From Joe Pelletier's Greatest Hockey Legends Ed Mio profile:
After a year in the minors Mio made his major league debut in 1977-78 when he joined the Indianapolis Racers for his first year in the World Hockey Association.
During the 1978-79 campaign is when Mio first met Gretzky. They were teammates on the Racers for a brief period of time before one of the most historic trades in hockey history took place in November of that season as Mio and Peter Driscoll were dealt along with Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers for cash.
Mio loves to tell the story of the day they were traded.
Eight games into the season, financially troubled Racers owner Nelson Skalbania decided to fold the team. However since Gretzky was on a personal services contract, he first had to trade the teenage phenom.
Skalbania had two deals going, one with the Winnipeg Jets and one with the Edmonton Oilers. Both deals also involved Mio and Peter Driscoll. things were moving so quickly that all three were put on a private jet and headed to western Canada, though they didn't know where the plane was going to land.
Needless to say the pilots were as confused as the passengers. They wanted to know who was paying for the flight.
"Who's paying for this flight?" they asked.
They looked at one another. Gretzky had lots of money in the bank, but was too young to have a credit card. The other two were broke.
So Eddie Mio reached into his pocket, pulled out his VISA card with the $300 limit, and signed for a $10,000 trip on a Learjet.
Somewhere in midair, the pilot got the word: They were Oilers. They landed in Edmonton. Mio of course was more concerned about his credit card
"Hey," he demanded. "Who's gonna cover this credit card?"
Mio finished the season in the WHA with Edmonton and remained an Oiler in 1979-80 when the club joined the NHL.
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