THE RISE AND FALL OF BRUCE MCNALL

On Aug. 9, 1988, the hockey world changed forever. The Edmonton Oilers traded the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, along with Marty McSorley andMike Krushelnyski, to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million in cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picksin 1989, 1991 and 1993. Behind all of this madness was young 38-year-old Hollywood movie producer and Kings owner Bruce McNall.

Growing up in Arcadia, California, McNall had interest in collecting ancient coins and artifacts. He claimed to be a child prodigy, startingcollege at 16 and attending Oxford. He was able to turn his childhood hobby and expertise into his first fortune. McNall had a gift of convincingwealthy people to buy ancient coins.

The McNall Rise
McNall now had a fortune that he made in the ancient coin collecting business. He soon ventured into horse racing and then into the movie business.As a producer, McNall was responsible for producing movies like War Games and the cult classic Weekend at Bernie's in 1989. Now, with his wealth andcelebrity status rising, McNall had his sights set on owning a sports franchise.

The young, charismatic McNall was now hanging around the Great Western Forum, soon becoming a celebrity in Los Angeles. During this time the Kingswere owned by the late Dr. Jerry Buss. In 1979, Buss purchased the Kings, the Lakers and the Forum from Toronto radio mogul Jack Kent Cooke. Hockey,at the time, was an extremely tough sell in Southern California. Buss had no interest in hockey either. Regardless, McNall wanted a piece of theaction. In 1986, he bought 25% stake in the franchise. The next year, McNall bought 24% more of the Kings, making him the largest shareholder of theteam. Then, in 1988, he became the owner outright.

Everything soon started to take off for McNall. He now was living his dream to own a sports franchise in his hometown. Through the peak of hiswealth, he now owned a rare copy of a Honus Wagner baseball card. He also was part owner of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football Leaguewith his friend, the late great comedian John Candy. Bruce McNall was on top of the world. With his wealth and fame aside, he is remembered more forbeing the owner that lured the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, out of Canada, and is remembered for making hockey cool in Southern California.

The Fall of Bruce McNall With this impressive resume, one would think Bruce McNall would end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.Unfortunately, Bruce got into some trouble with the law. He defaulted on a $90 million loan and Bank of America threatened to force the Kings intobankruptcy if the team was not sold. The team had some tough years after that, and Gretzky was eventually traded to the St. Louis Blues.

McNall's $200 million empire that he built through bank fraud crumbled. His days of driving fast cars and flying around in private jets were over.The glitz and glamour of the Hollywood lifestyle were long gone. In 1994, McNall pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and single counts ofconspiracy and wire fraud. McNall spent 70 months in jail and still owes the banks. On top of this, McNall admitted to smuggling ancient artifactsinto the United States. His claim that he attended Oxford was not true either. McNall was released from prison in 2001.

McNall's Impact on Hockey
Even with Bruce McNall's legal issues, it is impossible to ignore the impact that he had on the NHL and the game of hockey. Before he became an NHLowner, the only team in the United States that was west of St. Louis were the Kings. Now, the league has teams in cities that were once considerednon-hockey markets. Talented young players are coming from Texas, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, and California. McNall's influence on the game madehockey no longer a regional sport in the United States.

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