It wasn't a typical slow news cycle in sports. Fans were still buzzing about the first game under the lights at Wrigley Field on Aug. 8. Jose Canseco was approaching the 40-homer, 40-stolen base mark. "Flo-Jo" and "Big Ben" and Greg Louganis were on the minds of the world because of their quest for gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Joe Montana was still holding off Steve Young as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, and I was chasing the more than just tantalizing return of Guy Lafleur to hockey story.
It was actually a day when some said the hockey world stood still.
I still can remember hearing the phone ring and how funny it sounded on that stifling St. Louis morning of Aug. 9, 1988. The sound was a little tinny. A little eerie -- almost surreal.
Two decades later, Gretzky trade still affects hockey (NHL.com) 
