets traded to LA... arguably, the first superstar NHLer in a warm climate (no offense to Marcel Dionne).
2) LA Kings are successful... and the thoughts of expansion start up in the NHL into "warm climate" regions.
3) Also with the Kings being successful, allowing two Canadien teams (Winnipeg Jets & Quebec Nordiques) to move into the US. (note: it worked for Nordiques - Denver is a cold city... not so much for the Jets - hockey in the desert?... also, won't mention Minnesota moving to Dallas since the Stars have been successful & Minnesota has a team again... and the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricane shouldn't be mentioned either... they were playing in a freaking mall!)
4) Ooooh... lets expand and put teams in warm climates: San Jose, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Florida, Nashville & Atlanta. (Granted, 2 Stanley Cups have gone to 2 of these places... but it just doesn't make sense.)
5) Gretzky goes to NY & retires... and, the "success" of the NHL goes with him.
The NHL is doing a good thing to bring fans back to the game by doing the Outdoor Classic (especially with 2 Original Six teams). If they could do the same thing in NYC (at the new Yankee Stadium) or in Fenway (with the Rangers & the Bruins), that would bring more interest to hockey... but until an Original Six team (other than Detroit) can be consistently good again, hockey won't be popular among the masses. Montreal and - to some extent - New York are making strides. Chicago is young & exciting... but the Bruins & Maple Leafs need desperate help.
I am not trying to jettison the small market teams... but if a big market (or historic) franchise can make a run to the Stanley Cup (or at least make the playoffs), you'll have your fans back.

is it me, or was whine bratzky dying his hair back then? he had dirty blonde hair and a perm on his first sports illustrated cover, then he goes joe montana blonde before the wedding, now he's a dirty blonde again! so much for being modest and humble sportsman! btw, somebody who talks about himself in the 3rd person, as he did that infamous day, is hardly suffering for lack of self-esteem!

Wayne Gretzky, the only man I'd have sex with
Wayne Gretzky, I'd be intimate with
Wayne Gretzky, I think he's kinda sexy
Wayne Gretzky, I wonder what he looks like naked
I wonder what it would be like
To have sex with the Great One
I wonder what it would be like
To have sex with the league's leading scorer
Wayne Gretzky, I know he's a married man
But maybe, he'd be attracted to me
Darrin Pfeiffer, stupid American boy
Wayne Gretzky, very handsome Canadian man
I wonder what it would be like
To have sex with the Great One
I wonder what it would be like
To have sex with the league's leading scorer
[ spoken ]
Yeah, I wonder what it would be like?
Ah, it'll never happen, it's just a pipe dream.
Wait a minute -- I'm not even gay, I'm married!
Pssh, whatever.
Wayne Gretzky
I love you Wayne Gretzky, yeah
-- "Wayne Gretzky" by Goldfinger
Oh, and was there was a comic opera staged in Toronto in 1992 called "The Loves of Wayne Gretzky" in which he leaves Jezebal Janet for - you guessed it - Super Mario!

Did anyone notice that the kid in this video played squints in the Sandlot?

The only reason I like the Gretzky trade is because it led directly to the greatest acting performance of his life:
http://waikikihockey.blogspot.com/2008/07/waikiki-hockey-hall-of-fame.html

Hey Med I grew up going to see Gretz play on the corner of florance and manchester (otherwise know as the forum) Gretzky didnt run to the bench when he got run over.. not that he didnt get paved from time to time like everyone (ever play hockey?) .... He cruised back to the bench just in time to get a perfect seat to see MARTY MCSORLEY beat the holy hell out of whoever even thought about crossing the great ones shadow on the ice. Remember the spearing incident that got mc suspended for serving up some dudes guts on the blade of his stick when they were in edmonton? Just type mcsorley and spearing on youtube and you cant miss it. Gretzky was the greatest... you cant hit what you cant catch and on the rare occasion he got caught it was usually to put the puc on someones stick inforont of an open net for his 4th assist of the night. Long live Marty Mcsorley.. Long live the great one...MORE ASSISTS THAN ANYONE ELSE HAS POINTS ...nuff said.

I myself am a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fan who has lived in Quebec, California and Texas, and there is absolutely no doubt Gretzky helped jump-start the hockey movement in the States and especially in areas where they had little if any previous exposure to the game.
Skval: I have a picture of that poster, do you want me to e-maill it to you?
Gretz indeed scored on his first shot in a regular season game as King, in a 8 - 3 win against the Red Wings and who was the Detroit goalie that night? A childhood friend of his - Greg Stefan.

@marc,
I would greatly appreciate a picture of the "Hockey Night in California" poster, if it isn't too much trouble. The e-mail address below will get it to me, but will be closed shortly thereafter. Not suspicious of you, but just taking a sensible precaution against spammers who search yahoo message boards.
barm41244 "at" mypacks.net

There's no doubt that Gretzky was the greatest. If Mario had stayed healhty maybe he could have surpassed him but he couldn't. Gretzky had that aura about him, like Jordan, you stopped what you were doing when he had the puck in the offensive zone.