McSorley Says Trade Didn’t Have to Happen

Marty McSorley spoke with the media for more than an hour at the Kings’ training facility in Van Nuys on Saturday. He posed for pictures at a birthday party and said hello to every child in the room. Then he sat down and signed his name for a seemingly endless line of King fans--kids and adults.

While it may have appeared to be business as usual, it was McSorley’s first full day as a Penguin defenseman. Friday’s transaction was a complicated and controversial one--starting with a contract impasse in early July and ending with McSorley being traded to Pittsburgh for center Shawn McEachern immediately after the Kings matched the Blues’ five-year offer of almost $10 million.

“It wasn’t as though I ran out the door,” McSorley said. “The door was shut long before I went anywhere. . . . I just don’t want people to say I’m grabbing the cash. I’m not crying on anybody’s shoulder. I want everyone to know what happened. Look, I drive a pickup truck and I live in a rented house. It wasn’t money.

“I told the Kings I would take $200,000-$250,000 less to stay in L.A. to play for a contender.”

McSorley is the most popular King player to be traded since Bernie Nicholls in 1990. But unlike Nicholls, McSorley did not let acrimony with King management creep into his public comments.

He merely said that the situation could have been avoided, maintaining that the team could have signed him in December to a deal that would have averaged $1.1 million per season.

“Actually, it was a foolish thing for us to go to a team in the middle of an option year,” McSorley said. “It was an overture to let them know I wanted to stay.”

Two small-market teams--the Blues and the Penguins--decided they could make room for McSorley’s contract. And Pittsburgh was willing to give up a player to get protection for Mario Lemieux during the playoffs.

Now, McSorley becomes the Penguins’ second-highest paid player behind Lemieux. McEachern was Pittsburgh’s 17th highest-paid player last season.

At least for one more day, however, McSorley preferred to talk about his King days. His two most striking memories came in last season’s playoffs--the reception from King fans during the Toronto series after his hit on Doug Gilmour, and their support after his curved-stick penalty against Montreal in the Stanley Cup finals.

Then there is his enduring friendship with Wayne Gretzky.

“I consider it an honor to have played with Wayne Gretzky for eight years,” McSorley said. “It’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”