Back Draft 1979

The day the Edmonton Oilers selected Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson there were other names in play. Names like Duane Sutter and Dale Hunter were in play and the Oilers were locked in, but other NHL teams plucked them before Edmonton could call their names.

Edmonton Journal writers Jim Matheson and Terry Jones tear down the historic draft here. It’s a stunning step into the past and is a terrific read these many years later.

Among the quotes I enjoyed most were Sather’s comments on Messier (“he has unlimited potential”) and Terry Jones comment that the odds of picking a blue chipper were “50-50 at best.”

Pretty cool item.
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Nation Radio goes today at noon on Team 1260 radio. Among the scheduled guests:

• Dustin Nielson, Team 1260 host and fellow draft nut.
• Matt Bugg, Senior Prospects writer for dobber hockey.
• Kirk Luedeke, Writer for New England Hockey Journal, New York Hockey Journal and the man behind the best draft source available on the internet.
• Matt Fenwick, Mr. Battle of Alberta and the closest I’ll ever come to meeting Fibonacci.

I’ll also be talking NHL equivalencies and we’ll spotlight Adam Larsson. Emails, questions for our guests and comments are welcome at nationradio@theteam1260.com and hope you’ll tune in. We also have some surprises up our sleeves.