HOCKEY / LISA DILLMAN : Trade Proves Gretzky Isn’t in Charge

The definition of Wayne’s World abruptly changed--perhaps forever--last Thursday afternoon when King General Manager Nick Beverley reached a tentative deal with his counterpart in Detroit, Bryan Murray.

Paul Coffey, a future Hall of Fame defenseman and one of Wayne Gretzky’s best friends, was sent to the Detroit Red Wings in a six-player trade that brought center Jimmy Carson back to Los Angeles. Beverley called Coffey at 7 on Friday morning to tell him of the transaction.

It’s not known whether Coffey was the one who broke the news to Gretzky. But the issues of how much Gretzky knew and when he knew it are largely irrelevant. Beverley, with major input from Coach Barry Melrose, made the deal, and that was that.

From this, two significant conclusions emerged:

--The perception, real or imaginary, of Gretzky as a general manager on ice has been quashed.

--By making a gutsy move--trading a FOG, friend of Gretzky--the new management team of President Roy Mlakar, Beverley and Melrose are sticking to the ambitious agenda that they put forth last summer. And owner Bruce McNall is letting them do it.

For the last four years, the image of Gretzky sitting around cutting deals and making phone calls has grown. It was getting so that you could almost see Gretzky looking at a list of players and giving McNall the thumb up or thumb down.

But Gretzky doesn’t have a dictatorial personality. He says he has always disliked any sort of conflict. And at training camp before this season, he vehemently denied having that kind of influence, saying it made him uncomfortable knowing the other players might be viewing him with trepidation.

His close relationship and business partnership with McNall opened the door to speculation. Since they spent so much time together, how could McNall not ask Gretzky his opinion on player moves?

Gretzky was, at the very least, a management consultant. Even if he never forcefully urged McNall to acquire Jari Kurri, Charlie Huddy or Paul Coffey, the Kings’ owner had to realize that having friends around would please Gretzky.

And in those days, if Gretzky was happy, McNall was happy.

Ultimately, though, winning became the bottom line. McNall decided that self-imposed banishment was his next option and put in place a management team that valued size, youth and speed.

What they didn’t want was a growing collection of aging, expensive former Edmonton Oilers. First-round draft picks were no longer to be regarded as excess baggage.

The Oiler experiment was understandable. Who hasn’t tried to recreate the past? Edmonton won four Stanley Cups in a five-year stretch. But it simply couldn’t be transferred to Southern California.

As for the transition in the post-Edmonton Project days, it won’t be easy. The Kings have been hurt by the win-now philosophy and their lost No. 1 picks can’t be reclaimed.

But, for more than one reason, the Coffey deal was the right trade at the right time. In one move, the Kings picked up youth, size and a proven scorer. Carson and Gary Shuchuk can play center and give the Kings depth and production up the middle.

Coffey was an inspirational figure in the dressing room, and he proved to be a valuable leader for the young defensemen. On the minus side, he needed a great deal of ice time, averaging about 30 minutes a game. Chicago Coach Darryl Sutter, stating the obvious, said: “He is great when your team has the puck, not so great when your team doesn’t have the puck.”

This move means that the foursome of Rob Blake, Darryl Sydor, Alexei Zhitnik and Brent Thompson will get more ice time. They will have the opportunity to improve, not stagnate.

All season, the Kings have been saying that the past is past and now the present and the future are the keys to their franchise’s success.

One deal later, we are beginning to believe them.

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Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington has been taking his act to the people. There has been speculation that he will move or sell the Oilers, presumably to the United States, if he doesn’t get what he wants from the owners of Northlands Coliseum or the people of Edmonton.

Pocklington has been doing a series of interviews, and last month he faced an hour’s worth of questions from a five-man panel of reporters on CFRN-TV’s “Face-Off” program. He said that the owners of one building offered him a share of concessions, parking, building advertising and 100 luxury boxes. And he denied that he earned more than $50 million in profits on the Oilers in the ‘80s.

Pocklington also revealed that he received money two years ago in a three-way deal with the Kings and the Flyers. Even before it was known that the Kings gave up money, too, it was a costly deal: trading Steve Duchesne and Steve Kasper to acquire Kurri.

“I’m not ashamed to ask for money on a transaction if the other side will pay it,” Pocklington said. “We’ve been asked for money, and many teams have paid money. We got a little bit of money on the Scott Mellanby-Jari Kurri deal, but that basically was a circle all the way through from Los Angeles to Philly to Edmonton. It was a three-way deal and . . . the funds were split with Philadelphia.”