McNall Chronology

* APRIL 17, 1950: Bruce Patrick McNall born in Venice, Calif.

* 1974: Outbid Valery Giscard d’Estaing and Aristotle Onassis for the Athenian Decadrachma (400 B.C.), paying a then-world record $420,000 for a single coin.

* SEPT. 10, 1986: Reached an agreement with Los Angeles King owner Jerry Buss to buy 25% of the team for $4 million. Added 24% in the summer of 1987, bringing McNall’s interest to 49%. In January 1988, he agreed to buy the remaining 51% of the Kings from Buss for $20 million.

* AUG. 9, 1988: Engineered blockbuster trade that brought Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles from the Edmonton Oilers.

* MAY 29, 1989: Named the NHL’s executive of the year by The Sporting News.

* APRIL 20, 1991: Signed Raghib (Rocket) Ismail to an $18.2-million, four-year deal, sidestepping the Canadian Football League’s salary cap by making it a personal-services contract.

* JUNE 22, 1992: Elected chairman of the NHL’s Board of Governors, replacing Chicago owner Bill Wirtz.

* DEC. 10, 1992: Enhanced league visibility by bringing in expansion franchises of the Walt Disney Co., to Anaheim, and Blockbuster, to Miami.

* MAY 29, 1993: Watched Kings defeat Toronto, 4-3, in series to reach their first Stanley Cup final in franchise history. Montreal then defeated Kings, 4-1, in series.

* APRIL 29, 1994: News of federal grand jury investigation into McNall’s banking practices threatens to halt sale of Kings.

* MAY 17, 1994: Completed sale of 72% of the Kings to telecommunications executives Jeffrey Sudikoff and Joseph Cohen, despite an attempt by three banks to stop the transaction.

* DEC. 14, 1994: Entered a guilty plea in federal court to two counts of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.

* JAN. 9, 1997: Sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $5 million in restitution by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez.