Pull the trigger!

In light of today’s big moves by Toronto, I wanted to talk about pulling the trigger in sports. It is a phrase that is used anytime someone, usually a GM, makes a trade or a move that somehow is either too radical or not popular in the eye of the fans. In the past fans of various sports have witness these moments, and either have fainted from shock, or rejoiced in their team winning the sweepstakes. Whichever side your one, it is a moment that required someone at the top to pull the trigger and make it happen. It’s never an easy thing to do, but when done right, the rewards are endless. So I want to look back at the top 5 trades that required a steady hand and quick trigger finger in sports, and weren’t necessarily popular.

5. Red Sox trade Babe Ruth to the Yankees for cash- it’s not a hockey trade, but one that took a lot of gonads to pull off. Apparently the Red Sox owner was big into theater, and was willing to depart with the Great Bambino to fund his love of the arts. Red Sox fans would forever blame that move on the Sox bad luck in the post season, and World Series dry spell for 80 plus years to come!

4. The Curse of St. Patrick- Patrick Roy to Colorado along with Montreal captain Mike Keane in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko. Similar to the Red Sox trade of the “Great Bambino,” Montreal fans have seen this move as the final nail in their championship coffin. Roy went to Colorado and into the record books by winning another Cup with the Avs.

3. Chris Pronger to the Anaheim Ducks for Lupul- I felt bad for Edmonton because this was a move that clearly had more to do with events unraveling off the ice than on. Pronger demanded a trade, and I feel the worst thing that can happen to a GM is to have an unhappy player. In this case, Anaheim was the big winner and Edmonton fans had to look on as they watched Pronger raise a cup in Anaheim the following year.

2. The Florida Panthers trade Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a 6th round (Sergei Shirokov) for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld- As history now shows us, dealing Luongo was bad, but good for someone else. Once again, being a GM is not easy and takes having a crystal ball sometimes. When it’s a great deal you’re a genius, when it’s not you’re a disgrace!

1. KINGS RANSOM: WAYNE GRETZKY- still considered as the trade heard around the world, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers made history when “The Great One” was traded to the KINGS in move that rocked the foundations of hockey in Oiler town. The bad news was that Oiler owner Peter Pocklington became public enemy number 1 in Edmonton for many years after the move. The good news is that west coast hockey grew in popularity and one can argue that because of the move teams like the Ducks, and the Coyotes were given life.