Jan. 20, 1983 – Western Hockey League player Tom Martin traded for used bus

One of the more bizarre trades in sports history took place. Tom “Bussey” Martin on the Western Hockey League was traded for a used bus.

Martin is a Canadian former ice hockey player. He was a fourth round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, 74th overall, at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played 92 NHL games for the Jets, Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars in a career predominantly spent in the AHL. He won the Calder Cup in 1985 and was a First Team AHL All-Star in 1988. Martin is most famous for having his junior playing rights traded in 1983 by the Seattle Breakers to the Victoria Cougars in exchange for the Cougars’ team bus.

“Well, it was used, but it was a fairly recently used. It was a fairly new bus,” said Martin. “I know it had bunks on it and it was definitely a team oriented bus. In the Western Hockey League they travel a lot and they need a good bus. Maybe it had better wheels than I did.”