"It was 20 years ago tonight..."

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=245714&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl

Sheepishly, I have to admit that I wasn't very aware of this landmark trade that sent Wayne Gretzky to LA. I think in those days I was probably more preoccupied with GI Joe and playing "war" in the field behind our yard. I remember my Dad telling we a few years later (when my interest in hockey began to flourish and my brain was like a sponge) how this trade was sometimes likened to how "Yoko broke up the Beatles." I guess Janet was Yoko and Messier was, um, Paul?

However, the more that I read about it the more that I understand the magnitude of such a trade. The way in which Gretzky is revered around the world as the greatest hockey player that ever lived (I'm skeptical... but that's because I hold a candle for Gordie Howe as the greatest, naturally) and then for THIS to happen... wow, I just can't imagine. I gotta give Wayne credit. The passion that he had for his team and for the city is amazing... something I like personally about Darren McCarty (one of my favorite Red Wings). Kind of makes Chris Pronger's running to the orange fields of Anaheim at his wife's behest seem even more shameful that what I previously thought.