Edmonton Oilers Legacy - Peter Pocklington

There are varying accounts as to whether Pocklington or Gretzky orchestrated the trade. Eddie Mio, part of the original deal that saw Gretzky become an Oiler, was the best man in Gretzky’s wedding. He claims Gretzky did not initiate the deal, stressing the Great One’s love for Edmonton.

"Without a no-trade clause, Gretzky couldn’t prevent himself from being shipped out of town," wrote Douglas Hunter in The Glory Barons. "But he could at least use the consequences to lever himself some influence. He asked Pocklington for the right to approve the team to which he was dealt. In return, he would bear the brunt of the public fallout, saying it was his own idea, and spare Pocklington the backlash that could hurt ticket sales and Oilers revenue in general."

Janet Jones-Gretzky insists Pocklington was the sole factor in the trade. In fact, Jones-Gretzky claims the couple had every intention of living their lives in Edmonton. Pocklington disputes that notion to this day.

"...when Wayne got married, his wife sure as hell didn’t want to live in Edmonton," Pocklington told the Globe and Mail in August 2003. "That was pretty much common knowledge."

In the recent Globe and Mail article, Pocklington said he would do the Gretzky deal all over again in a heartbeat. He believes the historic transaction allowed hockey to grow in the Sun Belt states.

"As a business deal, a hockey deal, [trading Gretzky] was good for Wayne, good for his family, good for everyone other than the fans in Edmonton," said Pocklington. "I understand how they feel, but life goes on."

"Pocklington will be remembered forever as the man who traded Gretzky, and he says he can live with that, probably because he no longer lives in Canada," wrote Allan Maki in the same Globe and Mail piece. "He resides in the same Southern California market where Gretzky once dazzled on ice..."

Pressure on Pocklington

Pocklington became disturbed by the public backlash of the Gretzky deal and subsequently got involved in salary negotiations with forward Esa Tikkanen. The owner bypassed general manager Glen Sather and dealt directly with Tikkanen’s agent, Rich Winter.

"Pocklington lived in the town and he was concerned that he’d lost Gretzky and was about to lose [Mark] Messier," Winter told Douglas Hunter in The Glory Barons. "He was a salesman. He recognized the value of the marquee guy."

"Tikkanen had been the big playoff hero that year [with 27 points in 19 games] and he was concerned that if he lost Gretzky, Messier and Tikkanen, they were done."

Pocklington’s anxiousness resulted in Tikkanen getting a six-season, $7 million deal, making him one of the game’s richest players. As salaries began to increase in the early 1990s, Pocklington was among a group of owners wanting NHL president John Ziegler fired for failing to ensure controlled labour costs.

While Pocklington complained about the cost of operating his team, he had contributed greatly to soaring player salaries by selling Gretzky to the Kings.

"Once he had auctioned off the game’s greatest player on the open market, Pocklington had made possible everything that followed," wrote Douglas Hunter in The Glory Barons. "The Gretzky sale alone set a market value on top talent that every player agent could use as a measuring stick."

The Gretzky deal, wrote Hunter, reminded players that owners considered them assets, and that players should begin thinking in the same vein. Pocklington would relinquish control of the Oilers in 1998.

"By the mid-1990s, Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky made more than $12 million a year combined," wrote Rick Carpiniello in Messier. "In 1995, the Edmonton Oilers’ entire payroll was about $9.6 million. That, more than anything else, explains why the Oilers’ dynasty of the 1980s–arguably the greatest hockey team every assembled was no longer together."

Pocklington’s Oilers made an immediate impact upon entering the NHL. Sellout crowds of over 15,000 were the norm at Northlands Coliseum, as the Oilers finished second to the New York Rangers in gate revenues for the 1979-80 season.

Edmonton would pass the Rangers in that department when he added 1,500 new seats to the Coliseum the next season. Despite the Oilers’ apparent success at the gate, Pocklington reported losses totaling $750,000.

He said the team lost money in each year he owned the team, while adding that his total investment in the club stood at $14 million. Since professional sports franchises are reluctant to release their financial information, confirming or denying an owner’s claim can be difficult.