Mark Messier shares inside scoop on how it was for Oilers to win Cup after Wayne Gretzky trade

By Anjum Rajonno

Modified Jul 13, 2024 03:53 GMT

Edmonton Oilers icon Mark Messier shared a close bond with NHL icon Wayne Gretzky during their time in Edmonton. However, Gretzky's trade to rivals LA Kings changed the mood.

In an appearance on the "Spittin’ Chiclets" podcast, Mark Messier shared an inside story about how things transpired after Wayne Gretzky’s infamous trade to the LA Kings in 1988. He mentioned how Gretzky’s trade eventually motivated them to push for championship glory.

“Wayne gets traded, so we all got to come to terms with that,” Messier said. “So then we say, we huddle back with all the veterans. We go, look, we've been through a lot together, you know, we can't give up on each other. We can't give up on the fans.”

Despite their anger towards the club for the trade, the six-time Stanley Cup champion shared how they motivated themselves to get their self-esteem together. He said:

“As much as we're pissed off at the owner and the organization for doing it, we can't give up on that. I mean, so we got to buckle down, and how are we going to buckle down? So sure enough, who do we play in the first round of the playoffs? LA Kings. And who beats us? Wayne.”

This loss led to league-wide criticism and doubts about the Oilers' ability to win without Gretzky. Messier recalled the harsh comments they received, with people saying they would never win again.

“And now they are going, ‘You guys suck. You guys are never gonna win.’ You know, just everybody chirping this and all that. And I'm going, yeah, you f*****s, yeah we'll see.”

“That Cup was just a testimony to experience, grit, determination, and just frickin’ grizzled. We just mucked it up,” Messier concluded.

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Mark Messier shares ‘big difference’ between himself and Wayne Gretzky

In the same episode of the podcast, Mark Messier shared another hilarious take while addressing the key ‘difference’ between Wayne Gretzky and himself when they were young. Messier mentioned that while Wayne Gretzky focused on scoring goals, Messier often thought about what the team would do after the game, like where they'd hang out.

“Someone said, well, what's the difference between you and Wayne? I go, well, the difference right now is that Wayne is thinking about how he's going to score three goals tomorrow night, and I'm thinking about where we're going to go with that for the game. You know what I mean? That's a big difference,” he said.

While Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette laughed and joked about it, Messier also mentioned that these social activities and friendly teasing were important for team bonding.

“If we didn't do that, he wouldn't have felt like part of the team. You know what I mean? We had guys that could, you know, rip on him if he was late for the bus, or the bus was being held up, and he would take it in good stead,” Mark Messier added.

Messier would lift his sixth cup with the New York Rangers and became the first captain in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup with two different teams.