Armchair Pools Blog

Not only is Pocklington the dirtiest Oiler to have his name on the Stanley Cup, he's also the dirtiest Oiler to ever try and get his father's name on the Stanley Cup.

(Wikipedia) After the Edmonton Oilers won their first Stanley Cup in 1983–84, Peter Pocklington included his father, Basil Pocklington, on the list of people and players who were to have their names engraved on the trophy. The NHL did not check the validity of the names on the list, and the Cup was engraved as usual. After the mistake was discovered, NHL executives, via the Hockey Hall of Fame, had the engraver strike out the name of the senior Pocklington by engraving a series of Xs over his name. Of the two dozen engraving errors that appear on the Stanley Cup all but one are spelling errors. Basil Pocklington is the only name that is covered. When the junior Pocklington was confronted with the issue, he protested that it was the engraver's fault, not his, that the engraver had mixed up the people who were actually technical members of the team (Basil was not one of them) with a list of individuals who were to receive miniature replica Cups (Basil was one of them). After this error, the NHL and Hockey Hall of Fame adopted policies to confirm the roster and the relation of the people on the engraving list to the championship team.

You don't have to be an Oiler's fan to appreciate the cheapness of that move.

It could have been worse. At least he didn't have the opportunity to sell the Cup like he did with his Championship Rings rings. In August 2001, Pocklington sold all 5 of his Stanley Cup Championship rings in a Leland's Auction. Then, because he is a smart business man, he auctoned them off again in 2008 through Classic Auction House.

huh?

Well, apparantly the ones in August, 2001 were really duplicates that he had made for his father. The one's in 2008 were the real ones.

(frozenpondauction.com) Pocklington, the multi-millionaire former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, claims that the rings sold in 2001 were in fact his deceased father’s. He had made duplicates of his rings and had given them to his dad. Pocklington claimed in the ‘Letters of Authenticity’ that accompanied the rings that they were his – meaning he owned them. “They were mine because my dad gave them back to me before he died,” he said.

While these actions are deceitful and dishonest, they are nothing compared to the treacherous act Pocklington commited against the city of Edmonton on August 9, 1988. On that day, Pocklington sold superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings for 15 million dollars, Martin Gelinas and some draft picks. Apparantly, Pocklington had some bad debts that needed to be repayed.




Pocklington argued that the trade it was Gretzky's decision and that Gretzkey's wife, actress Janet Jones, was influential in convincing Wayne to leave Edmonton.

Yeah right. And I have some Stanley Cup Championship rings for sale.