Former Oilers Owner PETER POCKLINGTON "once presided over one of the greatest dynasties in sport," but it has been 20 years since he "sold Edmonton’s NHL team and fell from grace as one of Canada’s most infamous businessmen," according to a profile by Marty Klinkenberg of the GLOBE & MAIL. Pocklington "won five Stanley Cups as the club’s owner, but as an entrepreneur left a trail of debt and legal travails in his wake." A "maverick to some, to others he is the devil in disguise not just for his hockey dealings." It "took nearly 30 years for fans to forgive him for trading WAYNE GRETZKY" to the Kings. Both "revered and reviled," Pocklington is "guarded about privacy." He now lives in a "gated community in the California desert." At his previous home at the nearby Vintage Club, neighbors included Microsoft Founder BILL GATES, Koch Industries co-Owner CHARLES KOCH and AEG Chair PHIL ANSCHUTZ. Pocklington said of his time with the Oilers, “I really miss the 21 or 22 years I had with involvement with the team. ... Salaries went through the roof. I couldn’t afford to do it.” Pocklington has "placed most of his hockey mementoes, including his five Stanley Cup rings, in a trust for his five children and 13 grandkids." But it is the memories he "holds close to his heart." He said, "I hope someday after I am dead and gone that maybe I’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame for putting something on the board.” Pocklington said of the current Oilers, “They have a diamond in CONNOR MCDAVID, and have to get him polished. I heard that Wayne says Connor will be better than him, but he is full of crap. Connor is great, but there is nobody like Wayne" (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/18).
