Big money. Big hair. Big music. Big trades.

Yes, indeed, things were big in the 1980s. In the NHL, there plenty of new places and players as four teams from the folding World Hockey Association -- Edmonton, Quebec, Winnipeg and Hartford -- came aboard. Players like Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Mark Messier, Clark Gillies, Grant Fuhr and Billy Smith all helped define the decade as the Oilers and Islanders built dynasties.

But as much as some things change, they remain the same. Trades were still part and parcel of NHL life, but in keeping with the tenor of the times, they just seemed bigger.

Presented for your approval – and/or outrage -- are six trades that shook the decade.

1. Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles -- This one hit like a bolt out of the blue. There was a lot of scurrying around in Edmonton and Los Angeles on Aug. 9, 1988 and for good reason. Wayne Gretzky, fresh off a Stanley Cup championship and a fairy-tale wedding, was adding another huge chapter to his life in rapid fashion.

The cold, hard facts read as follows in the transaction section of newspapers across North America -- Edmonton Oilers trade centers Wayne Gretzky and Mike Krushelnyski and defenseman Marty McSorley to the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, first-round draft picks in 1989, 1991 and 1993, and $15 million.

The cash was king. Former Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was experiencing hard times financially in his other businesses and the cash being offered by new Kings owner Bruce McNall solved more problems than the one created by dealing the best player in the history of the sport. Oilers GM Glen Sather stepped in and turned it into a trade so the team would recoup some assets. But the bottom line was an era had ended.

The reaction to the trade was swift and to the point. While Los Angeles celebrated in Hollywood style, Edmonton and Canada were devastated to see No. 99 headed to the United States.

"For the benefit of Wayne Gretzky, my new wife and our expected child in the new year, I thought it was beneficial to all involved if they let me play with the Kings," Gretzky said at a tearful farewell in Edmonton. "It's disappointing having to leave Edmonton, but there comes a time when ..."

As we now know, Gretzky eased the public backlash at Pocklington by saying the trade was his idea.

"I don't want to try and philosophize on what happened," Sather said at the time. "We tried to do what was good for Wayne, the Oilers and the NHL. We all would like to be proud of what we do for a living ... I know we'll adjust."

Indeed, the shock did wear off. The Oilers successfully integrated in new players like Adam Graves, Joe Murphy and Gelinas and remained atop the heap in the NHL.

And while Gretzky's tenure in Los Angeles didn't produce a Stanley Cup, his trade to the States sparked a great interest in the sport that can still be seen today with NHL franchises now calling non-traditional cities like Dallas, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Jose, Nashville and Tampa home.

"I remember that first summer, I spent every day going to hockey clinics and doing interviews trying to sell the game," Gretzky told the Los Angeles Daily News. "It didn't happen overnight, and a lot of people put in a lot of hours. The one thing I worried about was being a $15 million bust."

Hardly a bust. While the Kings didn't win a Stanley Cup with Gretzky, they did reach the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals and Gretzky went on to finish his career as the NHL's all-time leading scorer and to own dozens of League records and trophies.

It's tough to argue that this isn't the biggest trade of the 1980s. Heck you can make a pretty good argument this is the biggest trade in NHL history.

Upon joining the Bruins, Cam Neely redefined the term power forward in Boston carving a swath of destruction as wide as the rink as he scored, checked and fought his way into being a legend.

2. Cam Neely to Boston (1986) -- This is one of those trades that didn't have folks agog early, but let's say it was a big-time finisher for the Boston Bruins. If you need evidence, look into the rafters of the FleetCenter, where Neely's trademark No. 8 now hangs amidst the likes of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Milt Schmidt.

The Vancouver Canucks had drafted Neely in 1983, and his progress wasn't immediate. So when the Bruins proposed a swap of Barry Pederson, then a top-flight center, for Neely and a first-round pick in 1987, the Canucks agreed.

At the time, the trade had little dramatic appeal on either side, certainly nothing in the Gretzky context. But almost as soon as Neely landed in Boston the forces of nature made Neely a legend and Canucks fans rue the day the trade went down.

The Bruins used the first-round pick on defenseman Glen Wesley, who is still plying his trade in the League today. That made it doubly tough for the Canucks, who saw the Bruins get two regulars in the lineup.

To be fair, Pederson scored 60 goals and 137 assists in 233 games with the Canucks. But Neely redefined the term power forward in Boston carving a swath of destruction as wide as the rink as he scored, checked and fought his way into being a legend. In all, Neely appeared in 525 regular-season games for the Bruins before he was forced to retire prematurely because of injury. In those 525 games, Neely scored 344 goals and 246 assists. In Stanley Cup Playoff competition, the fierce Neely netted 55 goals and 32 assists in 86 games.

For his part, Wesley appeared in more than 500 games with the Bruins and another 100 playoff games before being traded to the Hartford Whalers in 1994 for first-round picks in 1995, '96 and '97. The Bruins used those picks on Kyle McLaren, Johnathan Aiken and Sergei Samsonov.

A late season acquisition, Butch Goring scored six goals and five assists in 12 regular-season games and then added seven goals and 12 assists in 21 playoff games as the Islanders won their first of four-straight Stanley Cups.

3. Isles cement a dynasty (1980) -- Denis Potvin. Bryan Trottier. Mike Bossy. Billy Smith. Clark Gillies. Al Arbour. The New York Islanders appeared to have it all. But despite the wealth of talent, the Islanders finished the 1970s with disappointing losses in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Something was needed to get the Isles over the hump and GM Bill Torrey surveyed the scene and cast his eye toward Los Angeles, deciding Butch Goring was the answer to what ailed his team.

In 69 games with the Kings, Goring had 20 goals and 48 assists. Goring was well know around NHL circles at the time thanks to his jitterbug style of play and ancient helmet that he had worn seemingly forever. He was a pretty fair scorer to boot, having notched at least 30 goals per season in the four seasons prior to 1979-80.

So the Islanders sent two regulars, winger Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis, to the Kings to bring back Goring.

Goring proved to be the perfect fit. He scored six goals and five assists in 12 regular-season games and then added seven goals and 12 assists in 21 playoff games as the Islanders won their first of four-straight Stanley Cups. In his second playoff run with the club, Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason's MVP.

The expansion Capitals dealt for Rod Langway, who became the Secretary of Defense the team desperately needed.

4. Langway becomes Secretary of Defense (1982) -- The Washington Capitals were close to becoming laughingstocks. The Caps had rarely ventured beyond expansion-team status in the standing during their first eight seasons in the NHL.

The first big move the team made was to hire David Poile as the general manager and Poile, on the job for less than a couple weeks, made a huge deal with the Montreal Canadiens that immediately turned the team's fortunes around.

In the trade, the Capitals acquired defensemen Rod Langway and Brian Engblom and forwards Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin in exchange for forward Ryan Walter and defenseman Rick Green.

Langway became the Secretary of Defense the Caps desperately needed and Jarvis was an NHL ironman, excellent penalty killer and defensive center. Laughlin was a dependable forward and Engblom was swapped to Los Angeles for veteran Larry Murphy, who added an offensive element to the Caps' backline.

Now, add in a young Scott Stevens and all the pieces were in place to turn the Capitals into a team with which to be reckoned.

5. Penguins grab the final piece (1987) –- Mario Lemieux had all the talent in the world, but he couldn't make the Pittsburgh Penguins into a championship team by himself.

So, the Pens made a good, old-fashioned blockbuster with the Edmonton Oilers to come away with Paul Coffey, one of the most dynamic offensive backliners in NHL history.

Coming to Pittsburgh with Coffey were forwards Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp and the Oilers picked up forwards Craig Simpson and Dave Hannan, plus defensemen Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph.

But Coffey was the vital cog for Pittsburgh. He scored 15 goals and 52 assists in just 46 games that season and went on to be a member of Pittsburgh's 1990-91 championship team.

Brett Hull and the Blues were a perfect fit as he had seasons of 86, 72 and 70 goals during 10 full seasons in St. Louis.

6. Hull steps into the spotlight (1988) -- After being selected 116th overall in the 1984 Entry Draft, there weren't a lot of people banking on Brett Hull following in the footsteps of his Hall of Fame father, "The Golden Jet", Bobby Hull. The younger Hull hadn't been deemed serious enough about making pro hockey a career. But by the 1987-88 season, the pieces were falling into place. Brett had scored 26 goals and 24 assists in 53 games for the Calgary Flames.

But the Flames were building for a Stanley Cup and needed defense, so Hull was sent to the St. Louis Blues, along with forward Steve Bozek, for defenseman Rob Ramage and goalie Rick Wamsley on March 7, 1988.

Bingo! A legend is born. Hull and the Blues were a perfect fit and he had seasons of 86, 72 and 70 goals during 10 full seasons in St. Louis.

Hull signed as a free agent in Dallas and won a Cup there and then signed in Detroit and won another Cup there.

The deal may look terribly lopsided for the Blues, but keep in mind both Ramage and Wamsley went on to play with the Flames' lone Stanley Cup championship team the following season, providing the veteran know-how the club sought.