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Fri Aug 08, 2008 3:35 pm EDT

A world where Gretzky was a Red Wing, Yzerman an Oiler

By Greg Wyshynski

Hockey has a great number of "what if?" scenarios; there's an A-plus senior thesis yet to be written about the NHL in the 1990s had the New York Rangers won the Eric Lindros derby. But Snapshots blogger George James Malik offers a potential alt-hockey world from Kevin Allen's USA Today piece on the Wayne Gretzky Trade anniversary: That Gretzky's father "wanted him to push for a trade to the Detroit Red Wings."

Eric McErlain takes this alternate history one step further on FanHouse, predicting that Steve Yzerman would have been the Jimmy Carson in a Red Wings/Edmonton Oilers Gretzky trade, and that players like Petr Kilma and Adam Graves would have joined him. If nothing else, maybe the Wings wouldn't have crapped out with 70 points in 1990; which means no Keith Primeau in the draft, either.

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59 Comments

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  1. CUP#12
    1. Posted by CUP#12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:40 pm EDT

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    uhhh? stoooooopid!
  2. lyle s
    2. Posted by lyle s Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:59 pm EDT

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    i second cups post!!!
  3. Jim
    3. Posted by Jim Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:56 pm EDT

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    This would have been a waste of paper and trees.
  4. Brandon S
    4. Posted by Brandon S Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:04 pm EDT

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    Sounds like the beginning of a comic book mini-series; What if "The Captain" were covered in Oil, and "The Great One" were a Winged Wheel...
    I'll take the 4 Cups of reality honestly, although, imagine Stevie stays; a team with Gretzky and Stevie? That would be a hell of a one-two punch!
  5. Anthony F
    5. Posted by Anthony F Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:56 pm EDT

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    I think Wyshynski is on dope
  6. Nut
    6. Posted by Nut Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:52 pm EDT

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    Uhhhh....what a stretch for a "story"
  7. Wyshynski
    7. Posted by Wyshynski Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    Wow....tough crowd. I think a tomato was just thrown through my monitor.
    This was a small nugget to close out Gretzky Week. Nothing more.
  8. Casino
    8. Posted by Casino Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:30 pm EDT

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    This is definetly one of the most pointless things I've ever read.
  9. whit16
    9. Posted by whit16 Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    Greg are u coming up with this crap laid out on a hammock on a beach in the Caribbean with your laptop and an IV of Mai tai's stuck in your arm??!!
  10. I won
    10. Posted by I won Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:01 pm EDT

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    The thought of Stevie Y in another uniform makes me want to puke...Gretzky was a cherry-picker on a few great teams. Steve is the definition of a true leader and hero.
  11. I won
    11. Posted by I won Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:01 pm EDT

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    The thought of Stevie Y in another uniform makes me want to puke...Gretzky was a cherry-picker on a few great teams. Steve is the definition of a true leader and hero.
  12. whit16
    12. Posted by whit16 Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:57 pm EDT

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    Your new name is Drunk Daddy
  13. Mike
    13. Posted by Mike Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:23 pm EDT

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    Really slow on the hockey news, huh??
  14. Wyshynski
    14. Posted by Wyshynski Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    Wow, I'm actually sort of amused by the reaction to this now.
  15. Michigander21
    15. Posted by Michigander21 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

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    I'll be the odd duck.
    I find it very interesting that this was a possibility. I think the Red Wings did the right thing in not pulling the trigger. They kept their young players, many of which they made small moves with that improved the team far more than all of them for one stellar player.
    I am also intrugued as to what course the NHL would followed if Gretzky had not gone to Hollywierd. The expansion into non-traditional markets would have been on a far smaller scale, if it occured at all. The move towards making the NHL into the NBA2 would have been far less likely.
    As a Red Wings fan, I am very happy this never happened. As a hockey fan....I just don't know.
  16. Ben
    16. Posted by Ben Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:01 pm EDT

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    What I'm concerned about is Gritzky being on the front of a box of Honeycomb... the Crazy Craving monster is probably lurking behind him somewhere, ready to flush him off to a friendlier box of cereal, risking serious injury and hunger related muscle atrophy.
  17. Wyshynski
    17. Posted by Wyshynski Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    @ patriotsrage311 --
    Well, I for one am happy that Gritzky isn't on a box of Super Golden Crisp, because he'd need Semenko and McSorley there to handle the crunch with punch.
  18. trombass08
    18. Posted by trombass08 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:21 pm EDT

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    You've wasted three minutes of my life.
    Oh well, I probably would have wasted them anyways.
  19. Jay
    19. Posted by Jay Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:47 pm EDT

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    There was something floating around while the Norrises still owned the Wings and before the Oilers won all their Cups about the two teams actually swapping everybody, the entire franchises. It woulda been interesting for sure, but I think I can speak for most Wings fans by saying that I think things worked out just fine without that ever happening.
  20. lyle s
    20. Posted by lyle s Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:59 pm EDT

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    gritzky...hehehe
  21. Ben
    21. Posted by Ben Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:01 pm EDT

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    Well played Wysh.
    Ah cereal, so many set-ups and punchlines.
  22. ERIC F
    22. Posted by ERIC F Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:04 pm EDT

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    Would've been nice to see Gretzky on the Wings but I'm glad it didn't happen.
  23. James M
    23. Posted by James M Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:35 pm EDT

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    What if Napoleon had tanks at Waterloo?
  24. Wyshynski
    24. Posted by Wyshynski Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:21 pm EDT

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    @ James M --
    Whenever I hear Waterloo, I give tanks that ABBA broke up.
  25. Patrick
    25. Posted by Patrick Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:14 pm EDT

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    @Wyshynski
    "I give tanks that ABBA broke up."
    I wasn't going to contribute to the harsh words about the post, but after having read this comment: Yuck.

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