Bryan Trottier Tells Islanders Side Of Wayne Gretzky's Legendary Stanley Cup Story
There's a pretty well-known legend about the 1983 Stanley Cup Final. The New York Islanders swept the up-and-coming Edmonton Oilers for their fourth straight title and Wayne Gretzky told this story about leaving the Coliseum after the final game...
"We walked by their locker room in the corridor and saw after they won they were too beat up to really enjoy it and savor the victory at that moment," said Gretzky. "We were able to walk out of their pretty much scot free. We had so much respect for the Islanders players and the Islanders teams that we learned immediately you have to take it to another level in order to win a Stanley Cup. And that’s what we did. We learned from it and often credit for the Islanders players and Islanders teams for teaching us exactly what it’s all about and how hard it is to win."
The loss in 1983 was a humbling experience for the up-start Oilers, who were young and confident. However, Gretzky credits that loss with teaching the Oilers what it takes to win. And in fact, the Oilers would ultimately win four of the next five Stanley Cups and five of the next seven.
But it turns out there was a little more to the story.
The Islanders had so much respect for their opponents, they didn't want to appear disrespectful as the Oilers departed the rink for the final time that season. It was awesome to hear Trottier's perspective on such a legendary story in NHL history, when one team was in the process of passing the dynasty baton along to another.
The Hockey Hall of Famer told a bunch of stories about his legendary career in which he won six Stanley Cups as a player during two epic eras with two different franchises.
Our pal Matt Murley also came by for his third go 'round with the Chiclets boys. We talked a bunch of gambling stuff and he reminisced a bit with Biz and Whit about their time together years ago.
This is another fun ep and you can catch the entire video version of it here.
