Grantland: How you'd fix the NHL

Last week I told you how I'd fix the NHL. This week, it's your turn.

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Did you know? The Wayne Gretzky trade

Gretzky never saw his wallet again.

Today marks 25 years since the most famous trade in NHL history. On August 9, 1988, the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the LA Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, three first-round picks and cash.

The deal became known simply as "The Trade", and its effects are still being felt to this day. The day still resonates with hockey fans so strongly that even now, a quarter of a century later, the anniversary is getting extensive media coverage.

But how well do you really know The Trade? Here are some lesser known facts and figures from the most famous transaction in hockey history:

• Before the trade, every NHL trade deadline broadcast would begin with the host saying "You know what they say, folks, if Wayne Gretzky can be traded then anyone can! But of course Wayne Gretzky cannot, in fact, be traded, so…" followed by an eight-hour test pattern.
  
  
• The main piece coming back to Edmonton in the trade never did produce the sort of offensive numbers that fans had been hoping for, although in fairness it's hard to score goals when you are a giant bag full of money.
  
  
• Everyone who has ever asked you if you remember where you were the day Gretzky was traded didn't remotely care about your answer, and was just waiting for you to stop talking so they could tell you their own boring story.

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Grantland: How I'd fix the NHL

Grantland asked me how I'd fix the NHL, so I gave them a list of everything from the relatively easy (kill the loser point, drop the puck-over-glass penalty, crack down on diving) to the contentious (bigger nets, eliminate goons, a new way to determine draft order) and plenty more.

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Grantland: 17 stars who played a forgettable final season for a new team

In one of those under-the-radar moves that can sometimes sneak by during the dog days of the hockey offseason, Scott Gomez signed with the Florida Panthers last week. Given his diminishing production during the last few years, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Florida wound up being the last stop of Gomez’s career.

Gomez won’t be the only veteran suiting up for a new franchise in what could be his final season; Daniel Alfredsson and Jaromir Jagr will also be joining new teams next year. And while it’s always jarring to watch a veteran finishing his career in an unfamiliar uniform, it’s become an increasingly common sight over the years.

In fact, many of the biggest stars of the past few decades actually finished their careers by playing one season (or less) for a new team. A few times, it turned out well. Other times, not so much. And in some cases, hockey fans might not even remember where a superstar wound up playing his last few games

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Here are 17 players who finished an excellent NHL career with a brief and often forgettable change of scenery.

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Grantland: Goodbye, Stevie Sullivan. We'll always have that bleeding Avalanche fan

The NHL appears to be on the verge of saying good-bye to one of its all-time great underdog stories. After nearly two decades and more than 1,000 games played, Steve Sullivan announced this week that he was “99.9 percent” sure his career was over.

Your memories of the 39-year-old Sullivan’s NHL run will largely depend on which team you cheer for. In New Jersey, he was the long-shot ninth-round pick who both began and ended his career as a Devil. In Toronto, he was a key piece in the Doug Gilmour trade who became a casualty of the Leafs’ typical impatience. In Chicago, he was the unexpected sniper who once led the league in short-handed goals. In Nashville, he was a veteran presence who helped the team finally emerge as a contender. And in Pittsburgh and Phoenix, he was a free-agency gamble coming in on short-term deals at the end of his career.

Sullivan was never an All-Star, but he scored 20 goals in eight consecutive seasons and hit the 60-point mark seven times. His comeback from a career-threatening back injury earned him the 2009 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. And at 5-foot-9 and barely 160 pounds, he was easy to cheer for — earlier this year, we named him one of the 12 NHL players who nobody hates.

But all of that pales in comparison to what may stand as the most memorable moment of Sullivan’s career: The night he struck a blow for karma by laughing in the bleeding face of a Colorado Avalanche fan...

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