Woe, Canada

A self-made millionaire whose various enterprises include Numismatic Fine Arts, Inc., an ancient-coins business; Gladden Entertainment Corp., a motion picture company; and Sum-ma Stable. Inc., which races and breeds thoroughbreds, McNall reached Gretzky by phone at Jones's Sherman Oaks, Calif., apartment, six days into their honeymoon.

"You're kidding," said Gretzky when McNall explained that Pocklington had given him the O.K. to call.

Like most great athletes, Gretzky has tremendous pride which, when wounded, is slow to heal. It surprised and hurt him that Pocklington would not personally inform him that he was on the market. The hurt swiftly turned to anger. After his first conversation with McNall, Gretzky called his father, Walter, in Brantford, Ont. "My dad tried to get me to calm down," Gretzky says, "but I told him I'd already made up my mind I was never going to wear an Oilers' uniform again."

Any doubts about the move were dispelled after a phone call to Paul Coffey, his former Oiler teammate, who was traded last year to the Pittsburgh Penguins. "I asked Paul, 'Would you leave the Oilers if you had a chance to do it all over again?' It put him in a difficult position, since we won the Cup without him, and his team missed the playoffs. He said, 'Gretz, you'll miss the players, the friendships and the fans, but you won't even look back. It's just nice to go somewhere and be appreciated.' "

Gretzky and his wife moved into Canadian actor Alan Thicke's L.A. house while awaiting word on the progress of negotiations. Pocklington and Oiler coach-general manager Glen Sather had gone fishing at the end of July in the Northwest Territories with Sinden. When they got back, Carson, who had not been mentioned in McNall's and Pocklington's initial discussions, was the make-or-break player in the deal. "Sather obviously got involved during that fishing trip," says Gretzky. "That's why he's the best G.M. in the business."

When the word came, it came suddenly. In a late-night call that lasted into the wee hours of Tuesday, Aug. 9, the two owners finally came to terms. Some specifics of the trade had already leaked, so McNall and Pocklington decided on a press conference that afternoon. McNall woke Gretzky with a phone call and told him they were flying to Edmonton in his private plane that morning. "I can't," was Gretzky's initial reaction. "I'm not ready for this."

But he was. A few minutes before they were due at the press conference in Edmonton's Molson House, Pocklington, perhaps sensing for the first time the enormity of the transaction, gave Gretzky the chance to call off the trade. Gretzky declined. Then he had a brief tearful meeting with Sather. "It was out of Slats's hands," Gretzky says. "He didn't want to make the deal. He told me that."

When Pocklington's newly-hired personal publicist, Jeff Goodman, suggested that Pocklington and Gretzky ride over to the press conference together, buddy-buddy fashion. Gretzky refused. He also took offense that Goodman had written a statement for him to read. Speaking without a prepared text, Gretzky told the hushed assemblage of 200 reporters that he had requested the move to L.A. "for the benefit of Wayne Gretzky, my new wife and our expected child in the New Year. I feel I'm still young enough and capable enough to help a new franchise win the Stanley Cup." As he began to express his thanks to the people of Edmonton, he struggled and choked back the tears. "It's disappointing having to leave Edmonton...like I said, there comes a time when...." Then he stopped, unable to go on.

McNall and Gretzky flew back to L.A. that evening for a more upbeat news conference at the Sheraton Plaza La Reina, where Gretzky modeled the Kings' new silver, white and black uniform adorned by the number 99. The Kings, who have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, were suddenly the talk of the town. All 8,500 loge seats in the Forum sold out for the season within three days of the Gretzky announcment. Prime Ticket, the cable outfit that televises Kings games, announced it would carry 60 this season, 33 more than in 1987-88.

Back in Edmonton, Pocklington dug himself an even deeper hole by telling The Edmonton Journal on Wednesday that Gretzky "has an ego the size of Manhattan.... He's a great actor. I thought he pulled it off beautifully when he showed how upset he was."