St. Louis Blues: A Look Back At The Wayne Gretzky Trade

Last week was the 31st anniversary of “The Trade” involving Wayne Gretzky, eight years later Wayne Gretzky was traded to the St. Louis Blues.

Although Wayne Gretzky had been traded once before, no one ever expected him to be traded again. He was set to retire in a Kings jersey. Then on February 27, 1996, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues.

The Blues sent Los Angeles three players and two draft picks, which on paper seems like a good deal for the Kings. Three players; Craig Johnson, Roman Vopat, and Patrice Tardiff, 1996 5th round pick (Peter Hogan) and a 1997 1st round pick (Matt Zultek)

Hogan and Zultek never played a game in the NHL. Tardiff played 15 of his 65 NHL games with the Kings, while Vopat played 57 of his 133 with the Kings.

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Johnson ended up being the best piece of the deal, playing 429 of his 557 games with the Kings.

Gretzky was supposed to be the piece that finally brought a Stanley Cup to St. Louis.

Everyone thought that by playing alongside his good friend Brett Hull, Gretzky would bring back the styling of Hull and Oates.

After the Gretzky trade, the Blues had seven future Hall of Famers on their Roster. Gretzky, Hull, Al MacInnis, Dale Hawerchuck, Chris Pronger, Glenn Anderson, and Grant Fuhr.

Hawerchuck was traded a couple of weeks later for former Gretzky teammate, Craig MacTavish. At the time, GM/Coach Mike Kennan was trying to put the Edmonton Oilers band back together.

Former teammates of Gretzky’s form his Oilers days included MacTavish, Anderson, Fuhr, Geoff Courtnall, and Charlie Huddy. If anything, the 1995-96 Blues were a team built with championship pedigree.

This is why in my opinion and many other Blues fans, this was the Blues team, which had the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup. They had veterans that had won the cup; they had veteran stars hungry to win, and young players that were coming into their own.

One of the Blues veterans that were hungry to win was captain Shayne Corson. Corson gave up the “C” on his chest to Gretzky after the trade was finalized. I mean after all its Wayne Gretzky. Who wouldn’t give up the “C” for him? Apparently, Corson thought this gave him and the team the best chance to win.

In Gretzky’s first game as a member of the Blues the Vancouver Canucks, he scored his first goal. Fans instantly had thoughts of Stanley Cups dancing in their heads. In his second game as a Blue, Gretzky had one assist against his old team the Oilers.

Gretzky scored his first two goals in front of a raucous crowd on March 9, 1996, against the Hartford Whalers. I was in the stands for this game, and let me tell you, other than this year’s Stanley Cup Final games, I do not think I have ever heard a crowd that loud in St. Louis.

Gretzky went on to score 21 points in 18 games with the Blues during the regular season and 16 points in 13 games during the playoffs. During those playoffs, Fuhr suffered a season-ending injury during the first round.

For fans old enough to remember, this second round double OT game seven didn’t go our way. If not for Mike Kennan blaming Gretzky’s turnover in the neutral zone for this loss, who knows how the Gretzky trade would have turned out.

Next. St. Louis Blues Player Projections: Jordan Binnington. dark

We will always wonder how a full season with the Great One setting up one of the purest goal scorers in the history of the game could have gone.

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