‘Sad Day’ for Man Who Started It All

For Bruce McNall, it began in the bright, noisy glare of a news conference beamed around the hockey world in 1988.

It ended in the quiet of his residence with five simple words on an answering machine.

McNall, who brought Wayne Gretzky to the Kings eight years ago, kicking off the golden age of hockey in Los Angeles, didn’t need to turn on the radio or television Tuesday night to learn that the golden age had ended with the trade of Gretzky to St. Louis.

Gretzky, in a message left on McNall’s machine in the late afternoon, had told the Kings’ former owner, “Well, I guess I’m gone.”

McNall’s illegal activities forced him out of the hockey operation and brought hard financial times to the Kings but he and Gretzky planned to meet late Tuesday night to reminisce, just the same.

“It’s a really sad day,” McNall said. “But it’s been sad for a while to see what’s happened. I feel like it’s the end of an era.

“Getting Wayne led to the [San Jose] Sharks, it led to the Ducks, it led to Florida [Panthers], it led to the TV contracts. Everything in the NHL from A to Z started because of Wayne.”

McNall made it plain that he doesn’t approve of the trade.

“People like Disney [owners of the Mighty Ducks] understand entertainment and understand the star system in this city. Look at what happened when Magic Johnson didn’t play and what happened when he did play. The Disney people live that every day in the entertainment business. They are not real estate developers, with all due respect.”

McNall was referring to new owners Phillip Anschutz and Edward P. Roski Jr.

“I don’t blame [team president] Rogie [Vachon] or [General Manager] Sam [McMaster] or [Coach] Larry [Robinson],” McNall said. “I support them. They are doing whatever they have to do, whatever the leadership wants them to do. I think it’s rather short-sighted.

“I fear it might go back to the way it used to be with the Kings,” McNall added. “I don’t know the new owners. I know they have a lot of money, but I don’t know if they will dedicate it to the sport. I hope they will give their people the ability to rebuild. They must rebuild quickly before it all falls apart.”

McNall can relate to things falling apart. Once a globe-hopping multimillionaire, he is now bankrupt and facing possible prison time for bank fraud.

“But this is one of the more emotional, distressing situations I’ve gone through,” he said of Tuesday’s trade. “My own situation, as bad as it was, is different. This affects everybody, the league, the city. An icon is leaving.

“Everything I built has crumbled. Now all the dreams that we had hoped for are not going to happen anymore. My dreams. His dreams. I always dreamed that, after Wayne left, we would have built a strong enough foundation that it would last after he was gone. And I always dreamed that Wayne would stay on in some capacity, keep the tradition going.”

McNall say that, if he were still in charge, Gretzky would be in silver and black.

“I would have done my best to try and keep him,” he said.

“A lot of people made money off Wayne’s back, like the TV people and opposing arenas. I tried to repay him as best I could. I knew the last contract I gave him would probably be his last here, so I tried to be as much help to Wayne as I could be even though I was shouldering my own burdens.”

But now McNall can only take comfort in the knowledge that the burden of struggling in Los Angeles has been lifted from Gretzky.

“I’m happy for him,” McNall said. “I hope he is going to a better situation. I hope he gets what he wants out of this.”

And what was McNall planning to tell Gretzky?

“I’m going to tell him to go out and win a Cup,” McNall said.