Kings Ransom

There probably couldn't have been a more fitting movie for this project to start on than Kings Ransom, director Peter Berg's look at the 1988 trade of Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.

This was the story that dominated my summer vacation when I was nine-years-old.

I lived in a town (Chatham, Ontario) where hockey was closer to religion than sport, and my brother was a standout goalie for the rep hockey team.

Even though my personal hockey career lasted just three laps around our end of the rink during pre-game warm-ups, my life was still dominated by the sport, and this was the lead story for a long, long time.

It's crazy to see the press conference from The Molson House again, 23 years later.  I can remember it like yesterday.

"I promised Mess I wouldn't do this" is one of those phrases most Canadian males over the age of 30 just automatically know, and more than a few people might get choked up if you were to say it to them today.

Trivia time: what was the trade itself?

Who and what did Los Angeles give up to get Gretzky, and who went with "The Great One" to LaLaLand?

I'll give you the answer at the end, and no, I didn't have to look it up. I have an eidetic memory for this kind of stuff, and this trade was a big deal to the nine-year-old me.