Top 10 LA Kings Playoff Series – Part One

6  –  1989 Smythe Division Semifinal – “Gretzky’s Revenge” – Los Angeles Kings vs Edmonton Oilers

As wonderful as the “Miracle on Manchester” was, the script for this series was even more epic as the legendary star of the Edmonton Oilers, Wayne Gretzky had now become a Los Angeles King in 1988.  Nobody saw that coming.  Oilers owner Peter “Puck” Pocklington was losing a lot of money with his other business ventures and Kings’ owner Bruce McNall was constantly bugging him about trading Gretzky to the Kings.  Needing the money badly, Pocklington finally agreed and sold … um I mean traded “the Great One” to his division rivals, kick starting a powerful tidal wave of hockey fever that is still felt in California to this very day.  The thing is Gretzky and the Oilers had just won their 4th Stanley Cup in 5 years and he didn’t want to be traded.  After meeting McNall and liking him and then overhearing a conversation between Pocklington and McNall that had Peter “Puck” smack talking Wayne “behind his back” by calling him an egotistical spoiled brat (or something like that) that Gretzky lost complete respect for the man and agreed to a trade to LA.  What nobody also saw coming was that in Gretzky’s first playoff round with the Kings, he was going to go up against … his former team, the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers and a roster still full of … GRETZKY’S BEST FRIENDS!!! NOW CAN THE HOCKEY GODS WRITE A STORY OR WHAT???!!! LIKE WHO COMES UP WITH THIS STUFF???!!! I MEAN THIS IS BRILLIANT!!! Think about it, if anyone knew about Gretzky’s weaknesses and faults, it would be the team that had just traded him, one that he played his entire career with and full of his buddies right? Well that’s what the Oiler’s thought too and they dominated early by taking a 3-1 lead in the series.  Everything looked great in Oil town but the Oilers then made a fatal mistake that ended up costing them, they thought Gretzky and the Kings were done.  Gretzky in fact, was far from done and with a heavy vengeful chip on his shoulder, he inspired the LA Kings to fight back and tie the series up 3-3.  The Oilers then panicked and ended up getting out played and out smarted by a hungrier LA Kings team in game 7 and the LA Kings eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions for the first time in their history, completing a series that I love to call, “Gretzky’s revenge”.  The comeback wasn’t credited to Gretzky alone but it was his “out of this world” skill and championship playoff experience that helped young players like Luc Robitaille, Bernie Nicholls, Kelly Hrudey and Chris Kontos (wait, who?) band together to make a mark big enough for the hockey world to notice (and help spiritually kick Peter Pocklington right in the teeth). If the “Miracle on Manchester” was the official arrival of the LA Kings to never be taken as a joke anymore, this 1989 series were the first time that the Kings had arrived as legit Stanley Cup contenders.  A start of a 5 year period that was known as the “Golden Age” of Kings’ hockey for the longest time … until 2012 to 2014 happened of course.

My next article will be part 2 of my top 10 countdown of the greatest Los Angeles Kings’ playoff series of all time! Which series will be next at number 4? Which series will be number 1?? WHY DOES JEFF PLAY WITH OUR EMOTIONS AND MAKE THESE ARTICLES INTO TWO PARTERS???!!! FIND OUT ALL THIS AND MORE NEXT WEEK!!!

STAY TUNED!!!

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