Ice Hockey // Current

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16 days ago

Same Teams, Same Time, Next Year

DETROIT – If you liked what you saw from this year’s Stanley Cup final – and if you didn’t you’re... more

Ihatethemall
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Former Toronto Maple Leafs Defenseman Jonsson Retires

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Veteran Swedish defenceman Kenny Jonsson, a two-time Olympic champion and former NHLer, is retiring from... more

Ihatethemall
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Brent Sutter Takes Over As Flames Coach

According to Canadian sports network TSN, Brent Sutter is nearing an agreement with the Calgary Flames to become the team's... more

Ihatethemall
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Stars' Modano Coming Back for 20th Season

Mike Modano is coming back for his 20th NHL season.

south14
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Joe Gets Checked

Watch Joe lace up the blades and hit the ice as only Joe can. Face first. Does this kid from Minnesota have what it takes to skate... more

binowhite
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Russian Hockey top 10 goals of the week

It's a Hockey Night in Russia!

GeoffNI
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Dildo downpour halts Swedish hockey match

Now what does a hockey match need to pull proceedings to a stop? A flurry of sextoys being launched from the crowd, that's... more

mattbrawn
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NHL governors considering second team in Toronto

appears some National Hockey League officials think the Toronto market is big enough to have two teams. According to The Globe... more

GeoffNI
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Opinions mixed on NHL expansion into Europe

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has no doubt that - sooner rather than later - the National Hockey League will be expanding... more

GeoffNI
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Ducks shot down; Canucks on top

Canuck general manager Mike Gillis reiterated Sunday there is no "quota" on the number of rookies who can make the team,... more

urlspotter
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No Typo: Bulgaria Loses Ice Hockey Game, 82-0

With more goals than minutes in the game, Slovakia's women's ice hockey team claimed an amazing 82-0 victory over... more

ebindelglass
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Memoir hints at hockey's origin

Hockey historians are celebrating the discovery of a document hailed as a missing link in the early evolution of the sport.

urlspotter
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Canucks to honour hockey hero

The Vancouver Canucks will honour the memory of defenceman Luc Bourdon at the team's Oct. 9 home opener, the National Hockey... more

urlspotter
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A rounder face 'means men are more aggressive'

Men with round faces tend to be more aggressive, a study of sportsmen has shown. The male sex hormone testosterone makes faces... more

toshiba
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Was Wayne Gretzky traded at a backgammon table?

Fact or fiction?

Was the Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup dynasty between 1984 and 1990 born on a backgammon table in 1978 as part of a bet? Depending who you ask, the answer is yes and no. There is a side to this legendary tale which leads to a yes answer, but others will tell you that the story behind the Gretzky "sale" to Edmonton by Indianapolis was simply an economic deal that was designed to bail out a failing franchise, and that money was earmarked to have taken care of Gretzky's former teammates so they would get their paychecks until the end of the 1978-79 season.

There is one indisputable fact -- Gretzky was moved by Indianapolis to Edmonton in what turned out to be the last year of play for the WHA, and the trade served as a significant building block in assembling one of the greatest teams in NHL history.

But the story behind the trade has always been a little murky.

In the summer of 1978, the 17-year-old Gretzky, who had been a Canadian icon since he was 6, signed a personal-services deal with Indianapolis owner Nelson Skalbania. But his Racers career would last just eight games. On Nov. 2, 1978, Gretzky would be the centerpiece of one of sports' strangest deals.

Indianapolis wasn't a thriving hockey metropolis, but Gretzky's possible new city, Edmonton, was. Edmonton was also one of those "destination" cities. The NHL was allegedly interested in moving one of its financially failing teams there in the mid 1970s, and Edmonton was very receptive to either getting a failed team or being part of an NHL-WHA merger.

Skalbania gave Oilers owner Peter Pocklington a chance to add a Canadian icon, Gretzky, which figured to bolster the Oilers' chances of getting into the NHL. There were two catches. Skalbania offered Gretzky's services to both Pocklington's Oilers and to the Winnipeg ownership group and "the Gretzky sweepstakes" would involve a game of backgammon. Winnipeg's owner, Michael Gobuty, backed off, but Pocklington did agree to Skalbania's backgammon challenge. Pocklington put up some of his artwork, while Skalbania is supposed to have anted up Gretzky.

Over the years, some people have said that Skalbania really did set down those parameters and others have said the "bet" was just a fable. But there is one man who said the trade really happened over a backgammon board.

"It all started in a private jet between Nelson Skalbania and Peter Pocklington, and it was a backgammon game with pretty high stakes as it turns out," said Larry Gordon, who was the Oilers' general manager in 1978. "Peter won that game and there was a wager made, some money exchanged hands and Wayne Gretzky, Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll ended up in Edmonton Oilers uniforms.
Fact or fiction? Was the Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup dynasty between 1984 and 1990 born on a backgammon table in 1978... more