Hockey WI: Wayne Gretzky Traded To A Canadian Team?

Wayne Gretzky played for the Oilers for most of his career, so it was a big deal when he was traded to the LA Kings. With the great one playing for them, the kings saw a rise in their popularity in the city. Some people actually think the trade helped make hockey popular in places that it traditionally wasn't. You know, like places that don't get snow. :p

So my question is, what is Gretzky was traded to a Canadian team? According to his father, who knew about the trade before Wayne did, one of the teams looking to get him on their team was Vancouver, so it could happen.

What affect would this have on the past two decades of Hockey history? How would NHL expansion have worked out?


ps- I just had the most awesome thought, Wayne Gretzky playing for the Winnipeg Jets!:D
 
I have no idea what impact it would have made on the NHL beyond the obvious, but Harold Ballard and Peter Pocklington came close to trading the Maple Leafs for the Oilers in 1980. Pocklington would take his team and staff to Toronto and become the Leafs, Ballard and his team would go to Edmonton. The deal fell through due to... something on Ballard's end, even though he was the one who proposed it. If Pocklington took over the Leafs name, with the Gretzky/Messier core, he almost certainly would never have traded Gretzky out of Canada.

The best POD for keeping the Great One in Canada would be for the team swap to go through. Perhaps have Ballard's deal with Molson Brewery fall through, so he'd have needed the money from Pocklington, and you'd be in good shape.
 
Hockey would be a lot worse off in Los Angeles, assuming no one else comes. Gretzky was a huge draw for the oft-struggling Kings and helped vault them into the '92-93 finals against Montreal (on a play that makes Leafs fans cringe to this day). Would affect any future of the league with a franchise in the LA area, Anaheim, etc.

In Canada, depends on the team he's traded to. Gretzky almost signed with Vancouver if not for some midnight sabotoge by their assistant GM, but that was in '96 well after his prime. He also almost signed in Winnipeg over Edmonton during his WHA years, but his agent advised the Oilers (might've saved the Jets if he stayed). Not sure what Canadian team he would've went to, perhaps just stayed in Edmonton- which likely just means a few more cups.
 
Maple Leafs

I have no idea what impact it would have made on the NHL beyond the obvious, but Harold Ballard and Peter Pocklington came close to trading the Maple Leafs for the Oilers in 1980. Pocklington would take his team and staff to Toronto and become the Leafs, Ballard and his team would go to Edmonton. The deal fell through due to... something on Ballard's end, even though he was the one who proposed it. If Pocklington took over the Leafs name, with the Gretzky/Messier core, he almost certainly would never have traded Gretzky out of Canada.

The best POD for keeping the Great One in Canada would be for the team swap to go through. Perhaps have Ballard's deal with Molson Brewery fall through, so he'd have needed the money from Pocklington, and you'd be in good shape.

I didn't know that. We could have had a Toronto dynasty in the 80's. As for the Oilers, that team may have ended up moving by the mid-90's to Houston or somewhere like that, especially with Ballard running it.
 
Without Gretsky getting traded to the Kings, Hockey in the Southern US doesn't fly. His presence and the crowds that it drew convinced the higher ups that expansion into the Southern US was a viable prospect. Without a similar occurrence that doesn't happen. The NHL doesn't expand into the Southern States and is probably smaller than it is in OTL. Teams remain predominantly in the Northern US and Canada, the latter having 9 teams (OTL's six current plus Winterpeg, Quebec City, and Hamilton).
 
Without Gretsky getting traded to the Kings, Hockey in the Southern US doesn't fly. His presence and the crowds that it drew convinced the higher ups that expansion into the Southern US was a viable prospect. Without a similar occurrence that doesn't happen. The NHL doesn't expand into the Southern States and is probably smaller than it is in OTL. Teams remain predominantly in the Northern US and Canada, the latter having 9 teams (OTL's six current plus Winterpeg, Quebec City, and Hamilton).

I don't think it'll necessarily effect the size of the NHL nor will it kill southern expansion. If the Ballard-Pocklington swap goes through the Oilers will probably get moved to Houston, and depending on whether or not Bettman still ends up as comish we may or may not see Canadian franchises fall apart (Canadian assistance plan propped them up during the apocalypse of the Canadian dollar in the 90s :p).

I think if Gretzky gets moved to a Canadian team like the Canucks, or if he gets moved to the Rangers lets say what you'd end up seeing is a much more cautious expansion southward. Big cities like Atlanta, Dallas and Houston will probably end up with teams but there'll be a better shot at places like Hamilton or Milwaukee getting franchises. You probably wouldn't see the Ducks coming in as a franchise and at most one time in Florida.

That'd be my speculation anyway. A lot could change :eek:
 
Let's stipulate for the moment that the Vancouver deal goes through. On that basis, I could see at least one Cup celebration in GM Place in the latter part of the 1980s/early 1990s. However, I don't see a major shift of Canadian franchises to follow: the rivalry with Vancouver and the chance to see Gretzky frequently--at least for the western teams--would keep things reasonably well afloat.

The Los Angeles Kings, though...well, through the 1990s, there would be not-half-bad seats available for walk-ins at game time, with an average attendance of about 11,000 or so. The next round of expansion would take in Ottawa, to be sure, but not Tampa Bay, as in OTL. Rather, expect Seattle, which at one time had teams that won the Cup (admittedly, that was nearly 90 years ago, but still...). I would expect expansion to concentrate on the north, and go more slowly. I don't think the league would be as large as it is today; rather, I suspect it would be four divisions of seven teams each, along these lines:

Eastern Conference:

Patrick Division

NY Rangers
NY Islanders
NJ Devils
Phila Flyers
Washington Capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Buffalo Sabres


Adams Division

Quebec Nordiques
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
Hartford Whalers
Hamilton Bulldogs

Norris Division

Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Black Hawks
St. Louis Blues
Minnesota North Stars
Milwaukee Red Barons
Winnipeg Jets
Cleveland Crusaders

Smythe Division

Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames
Vancouver Canucks
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Totems
Denver Dinosaurs
 
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