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Wayne Gretzky: “I Think Anze Kopitar, Right Now, Is The Third-Best Player In The NHL”

June 6, 2014 by 2 Comments

LA Kings center Anze Kopitar
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Prior to Game 1 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final on June 4, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, told CBC’s Ron MacLean that Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar “…is the third-best player in the National Hockey League.”

“I think Anze Kopitar, right now, is the third-best player in the National Hockey League, only behind [Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney] Crosby and [Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan] Toews, and he’s getting better every game,” said Gretzky, who played for the Kings from 1988-1995.

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Ryan Smyth Gets His Wish: Los Angeles Kings And Edmonton Oilers Finally Agree On A Deal

June 27, 2011 by 6 Comments

SMYTH FINALLY RETURNS HOME: Veteran left wing Ryan Smyth is finally back home after the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers were finally able to agree on a trade. Story includes details on the trade, along with commentary on the reaction to the deai. Did Smyth handle things the right way, or does he deserve to be criticized, or worse?

Veteran left wing Ryan Smyth (right), shown here parked in his usual spot in front
of the net, was finally traded to the Edmonton Oilers on June 26.
Photo: David Sheehan

LOS ANGELES — After more than 24 hours of going back and forth between having a deal in place, and then not having one, again and again, veteran left wing Ryan Smyth, is, officially and finally, back with the Edmonton Oilers.

On June 26, the Kings sent the 35-year-old native of Banff, Alberta back to where he began his National Hockey League career in 1995-96, playing eleven seasons in an Oilers jersey. Read more of this post

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20 Years Since Wayne Gretzky Was Traded to Los Angeles, There Is One Little, Nagging Thing

August 9, 2008 by 39 Comments

COMMENTARY: The 20th anniversary of the trade that brought The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, to Los Angeles is being commemorated by the National Hockey League and Gretzky is being universally praised, and deservedly so. But there is one thing…

LOS ANGELES — For the last few weeks, the National Hockey League has gone on a serious media blitz.

To be sure, the league shifted their public relations staff and writers for their official web site into overdrive in pumping out daily e-mails to members of the media as well as feature stories for their web site, all to cover what might be the most significant event in NHL history over the last twenty years…

…August 9, 1988, the date of biggest trade in sports history, when the Edmonton Oilers traded The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, to the Los Angeles Kings Read more of this post

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