NHL legend Wayne Gretzky admits being “genuinely nervous” on return against Oilers following SHOCKING trade to LA Kings in 1988

Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 after spending nine years at Edmonton Oilers and winning four Stanley Cups.

NHL legend Wayne Gretzky admits being “genuinely nervous” on return against Oilers following SHOCKING trade to LA Kings in 1988

Wayne Gretzky (Image via Imago)

The NHL world was left in shock in 1988 when the Edmonton Oilers traded away their star player Wayne Gretzky. The Hall of Famer has now admitted that he was left “genuinely nervous” about returning to the Oilers for the first time since his move.

Gretzky joined the Oilers in 1979. In his first season with the team, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the Most Valuable Player. This was his first of eight successive award wins. During this time, he also led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup wins in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988.

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After the 1988 season, he was shockingly traded to the LA Kings, bringing an end to his nine-year tenure with the team. During the NHL on TNT show on Wednesday, “The Great One” revealed he was genuinely nervous to return to the Oilers and facing his old squad.

I couldn’t sleep the night before. I didn’t sleep the day of and that was, I normally, you know, you get excited about big games, right? But I never really got overly nervous. I was genuinely nervous for that one game. It was not just the players that I was playing against, but the fans, like I said, in Edmonton, it’s different than a lot of other cities.

Wayne Gretzky said

Gretzky would end up facing his former team in the 1988-89 playoffs. During this, he would help the Kings to overturn a 3-1 deficit and win the series 4-3 while eliminating the Oilers in the process. The Kings would then end up getting swept by the Calgary Flames who went on to lift the cup.

Wayne Gretzky recalls Alex Ovechkin’s strange request

In recent times, Wayne Gretzky has seen his name trend alongside Alex Ovechkin. As the Russian forward continues scoring goals from left, right, and center, he keeps on inching closer to Gretzky’s goal-scoring record. The Canadian international would recall one of Ovechkin’s strange requests on Wednesday.

Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin
Wayne Gretzky (L) and Alex Ovechkin (R) [Image via Imago]

On Wednesday night, Ovechkin recorded his 861th goal in Washington Capitals 3-2 win against Nashville Predators. With him now 34 goals away from creating a new goal-scoring record, Gretzky revealed Ovechkin once requested him for his game-used stick.

He asked me one time for a game-used stick and I said, “I will get your game-used stick but you gotta win the Stanley Cup. He won the Stanley Cup and the next day said can I get that stick?

Wayne Gretzky said on NHL on TNT

With the Capitals’ triumph in 2018, Ovechkin fulfilled his side of the bargain. Gretzky did end up giving him a game-used stick which left the Capitals captain feeling ‘happy as a little kid on Christmas‘.

This season, Ovechkin seems to have found his form again. His goal against the Predators saw him score in his fifth successive game. His strike in this game proved to be the winner and improved the Capitals record to 9-3-0 for the season.