Michael T. Mondak speaks: 40 til 40 day 15
We are now in day 15 of this 40 til 40 series of blog entries about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading up to my 40th birthday on July 10.
In the last entry I spoke about our 40th United States president Ronald Reagan. Today I’m going to speak about the 40th National Hockey League All Star Game that was held at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
During the offseason in 1988, Wayne Gretzky had married Hollywood actress Janet Jones in what was billed as “Canada’s Royal Wedding”. Shortly after, Janet learned she was pregnant with their first daughter Paulina. But on August 9, 1988, Edmonton Oilers general manager/head coach Glen Sather and owner Peter Pocklington announced that Wayne Gretzky had been traded with Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, Los Angeles’ 1989, 1991 and 1993 first round draft picks and $15 million in cash. Reaction to the trade caused dismay among Canadians and New Democratic Party house leader Nelson Riis demanded that Parliament block the trade, stating that “the Edmonton Oilers without Wayne Gretzky is like Wheel of Fortune without Vanna White”. The demand did not work, and Oilers fans hung Pocklington in effigy outside the Northlands Coliseum. The trade was one that not only benefited both the Kings and Oilers, it also was a win for the game of hockey itself. The Kings benefited from this trade as within minutes of the announcement, Kings fans began to call about season tickets. Thanks to Gretzky, Los Angeles Kings games at the Great Western Forum became the city’s hottest ticket. The Oilers proved they could win a Stanley Cup without Wayne Gretzky in 1990 when they defeated the Boston Bruins in the 1990 Stanley Cup finals. The NHL also benefited from the trade with the league expanding into San Jose, Tampa Bay, Miami, Anaheim, Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, St. Paul, Las Vegas and Seattle in addition to the expansion into Ottawa and the relocation of the Minnesota North Stars and the Hartford Whalers to Dallas and Raleigh respectively, along with the original Winnipeg Jets relocating to Phoenix and eventually to Salt Lake City.
Even though Gretzky was considered a lock to be a starter for the Campbell Conference All Stars, the game was highly touted as Gretzky’s return to Edmonton (although the Kings played the Oilers in Edmonton earlier in the 1988-89 season). Campbell Conference All Stars coach Glen Sather went as far as to reserve Gretzky’s old stall in the Oilers’ locker room. Gretzky actually received a warm welcome in Edmonton, as he played on a line with Kings teammate Luc Robitaille and former Oilers teammate Jari Kurri. Gretzky had actually arrived in Edmonton the week prior with his wife Janet and baby Paulina so he could test drive two snowmobiles he had purchased before he was traded.
The game was played on February 7, 1989. It would be the last time until 2007 that the game would be played on a Wednesday night. These were the rosters for the Wales and Campbell Conference All Stars:
CAMPBELL CONFERENCE
WALES CONFERENCE
Denis Savard was named to the Campbell Conference All Stars, but did not play due to injury. Likewise, Mats Naslund was named to the Wales Conference All Stars, but he did not play due to injury.
Prior to the game, the Ukrainian Shumka Dancers held a pre-game performance.
Just 67 seconds into the game, the Campbell Conference drew first blood after Jari Kurri scored off of a beautiful feed from Wayne Gretzky. Luc Robitaille also assisted on the goal. Gretzky extended the lead to 2-0 off of a feed from Steve Duchesne three and a half minutes later. Midway through the first period, Mark Messier went to the sin bin for holding, and Cam Neely made him pay for it twelve seconds later when he put the Wales Conference on the board with a goal set up by Mario Lemieux and Scott Stevens. Less than one minute later, Walt Poddubny tied it up at 2 apiece with a goal that was set up by Mike Ridley and Larry Robinson. Three minutes later, Raymond Bourque took a seat in the sin bin for tripping, but the Wales Conference bailed him out and successfully killed the penalty. Suffice to say, there would be no more penalties for the rest of the game after that. The first period ended with the game tied at 2 apiece.
Three minutes into the second period, the Wales Conference took their only lead of the game when Glen Wesley fired home a shot past Grant Fuhr that was set up by Pat LaFontaine and Brian Mullen. But the Campbell Conference answered about five minutes later when Joe Mullen buried a shot set up by Mark Messier and Joe Nieuwendyk. Past the midpoint of the second period, Mike Vernon stepped in goal for the Campbell Conference and Rejean Lemelin for the Wales Conference. However, no goals were scored until Steve Yzerman scored with less than three minutes remaining in the period with assists from Steve Duchesne and Dino Ciccarelli. Fourteen seconds later, Gary Leeman took a feed from Jimmy Carson and scored to make it 5-3 Campbell Conference at the end of two periods.
Less than five minutes into the third period, Walt Poddubny scored his second goal set up by Rick Tocchet and Larry Robinson to cut the Wales Conference deficit to 5-4. But the Campbell Conference answered two minutes later when Joe Mullen scored his second goal from Dave Manson to restore the 2 goal margin. The Wales Conference would not surrender, as Mike Ridley scored off of a pass from Raymond Bourque to cut the deficit to 6-5. Rick Tocchet got the secondary assist on the goal. However, the Wales Conference would not score again. Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson and Mark Messier all scored to make the final score 9-5 in favor of the Campbell Conference. Wayne Gretzky was named the All Star Game Most Valuable Player. When he was presented with the ceremonial car, he promptly gave it to his former teammate Dave Semenko.
Comments
Post a Comment