RealGM

I know this is NHL news but that forum sux and RAPS board seems kinda slow, so please let it stay, i want opinions.

EARTH shattering confession by LEAFS GM Brian Burke about the 1988 Wayne Gretzky trade:

apparently Edmonton wanted to send him to Vancouver instead of LA where Burke was assitant GM and Pat Quinn was coach/GM..... but Burke/Quinn turned the deal down.... Burke sounded like he wanted to deal, but he wouldnt without Quinn's approval

Both these guys eventually became GM of the maple leafs eventually

heres the deal:

- Two of the Canucks top 5 players (don't know who)
- Three 1st round draft picks
- $18 million cash to Edmonton

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opinions?

Kings never won a Cup. They shouldn't even have made that one final (Kerry Fraser )

To the Leafs board

This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably wasn't 'tough' enough for those hard-nosed jerkoffs. Idiots.

lobosloboslobos wrote:This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably wasn't 'tough' enough for those hard-nosed jerkoffs. Idiots.

and yet Phil Kessel is?

the centre piece of the Maple Leafs roster as of today...... not hating on Kessel, but how does he fit the Brian Burke mold?

J-Roc wrote:Kings never won a Cup. They shouldn't even have made that one final (Kerry Fraser )

Seriously? They only went from being perennial basement losers to knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champs two years in a row after Gretzky arrived. And you can only point out they never won a cup? Neither have the Canucks. Not surprising with wankers like Pay Quinn and Brian Burke running them into the ground.

number15 wrote:

lobosloboslobos wrote:This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably wasn't 'tough' enough for those hard-nosed jerkoffs. Idiots.

and yet Phil Kessel is?

the centre piece of the Maple Leafs roster as of today...... not hating on Kessel, but how does he fit the Brian Burke mold?

Ah I don't even know or care. Maybe he's changed. I got so angry with those guys because I lived in Vancouver when Quinn and Burke were there and when I moved to Toronto Quinn followed me. I admit to being totally prejudiced against those guys and their mentality so I will retire from any further argument. Let's just say that anybody who would not mortgage the farm for Gretzky in 1988 - 1988!!! - barely deserves to be allowed on the ice let alone to run a league or team.

number15 wrote:

lobosloboslobos wrote:This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably wasn't 'tough' enough for those hard-nosed jerkoffs. Idiots.

and yet Phil Kessel is?

the centre piece of the Maple Leafs roster as of today...... not hating on Kessel, but how does he fit the Brian Burke mold?

He's American.

The entire organization is very USA Hockey.

Not a bad thing, but all in all, Phil fits the mould.

lobosloboslobos wrote:

J-Roc wrote:Kings never won a Cup. They shouldn't even have made that one final (Kerry Fraser )

Seriously? They only went from being perennial basement losers to knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champs two years in a row after Gretzky arrived. And you can only point out they never won a cup? Neither have the Canucks. Not surprising with wankers like Pay Quinn and Brian Burke running them into the ground.

Well, without looking back, how would the Canucks have fared? Would have got Bure? Kirk McLean? (I'm asking). They were good enough to make a final in 1994, but then maybe with that crazy trade they wouldn't have been good enough. Hard to say.

I'd probably be pissed if this were about the Leafs though.

the sticking point from what I heard in the interview in my opinion was the $18 million....... seems stupid considering Gretzky was the MJ of his sport, the most marketable guy around.

other than that I doubt the Canucks would have suffered by giving up 2 top 5 players when the guy coming is would be ur clear #1, its a good exchange..... and the draft picks would be low, they were a good team. I mean Burke gave two 1st rounders plus more for Phile Kessel

Pavel Bure turned out to be one of the picks correct? Burke is a fool for turning it down, but Bure was the sht

Doesn't surprise me, it is Burkie after all. I guess Gretz didn't have enough truculence or testosterone.

sanity wrote:Pavel Bure turned out to be one of the picks correct? Burke is a fool for turning it down, but Bure was the sht

Canucks likely would have still drafted him. see below

"Pasha" was drafted in the sixth round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 113th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks. It would turn out to be a controversial pick at that time because no 18 year old could be drafted after the third round unless he had played more than ten games in 2 seasons in a major league. The NHL Media Guide stated that Pavel had only played 5 games the year before, but Mike Penny (the Canucks' Chief Scout) discovered proof in the form of score sheets which had recorded that Pavel had played 11 games in that previous year.

http://canuckslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/pavel-bure.html

Gretzky with Bure is too great to even contemplate as a Canucks fan. So I'll leave it at that. I'm thinking Bettman wanted Gretzky in LA so it's all a moot point anyway.

I wonder why it was 2 of the top 5? I mean if Edmonton had wanted the number 1 and the number 6 guy would that be a no go? Or number 8 and number 9? Would Vancouver not have done that deal?

Maybe it was 2 from a list of 5?

Burke's mold is to have 2 lines of skilled players and 2 lines of grinders. Phil falls in as the center piece to the top line. Unfortunately this center piece cost more than he is worth.

Gretky and Bure is just too insane to contemplate. Kurri was a great sniper but he never would have had 60 goals without gretzky like Bure did. Can you imagine how many breakaways Bure would have had with Gretz feeding him? He would surely have had 100 goals if not more.

lobosloboslobos wrote:Gretky and Bure is just too insane to contemplate. Kurri was a great sniper but he never would have had 60 goals without gretzky like Bure did. Can you imagine how many breakaways Bure would have had with Gretz feeding him? He would surely have had 100 goals if not more.

Had Bure played during the early to mid 80s...he would've had the NHL's first 100 goal season

With or without Gretzky setting him up

It must be a slow news day if false info like this comes out and it's not surprising if Burke said this because knowing Burke's ego, he wants to keep his name in the news even in the middle of summer and he's known for his exaggerations.

The Gretzky trade to L.A. was a year in the making and the only way Gretzky was gonna agree to the trade was if he was going to go to L.A. and L.A. only because of the endorsement opportunities for him and the NHL and also help his wife and her attempt to continue what acting career she had (which wasn't much). The day after the Oilers won thier last cup with Gretzky, he was informed he was going to L.A. and Gretzky even advised Bruce McNall in the several months before it was finalized what players to give up for him to make it look like a legit trade rather than it simply Gretzky being sold to the Kings, which it was.

Gretzky would have never gone to the Canucks because it would have been pointless while L.A. was a perfect fit for him professionally and personally.

Besides the fact Quinn obviously had the final say in whether to do this deal, the price was astronomical (as it should be for the GOAT). Obviously when you look at what Gretzky brings from a hockey perspective it's an unreal deal to add a player of that talent, but Burke explains how it would've been almost impossible to recoup that $$ (btw $18M then is a minimum of $32M+ today):

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/#clip514346

It's just such a unique scenario, I wanted to try and compare it to something today but nothing comes close. Can't put into words how brilliant it would've been to see Bure/Gretzky together, even if Gretzky was past his prime and there's no guarantee that Vancouver even takes Bure in the 89 draft. Linden might've still been there as well and in his prime he was good for 30+ goals, 40+ assists.