"Sort of like a hurricane": When Wayne Gretzky recalled his monumental league-shaking trade from Edmonton

Wayne Gretzky's trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings had immense effects on the NHL. 'The Trade' as it was called at the time sent shockwaves across the league and felt personal to every Canadian who saw their biggest star play for an American team.

At the end of the 1987-88 season, the Oilers were on a high fresh off their fourth Stanley Cup champion in nine years with the greatest hockey player of all time on their team. Gretzky had yet another 100 points individual season and looked certain to carry the team for more accolades.

In one of the versions of the emergence of the idea of the trade, Oilers owner Peter Pocklington had offered The Great One to a number of teams. As per Wayne's father Walter, the trade also involved cash so that Pocklington could gain financial stability.

In the offseason, Wayne Gretzky got married to up-and-coming Hollywood actress Janet Jones so moving to Los Angeles was a possibility for him. When the trade became a certainty, Gretzky understood how momentous the occasion was. As per The Hockey News in 2013, he recalled:

"It was an extremely difficult six weeks leading up to the actual trade. When it got to a point I thought it could happen, I became sort of quiet about it. I really didn’t talk to a lot of people about it. I didn’t want it to become a big circus outside of what I knew was going to transpire.

"It was sort of like a hurricane: it comes through and you didn’t see it coming. All of a sudden it just blazed through and it was done. It was kind of weird that way."

Wayne Gretzky reflected on the possibility of winning more championships with Edmonton

Along with Wayne Gretzky, the Oilers traded away Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, while Los Angeles sent Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round draft picks and $15 million in cash.

Looking back, both teams benefited from the trade. The Oilers were able to win another championship without Gretzky and Carson and Gelinas were solid. Meanwhile, Gretzky reached the playoffs every year with the Kings, before he was traded away to the St. Louis Blues.

Also speaking about his decision to The Hockey News, Gretzky had no regrets:

"I have no regrets. The only thing I think back on are friendships and people I don’t get to see as often. And the fact that I often wonder how many championships we could have won – seven, eight, nine? I don’t know.

"There were a lot of Hall of Fame players who were part of that team. Sometimes I think, wow, it might have been fun, but you never know what turns life is going to take."

'The Trade' felt like a big deal for the NHL as they got to grow the game and their sport in America's second-biggest market. Moreover, the leadership Wayne Gretzky brought to Californian hockey transformed the Kings as a franchise forever. Meanwhile, his lasting legacy in Edmonton will also remain.