Gretzky goes to Los Angeles

August 9, 1988. The Oilers send the Great One to Los Angeles. Peter Pocklington needs money. Wayne Gretzky cries at the press conference. Edmonton feels sold. Hollywood gets a center who can fill a building that had not always cared.

The Kings still do not win a Cup with him. They do make hockey visible in California. Later franchises in the South and West owe a debt to a trade that looked like a betrayal and worked like a broadcast strategy.

Canadian hockey’s wound and American hockey’s map are the same day. No athlete move in the sport has been louder.