Damn you Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 in the most historic roster transaction in the NHL to date. It is no secret that Gretzky brought hockey to L.A. In fact, if ever there was an understatement, that is it. I started playing street hockey at age 8, in 1991, in Orange County, CA, because that's what the neighborhood kids were doing. To my knowledge, at that time, there was not a high prevalence of competitive in-line hockey leagues in the area. After playing ice hockey in Illinois, I moved back to California in 1997. I was excited to learn that my high school was starting an in-line hockey team. Soon, every high school in the area had teams competing against each other and still do a decade later. It is impossible to say whether or not The Great One himself was responsible for the booming popularity of hockey in Southern California, but it is also impossible to say that he didn't at least help. He was definitely the main reason that as my passion for the game was spawning, I became a fan of the Los Angeles Kings. But aren't the Anaheim Ducks in Orange County? Indeed- starting in 1993, and they didn't have a Wayne Gretzky. In fact, even though I enjoyed the Mighty Ducks movies, I always thought it was a pathetic idea to create a professional sports franchise based on a kids' movie. This still represents the most prolific exploitation of ancillary marketing the entertainment industry has ever see ...
Anytime
