Peter Pocklington

Peter H. Pocklington (b. November 18, 1943, in London, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian entrepreneur who has dabbled in politics. He made his initial fortune as the owner of one of the largest auto dealerships in Canada, and later took over a meat packing company involved in a high-profile labour strike.

Pocklington was owner of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. During their final year in the World Hockey Association, he bought Wayne Gretzky from the Indianapolis Racers and later signed him to a 21-year contract. After the team moved to the National Hockey League, the team enjoyed tremendous success, winning 5 Stanley Cups in a 7 year span. Pocklington also owned several other baseball and soccer teams in Edmonton.

After his sports and meat packing difficulties, Pocklingon proceeded to involve himself in various other ventures, including Golf Gear and Naturade.

High-Profile Controversies

Gainers Strike

After he took over Gainers Foods in Edmonton, Pocklington moved to bust the trade union and reduce the wages of his employees. During a 1986 strike, picketing workers attacked police who were attempting to protect buses carrying replacement workers to the Edmonton plant. Although the strike was eventually settled after six months and for a deal nearly identical to what Pocklington offered before the strike began, Gainers never recovered and was eventually placed in receivership.

tanley Cup

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 "X"s 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).).Fact|date=June 2008 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. Fact|date=June 2008

Gretzky Trade

On August 9, 1988, Pocklington shocked hockey fans by trading Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993. One lawmaker demanded the government block the trade, another man burned Pocklington in effigy, and Gretzky's bride, actress Janet Jones, was branded hockey's Yoko Ono.

There is debate as to whether Gretzky "jumped" or was "pushed." A book by former Kings owner Bruce McNall quotes Pocklington as saying Gretzky had become impossible to deal with since he began dating Jones, who let it be known that she was not going to live in Edmonton after they got married. Pocklington claims he has had only nice things to say about the couple, yet admitted the trade was a business decision that he would not hesitate to make again.

Other sports

He is also well known for his involvement in other sports. He was long time owner of a baseball team — the Pacific Coast League's Edmonton Trappers. He also owned soccer teams, such as the Edmonton Drillers in the North American Soccer League, Edmonton Brickmen of the Canadian Soccer League, and a later reincarnation of the Drillers in the National Professional Soccer League II.

Politics

Pocklington ran as a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention finishing sixth. His policies were about strict adherence to the principles of free enterprise, with the main proposal being the replacement of progressive income tax with a flat tax. Pocklington fell far below his predictions of delegates, the only advisor close to predicting his number had jokingly guessed "99", a reference to the jersey number of Oilers' star Wayne Gretzky. He supported Brian Mulroney after the first ballot.

U.S. Citizenship Aspiration

He has been a resident of the United States since 1998. It was reported in November 2007 that Pocklington was seeking U.S. citizenship. On his website, Pocklington wrote he loves the U.S. because "they admire people who get out of bed early and make it happen."

External links

* [http://peterpocklington.com/ Official Site]