How Wayne Gretzky Almost Became A Vancouver Canuck | Hey Burkie
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 03. 2021
- The Edmonton Oilers, coming off back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1988, had offered Wayne Gretzky to the Vancouver Canucks. Brian tells Jeff how he tried to make the numbers work to get Gretzky to Vancouver but ended up getting roasted by the media when the Great One took his talents to the L.A. Kings. The episode is dedicated to the memory of Walter Gretzky.
----------------------------------------------
Subscribe to Sportsnet on CZcams - sprtsnt.ca/2paAT2L
Visit Sportsnet.ca for more sports news and highlights - www.sportsnet.ca
Follow Sportsnet on Facebook - sprtsnt.ca/YTFB
Follow Sportsnet on Twitter - sprtsnt.ca/YTTWTR
Follow Sportsnet on Instagram - sprtsnt.ca/YTINST
Follow Sportsnet on Snapchat - sprtsnt.ca/YTSNAP
Watch Sportsnet on Sportsnet Now - sportsnet.ca/now - Sport
As a Canucks fan, after just reading the title, I can tell you I would have been better off never hearing this
Haha no cups lookin ass
@Landen Denisenko still wouldn’t have won your sad ass franchise any cups
@@danteangotti5786 4
@Landen Denisenko - imagine Gretzky centering Bure & Mogilny? Almost happened in 1996 instead of the Rangers. But Gretzky in 1992 with Bure would have been even better, though he was no longer in his prime after the Gary Suter hit in the 1991 Canada Cup.
Don't sweat it nothing would've happened anyways, it's the Canucks
I really thought that story was going to end with "Messier comes on the ice... and cross checks the kid."
Nah man... Mess would have flashed the elbow
lol
Elbows the kid*
Vancouver fans would've been like "yeah that checks out"
Or faceplants him into the corner boards
I lol’d at the Steve Dangle freeze frame at the beginning
where?
@@Mannina90. 0:15
Brian Burke is a great storyteller. I bought his book, one of the first books I’ve actually wanted to read in years
how is it
Too bad he is not a great hockey guy! So overrated! Agree he knows how to tell a story .
I was never a huge Brian Burke fan but I still got his book out of curiosity because it's rare someone in high management is willing to give insights on how life was as GM. Was not disappointed at all. Great read.
I bought the audiobook, and LOVED IT!
“This Beef Wellington is delicious!”
Classy move dedicating the video to Walter in the end there.
Love these animations! I hope we get another season or whatever.
Burkie is such a legend.
Met him in Toronto airport couple years ago recognized him went over and introduced myself to him told him I admired what he had done can you politely asked me did I want his autograph and I said real men don’t want autographs I just wanted to meet you face-to-face he got a big kick out of it and we actually had a couple of drinks at the bar before my flight great experience
All Thunderbird alumni are thrilled by the accurate and bang-on Vancouver Thunderbirds jersey Burke's son is wearing at 2:55. Even got the kind of flimsy fabric of those old jerseys. Holy smokes. Great job guys!
Wayne also said Detroit might have been an option. That would have changed Detroit hockey but wouldn't have done what the trade to LA did for the entire league. I would have been too young to enjoy it had he gone to Detroit though. I got to enjoy that Cup in 97 and all the years following so, no complaints from me there.
Gretzky with Yzerman? Gretzky with Federov? 1989 Yzerman scored 65 goals without Gretzky! Imagine if he had Gretzky feeding him dozens of great chances each game.
Gretzky wanted to go to Detroit too! And his dad convinced him not to follow in Howe's footsteps, and instead pave his own path in LA
@@craigmaslan9632 I dont think he had a choice really.
These are absolutely wonderful and I keep finding myself coming back to check if there is a new "Hey Burkie." Thanks Burkie and thank you Sportsnet. Please keep them coming.
Man you couldve charged $40 if you had Gretzky playing every night! Ahhhhhhh what could have been.....
Signed,
A sad Canucks fan
These videos are phenomenal. Keep them coming
Such an awesome series. Well done
In my house, there's a Canucks fan (me) and an Oilers fan (my partner).
Let's just say emotions ran high watching this video.
Why would your partner be emotional from this video? Oilers would've lost Gretzky either way... to a division rival!
You fart in their face yet?
I love these vids hey Burkie “ is awesome ! Keep them up . Always looking forward to them
This series is really great. Hey Burkie and Weird NHL is keeping this British NHL fan sane.
Props to Sportsnet for the tribute to Walter Gretzky at the end of this video.
Ugh we coulda won the '94 cup w a line of
Linden - Gretzky - Bure
That line would've been a nightmare for opponents for years
You wouldn't have Linden. Troy Gamble or Steve Weeks would have been the goalie. Hard to see them making the finals.
Gretz vs. Mess, what a matchup
@@mattpaterson2717 Not true, remember the 'Nucks acquired Vanbiesbrouck and lost him in the '93 expansion, if they had traded Mclean they could have protected Beezer, Beezer in his prime. Rangers would have lost in 5.
Could listen to Burke tell stories all day. The charming animation to go along with it is just icing on the cake.
read about this in Burke's book, fantastic read!
Great tribute at the end 👍
These are the stories ppl wanna hear, great series
I love these I've watched them over and over a few times.
Love these series
As a canucks fan, You didn’t have to hurt my soul by making this video. This season is already doing enough.
How about this season?
wow I really enjoy these pieces.
Gretzky also almost became a Canuck in 1996, when his contract in St. Louis was up.
He had verbally agreed to a contract with Pat Quinn, saying that he would sign it officially the following morning.
That was apparently not good enough for the Canucks owner, who called up Gretzky in the middle of the night demanding that he sign the contract that night.
That pissed Gretzky off, and he instead chose the New York Rangers.
The lesson here: patience pays off.
when i was a kid in the late 80's early 90's there was an exhibition game in seattle between the kings and the canucks, one of the dads on my team had a connection to the local WHL team and managed to get us back into the tunnel before the game and back in the locker room after the game, i'll never forget getting to meet my heroes, Wayne Gretzky,Luc Robitaille,Marty McSorley,Petr Nedved,Pavel Bure and Trevor Linden, all in one night and the first actual NHL game i ever saw....even to this day as a 40+ year old man it is still a life moment for me, nothing like getting to meet your hero's as a kid and having them be larger than life. they were all very good to us children and i can never thank Big marty enough for getting me in there and the guys taking to time to entertain a group of 5-6 children after a preseason away game.
i liked how things were back then, just a lot more loose really. glad i got to experience that time in hockey and getting to see legends of the game play in real life.
My wife works at a grocery store. she met Walter Gretzky when he came in to endorse a product or something. Everyone said he was such a nice man and left smiles behind him wherever he went!
Love these
Wait he was almost a Canuck you had to tell the Canucks fans this damn season 😢
He was almost a Canuck twice. 1988 and 1996.
@@gocanuckurself1 exactly, he was almost a nuck, twice
in hindsight, i wouldn't have wanted him in 96, because Messier woudln't have signed and sucked ass and then we wouldn't have been in position to draft the twins
@@gocanuckurself1 that’s even worse 😫😫
@@gocanuckurself1 I believe thrice. The Canucks wanted him in a trade, but Gretzky chose St. Louis. Then they wanted him in free agency that offseason, but he went to New York. Then the Canucks settled for Messier the next year. It was like they were hellbent on making up for not getting Gretzky, so they went after Messier.
Yeah, but at least you got Messier! LoL
Awesome video
More of this please
As a Canucks fan I find this amazing
Awesome 🙌🏻🙌🏻
I love the Pat Quinn animation.
He almost signed with the canucks when he went to New York. He told them he would sign in the morning but they wanted him to sign that night so he didn't use their offer as leverage with other teams. He wanted to ask his wife first and didn't want to call her in the middle of the night. So the canucks called it off
I expected to hear that story, not this one.
Wrong. That's not the right story. Close but not what happened.
Pretty sure Gretz almost signed in Vancouver after this as well and ownership blew it 🥴
Yes, after a verbal agreement Stan McCammon (CEO) told Pat Quinn to sign Gretzky that very night and Wayne wanted to wait until the morning.
yep, misleading title. he was almost a canuck in 96 as well but they screwed that up just like everything else they touch..
That would have been fantastic! Can you imagine, Gretzky, Bure, Mogilny on a line?!
these should be a weekly thing that takes the place of coachs corner. might be hard with burkie being a gm or whatever, but these are simply gold
Burkie works for the Pengs now.
@@ShantyIrishman yep too bad.
The Canucks had him signed to a verbal agreement back in 1996 but the Owner tried to pressure him into signing the contract right away instead of in the morning.
“It was a difficult summer. At one point I thought I was going to be a Vancouver Canuck and it fell through the wayside,” Gretzky said
Could you imagine Gretzky, Bure, Linden, and Moginly
My all time favorite athlete playing for my hometown team would be to good to be true
Burke is a great storyteller
Wayne Gretzky the man!!
In 1989 Calgary won the Stanley Cup A player came from Manhattan New York brought the Stanley Cup back that summer we played a little Rolla hockey game and it was an amazing experience but I would never hold a couple over my head and I told the player who brought the cup back don’t get caught with all of the Schlup holding a couple over their head take a couple of pictures and get the hell out here you don’t want to disrespect a cup like that I understand with Burke he meant what he got off the ice we wing Gretzky I almost cried when I just put my hand on the Stanley Cup and I check to see the bottom is at the crest so I knew this was a real one not the replica Thursday I’m get shells rest think about it I. To this day I still get chills when I think about it
Obviously the Canucks would have improved instantly with the greatest player in the world. But you also have to remember that at the end of the day: in the mid-90s, Vancouver got two games closer to the Cup than L.A. did (only one year after).
It's hard to say one way or the other if Vancouver would have ended up any further along if the trade had happened. LA was bad but they at least had some potential players (Nichols, Robitalle) already there that they didn't need to trade to get Wayne. Vancouver was definitely worse at that point and he wouldn't have had a ton to work with. On top of which, the Canucks probably wouldn't have finished poorly enough with him in '88-89 to draft Bure...(or would have traded it to L.A. to get Gretzky in the first place.....could you imagine Bure and Messier playing together in the early 90s?).
The '87-88 Canucks' best skater was.....Barry Pederson, maybe? And if you offload McLean, you're left with.....Frank Caprice in nets? They would have absolutely improved in the short term but I still don't know if they would have made Conference Finals anytime soon, unless Gretz could have been cloned to play on the 2nd and/or 3rd line...
Man I wish this trade had happened. Imagine him playing on the same line as Bure!
These are great who did the animation?
Burke built some great teams!
That Steve Dangle easter egg though ... :D
Pain
It’s all in Burke’s book. The cost was just too high for Vancouver.
He did the right thing. Gretzky’s influence on the expansion of hockey throughout the United States would not have been as effective if he went to another Canadian team. He did an interview on spitting Chiclets if you’re a fan of Brian Burke or you love the back stories about the NHL you have to watch the interview below you’ll find the link. czcams.com/video/Ac5QTj-YN9o/video.html
yeah all those cup banners paid off... LOLOLOL
@@karnige5804 I’m not sure do you mean the cup banners in Edmonton or he never won anything once he left Edmonton if he went to another Canadian team it’s possible that his influence wouldn’t have been as measured for the expansion of the NHL throughout the United States
"Even if we raffled every ticket in Pacific Coliseum we wouldn't be able to afford it" (Was this a real quote? Its what I remember from the time and never knew if it was true)
Gretzky is worth more than just what’s on the books , it would have brought a true legend where we could have actually won a cup!!!!
What r u smoking
They would have no decent goaltending
Chicago Sidewalk-John Cameron
Elliot just stuffing his gullet kills me.
Almost is key word
❤️
As a Canuck fan, it would have been great to have Wayne as a Canucks. But boy, the team would have had to give up way too much.
True
Too much for a player who just won his 4th Cup on 5 years (and was the PLAYOFF leading point scorer 5 of the last 6 years at the time)? Not to mention 8 consecutive Hart Trophies!
if it's any consolation, Canucks fans, the guys they would've given up to get Gretzky wound up taking the Canucks about as far as Gretzky took the Kings. (Technically _farther_ actually, because the Canucks took the Rangers to game 7 of the Finals the year after Gretzky's Kings fell in 5.)
Could you imagine if it actually happened that would have been insane
Boy, Elliot Friedman sure likes his beef wellington.
I don’t think Burkie was to blame for this.
Funnily enough, the Canucks came closer to a Cup than the Kings did in the following years.
Gretzky is a good guy.
RIP Walter Gretzky. Thank you for making me feel like a friend every time we met. Hockey wouldn’t be what it is without you. I’m sure you’re laughing and smiling with Phyllis. In the meantime, my condolences go out to #Wayne99, Brent, Glenn, Keith and all those affected by such a enormous loss. #WalterGretzkyLivesInAllOurHeart
#WayneGretzky
I honestly feel like sooner or later every NHL fanbase will be able to say that he almost joined their team
Funny that in the end, the Canucks with the help of McLean and Adams, made it further in the playoffs than Gretzky ever did outside of Edmonton. Would've been nice to see him in a Canucks uniform though.
Gretzky lost the Stanley cup finals with L.A kings the year before the Canucks lost in the Stanley cup finals in 94. So I would say McLean and Adams did as well as the great one outside of Edmonton in the playoffs.
The animation renditions are the bomb so funny! Raise $30 to $35!!! For Gretzky! Hey I was home sick the day Kennedy got shot too! Because of Gretzky we Have THE DUCKS, THE SHARKS, and 100,000 kids that wanted to play ice hockey in SoCal!
Great uni-almost as good as the Flying V.
I know this is an interesting story, but the highlight is definitely Friedge
Friedman 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Canucks fans need to relax it was a good thing Burke didn’t do the trade. McLean and Adams were amazing players and we never would have gone to the 94’ finals without them
For anyone who wants to compare this to Messier, you’re not paying attention. Gretzky was coming off a 97 point season and would go on to have another 90 point season in the middle of the dead puck era. You think the Canucks could have used that in ‘97-98? Gretzky and Messier were 2 completely different players, especially at that time in their careers. Gretzky could have turned Bill Muckalt into a scorer, even then. Messier was brought in specifically because the Canucks had botched the Gretzky negotiations. And Gretzky wouldn’t have had Linden chased out of town. Messier was “the greatest leader of all time” only to Ranger fans and American hockey fans who don’t know any better because they won the cup in ‘94 thanks to Bettman. A great leader doesn’t fragment a team and have their most beloved player shipped out of town to soothe their own ego and then after decimating the team sued the pants off them. Some “leader.” But he was only here because Quinn, like he did with Bure and Mogilny, turned off Gretzky. Was he GM when Gretzky was considering coming to Vancouver in ‘88? LOL. I actually think he was. Or it was around the same time. Quinn made some good decisions and some horrible ones, like pretty much every Canucks GM. Benning is not an anomaly. We just have short memories. That’s why I laugh when I hear Canucks fans call for JB’s firing. Amnesia much?
It's a real shame that Vancouver didn't scoop up Burke for club President. He's the kind of guy (at the top) that this franchise needs to create a plan, stick to it, and make the GM and others follow his direction.
C’mon Wayne!
Kings never won a cup with Gretzky and Vancouver got to game 7 against the rangers and nearly won that. I think they faired better. Although seeing Gretzky vs Messier wouldve been cool. Not sure the canucks wouldve done it without maclean.
that's a hockey story! and mr. burke coming off the ice. that doesn't really seem like a solely "respect for gretz" moment. that sounded like a father doing something for his son. the moment was burke being able to do that for his son. and for all intents and purposes, it probably benefited burke to skate off to the bench. way better view.
Elliotte Friedman eating while talking is pure gold.
Gretzky to Toronto confirmed
Bruh why is TIM AND SID ON THE TV AT 0:26 THAT HURTS
Why is Burks tie tied in the animation?
I think Gretzky to Vancouver would have been nice for that era, but later in the future of that deal we'd probably be terrible. Good for Vancouver for the late 80's up to late 90's. But would turn bad with the lack of futures. On the other hand, bad for the NHL. We'd probably have had little to no expansion in the 90's. I think the Bolts, Sharks, Sens, Jackets and Wild would have been the only teams that expanded in that era with a Gretzky in Vancouver.
Also I agree with Burkie there. Too much. You pay buckets for a few years of championship caliber team.
No McLean no 94 run. I wouldn't trade those memories for the world. And I'm a huge Gretzky fan. Right call, the ask was way too much.
As a cauncks fan in the 1988 trade to get Wayne Gretzky as a caunck with Greg adams and Kirk McLean . If we had Wayne Gretzky in that line up that will bring the cauncks a Stanley cup . But instead he went to the hated kings in LA
Hi
why werent the leafs in on this. was ballard still there?
25 million back in 1988 would be nearly 56 million in todays dollars.
Sure the cost was too high, but I'm sure it still would have been better than Mess.
Would that have been a better trade at 15 mil like LA...
Carson
Imagine, we could trade a few picks, players, and Mitch Marner's salary for Gretzky
So we're not gonna talk about us calling him in the middle of the night, demanding him to make up his mind on the spot after him saying that he would call in the morning with his answer. It was up to him, not us. Good cover
That story you mention happened in 1996 when he was a free agent. He chose the Rangers b/c of that. This story is from 1988. This video’s talking about a totally different story’s
The funny part is, the Canucks pissed off Gretzky and that turned him away hahaha.
The real funny part is he really liked how he was treated, or at least that's what Gretzky himself said. With the exception of the 2 am "take our deal or leave it" ultimatum. The Canucks broke off talks when he didn't accept the ultimatum. There's no telling if he would have taken a Canucks deal if the Canucks at the time weren't stupid/petty and just said we aren't interested.
@@JeremyCuddles Oh yeah! I forgot about that part. Boy Vancouver has a trash organization.
Maybe Mcdavid will become a Canuck in the future or will we end up settling for Mattews? 🤔
Only Swedes goto Vancouver. You won't get either!!!
@@Fissey_Gaming The biggest McDavid hater in the world would still kill to have him on their team. I'm having such a hard time contemplating when father time eventually catches up to him like it did Wayne. Imagine Connor being too slow to play the game anymore.
@@Fissey_Gaming Didn't mean to upset you to the point where me agreeing with you would prompt you to write your thoughts back about it.
Damn, Canucks could’ve won a Stanley Cup. Keep saving your money. Looks like it worked well so far.
@RT P are you talking to me?! I grew in North Vancouver.
@RT P Don’t bother.
The weird thing about this is that if this trade had happened, and Vancouver gave up the first round picks Edmonton gave up, then Brendan Morrison, Alex Mogilny, and Marcus Naslund never become Canucks.
How was Adams and McLean “too good” to trade for Wayne lmao
I wonder if the backlash in Canada wouldn't have been as high if he went to Vancouver.
The 1988 Leafs offered their entire team but Edmonton said no.
Really?
That’s too much for Gretzky but he’d totally give that much of for a stud like Kessel
👍