re: Was the Gretzky trade from Edmonton to LA the biggest sports trade ever?

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In 1990-91, Gretzky Fever was in its third season. There were 4,830 players registered with USA Hockey in the entire state of California. More ice rinks began popping up to meet the growing demand and by 1992-93, that number nearly doubled to 9,316. After another two years, the numbers grew by 67 percent to 15,537 in 1995-96.

In 1990-91, USA Hockey had 195,125 registered hockey players across America. By 1992-93, that number jumped to 262,873. That was a 34 percent spike, a massive number by more recent standards. So hockey was growing nationally, but not nearly at the rate experienced in California.

Every year, hockey kept getting bigger and bigger in California and by 1995-96, hockey registration numbers ballooned to 15,537, a 221.6 percent increase from just six seasons prior. That’s an increase of almost 11,000 players in six years, and that doesn’t even include the two seasons immediately after the trade.

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