By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page
No. 32: March 10, 1980 – The Sabres trade Jerry Korab to Los Angeles for a first-round draft choice in 1982 (Phil Housley).
The Los Angeles Kings were more or less flailing in the water early in 1980. They essentially had been around the .500 mark for the past five years, and they had virtually no record of postseason success that would help them sell tickets in Los Angeles. But they did have Marcel Dionne at the peak of his powers, and they knew they needed to surround him with good players immediately in order to take advantage of his talents.
Therefore, general manager George Maguire offered to give up a first-round pick down the road for Jerry Korab, a veteran defenseman for the Sabres. Maguire needed to win immediately, and the 31-year-old Korab might help.
The plan worked for a season, as the Kings had 99 points in the 1980-81 regular season. But Los Angeles lost in the first round of the playoffs again, and the Kings didn’t get out of the second round of the playoffs until 1993. As for that draft choice, Los Angeles would have had the sixth pick in 1982, but it belonged to Buffalo. The Sabres took Phil Housley, who spent eight productive seasons in Buffalo and wound up in the Hall of Fame.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
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