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“Someone’s f***ing around”: Mark Messier recalls being stunned after Wayne Gretzky’s shocking trade from Oilers
NHL legend Mark Messier recently took a stroll down memory lane. During a recent appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets Podcast, Mark Messier recalled the moment when he first heard that teammate Wayne Gretzky was being traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
Messier recalled:
"I was golfing at the Edmonton Country Club. Finished nine holes and I went to the little snack shack that they had at the time, and the guy there was making me a sandwich.”
He added:
“And, I just happened to look up at the TV and they’re saying that the rumor has it, Wayne Gretzky is being traded to Los Angeles. And I’m thinking to myself, in the peak of his career, they’re gonna trade him? Someone’s f*cking around.”
The disbelief in Mark Messier’s mind was instant. He underscored his thoughts by stating:
“This is not happening. So, I didn’t think much of it.”
However, the deal did go through. The trade materialized on August 9, 1988. It was the biggest NHL trade at the time. Most fans and analysts believe that it is still the biggest trade in league history.
Messier continued:
“And of course, found out shortly after that it was real.”
The news took the entire league and the country of Canada by storm. Protests ensued in Edmonton at the perceived betrayal by the Oilers’ owner, Peter Pocklington. Nevertheless, the deal was done and Gretzky would forever change the face of hockey in the southern United States.
Mark Messier wanted to play things out till the end
During their time together in Edmonton, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cups. The club unseated the dynasty of the New York Islanders to start a dynasty of their own. In fact, Messier thought the party would never end.
Messier added the following thoughts during his appearance on Spittin’ Chiclets:
“You can only imagine what we had gone through. Relationships, a brotherhood. Everything, you know, in the peak of our careers. We’re just gonna hammer this thing home and we’re gonna play this out till the end.”
Messier concluded:
“Oh man, that was a tough summer.”
Gretzky took the Kings from one of the worst teams in the league to the playoffs in one season. The Kings beat the defending Cup champion Oilers in the first round of the 1989 playoffs. However, Gretzky could never win a Cup in Los Angeles.
The closest the Kings got to a championship was in 1993, when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Cup Final.
Meanwhile, Messier won a Cup with Edmonton in 1990 and then another one with the New York Rangers in 1994. Gretzky and Messier played together on the Rangers until Gretzky retired in 1999.
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