The WHA Oilers were tough to follow, you needed to buy The Hockey News all summer and into fall to even have a fighting chance to know the roster. The 1972 team, the Alberta Oilers, had a large percentage of locals, many of whom played for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 1960’s. My favorite player in those early years (aside from Al Hamilton) was a winger named Rusty Patenaude. He was smaller, very skilled, could score goals in bunches. You would have liked him.
You know the Wayne Gretzky story, but do you know how much he helped in his one WHA season? In 1977-78, the Oilers (coached by Glen Sather) finished fifth overall, had a 309-307 goal differential and got punted in the first round.
The following year, with 99, the team finished first overall, had a 340-266 goal differential and went all the way to the finals. It was the very beginning of the golden decade of Edmonton hockey.
THE ATHLETIC!
The Athletic Edmonton features a fabulous cluster of stories (some linked below, some on the site). Great perspective from a ridiculous group of writers and analysts. Proud to be part of The Athletic, we are celebrating our 2-year anniversary this week. To mark the occasion, you can get 40% off subscriptions until Sept. 19 here.
- New Jonathan Willis: Predicting the winners of the Oilers’ top-six and top-nine forward jobs out of camp
- New Daniel Nugent-Bowman: In, out or on the bubble: Breaking down positional battles at Oilers camp
- New Lowetide: Evan Bouchard and the Calder Trophy: The Oilers’ pursuit of the elusive rookie award
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Alex Chiasson prepares to return to scoring form for Edmonton Oilers
- Jonathan Willis: Kyle Brodziak defied the odds, and then the Oilers, to carve out a significant NHL career
- Lowetide: Can Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith stop enough pucks for the Oilers?
- Lowetide: Shutdown success by Darnell Nurse and Adam Larsson is a key for the Oilers in 2019-20.
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Even if he’s unsure about his return, Oilers’ Connor McDavid looks and sounds like his old self
- Lowetide: RE 19-20: How can the Oilers’ bottom six close the gap in goal differential?
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: Kailer Yamamoto and Tyler Benson address respective highs and lows as Oilers rookie camp begins
- Jonathan Willis: Riley Sheahan is a prudent signing by the Oilers in more ways than one
- Jonathan Willis: Oilers’ defensive hopes will rest on the new shutdown pair of Darnell Nurse and Adam Larsson
- Daniel Nugent-Bowman: With Evan Bouchard as the headliner, here are the players to watch at Oilers rookie camp
- Lowetide: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the configuration of the Oilers second line
- Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s 2019-20: Pushing for 50 goals while Dave Tippett loads up the Oilers’ top line
- Lowetide: Estimating reasonable expectations for the 2019-20 Edmonton Oilers: A difficult journey
- Jonathan Willis: How much money will Darnell Nurse make on his next NHL contract?
- Corey Pronman: Oilers No. 9 farm system.
- Lowetide: Oilers coach Dave Tippett might have to take drastic action in order to find a second outscoring line in 2019-20
- Lowetide: Oilers top 20 prospects summer 2019.
PLAYING FAVOURITES
The first player who I cheered for among the new Oilers was young Mark Messier, who was rambunctious and disruptive and fast. He was not an impact offensive player as a rookie, he was tied for No. 154 among forwards in points in 1979-80. He was No. 25 in PIMs (120) and I swear to you he did something in every game to get noticed. He had a different look about him, tall and thin, young but already hardened. Square jaw, always in motion, determined. Filthy. My Dad called guys like him ‘hoods’ and I think the Russians thought he was a hood, for sure.
In 1980-81, my favourite rookie was Jari Kurri. He was a perfect two-way player, great anticipation, and smooth at everything. Kurri skated slumped over a little, made him ready for passing and a quick, accurate shot. My number one memory, the one I’ll think about when drifting some day, is the clincher in 1984: Islanders are heading to the bench, 99 is heading the center ice, and Kurri retrieves the puck and sends a dart to Gretzky. He scored and the franchise won its first Stanley later that night. Everyone remembers the goal, I remember the pass. You should always remember the pass.
Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey joined the party same year, Anderson was fearless. He drove to the net and crashed it, shrapnel everywhere, and scored plenty. If Gretzky was the brains of the operation, and Messier the heart, Kurri the conscience, Anderson was the swagger. Also filthy.
Paul Coffey was the misfit, the beautiful skater with elite offensive ability who the coach could never truly love because defense. At least that’s my take. Coffey was a stunning talent but played in an era where expectations required defenders to bleed and break their nose annually.
Charlie Huddy was also a favourite, he was smart as a whip and made good decisions. He also skated slumped over a little, could carry the puck up and pass it too. Huddy was physical and durable (he took a pounding) and I thought he’d stay forever. I was shocked when they lost him in the 1991 Minnesota expansion draft, Oilers were never the same.
The last time I really questioned Glen Sather came when the Oilers drafted Grant Fuhr in 1981. Andy Moog had just emerged! Well, Fuhr turned out well and after that, for basically two decades, Slats could sell damn near anything to the local fans. By the third Stanley, he was a made man in our town.
Each fall, you’d get a look at the newcomers. Jaroslav Pouzar was a tank, an absolute load, and he was effective. Randy Gregg played hockey like a doctor: Careful, detailed, precise. Marc Habscheid had talent but faced an Everest depth chart.
You should have seen Esa Tikkanen as a young player. He was half bubble of plumb but in a good way. If you watched the games on television, you would just see Tikkanen being held back by a ref, while some poor schmoo was trying to get back onto the ice. Tikkanen would have run him along the boards, tipped him over and deposited him in the nearest bench. Absolute chaos, no one (including the Oilers) was safe. I loved him.
I cheered for Selmar Odelein, he didn’t make it. Injuries ate up his career. He was a quality junior. Wayne Van Dorp had a Dutch name and was a giant, he lasted just a few games.
Kelly Buchberger ran out of step with all the skill, but he was a game rooster and fans loved his energy. ‘Take em wide, Bucky’ they’d scream, and that was his move.
All of that in basically a decade, in the same amount of time it has taken us to observe Taylor Hall, Nuge, Yak, Darnell, Leon, McDavid, JP and the rest as first time visitors to training camp.
Remember it. Enjoy it. These are good times. Someone attending training camp this autumn will catch on and perhaps become your favourite player. I saw Shawn Horcoff shadow a center and tie up his stick as the pass went through the slot and out of danger in a preseason game, fall 2000. He was always a favourite of mine.
There are memories to be gathered that will last you a lifetime. Hockey, the best hockey, is returning. The boys are back in town.
LOWDOWN WITH LOWETIDE
At 10 this morning, we kickstart the weekend on TSN1260. Lots of hockey and football talk, we begin with Steve Lansky from BigMouthSports and a discussion of Bianca Andreescu, Holland/Tippett in Edmonton and the Marner contract. Julien Edlow from Draft Kings will help us tee up the NFL weekend and Matt Iwanyk from TSN1260 will drop in to discuss CFL weekend and the Oilers. 10-1260 text, @Lowetide on twitter. Talk soon!
My thought is that the contract likely isn’t signed yet, however, at the same time, he is on his way to camp and I’m sure he doesn’t step on the ice until his contract is official and the related insurance in place.
5 minutes to go and Skelfeeta are down 4-3.
Broberg and Berglund seem to be playing 3rd pairing minutes with just under 12 minutes – its close though, the top d-men only have just under 14 so it seems the pairs are being rolled.
Broberg is -2 with a shot on net. Berglund is even.
And all they have to do is smile and ask how the playoffs went last year.
Dubas is nothing of not innovative. He’ll figure it out. Remember he studied under Lou, King of Circumvention.
I don’t think they can retain everybody. I think they end up trading Nylander. But they have depth to cover his loss.
Their D will need work next year if they lose Muzzin and Barrie and if those young guys in the AhL don’t pan out.
They have Andersen for 2 years and then after that?
I do think they are betting on the new TV deal to increase the cap
It’s not the Oilers throwing shade though. It’s them throwing the reverse, after years of having shade thrown at them by said opposite parties. It’s sort of saying,
“…and you were saying, from your High Toronto Horse? Welcome.”
I think the Oilers are the last organization that should throw shade at others, beyond the obligatory “Flames/Nucks/Leafs suck.
Strangely, I don’t mind the Habs or Ottawa. Hate Ottawa’s owner though.
They aren’t going to be able to re-sign said pieces starting next offseason though, including said Top 1 Goalie and Top 4 D. They’re already $13 million over the cap. People think they can just retain everyone and everything will be all peachy.
Huh?
Reilly, Muzzin and Barrie are 3 top 4 Dmen who could compete with most other top teams top 3 D.
A number 1 goalie in Anderson
no depth core?
Imagine we could put McDavid, Drai and Nuge at center and we could put on the wings
Marner, Nylander, Kaspenan ( 20 goals) Johnsson ( 22 goals) Hyman ( 21 goals)
and then some bets that may or may not work Mikheyev,( 23 goals in KHL) Moore ( 23 goals in AHL)
All these guys are young and provide deep depth
They needed Marleaus cap space. 1st rounder was too much, but Dubas was desperate and the Canes knew it.
The Clarkson move is to use LTIR ( I still dont understand it)
I doubt Barrie resigns with Toronto.
No GM is going to win every transaction. And on the flip side, a GM like Chia did not lose every transation.
In no way am I a Toronto fan but I do like what Dubas has built and Im jealous. I wish we had him as GM and not the disaster we had.
They also had to lose a 1st round pick in order to lose Marleau.
And brought back Clarkson.
And won’t be able to keep Barrie or Andersen.
Dubas hasn’t been doing as good of a job as you defenders think he has. He has neither foresight nor patience, and caves too easily.
It’s funny that now that the Leafs are Top Heavy, with no depth core and troubled seas on the horizon, they’re into that and think it’ll work.
After years of chiding Edmonton for the same (though not nearly as egregious) “crime”, thinking their depth was something to laud over the hapless Oilers.
And got rid of Zaistev. Not sure what the hell Ottawa was thinking in that trade.
Toronto has a top 9 forward, top 3 D, number 1 goalie group that only a few teams can relate to.
They will contend this year. And if the cap does not increase by much next year and they cant keep both Muzzin and Barrie, they just have to trade Nylander to free up space for a Dman. They will still contend.
So what if they are in cap hell.
Our D for most of the last decade and the bottom 6 have been scorched earth hell
YKOil,
They’ll also lose Andersen.
Next year TO has $66.3m against a Cap of (probably) $83.5m
For that $66.3m they have 8 of their top-9 forwards, 3 of the 4th line types, 1 1st-pair d-man and their #1 goalie. That includes Hyman. That is 13 of 23.
They then have $17.2m to sign 2 more forwards, a back-up goalie and, at least, 6 defensemen. Lets say they follow the same format as this year and sign 2 forwards, the goalie and 3 of the 6 d-men to contracts averaging $750k. That is $4.5m and brings them to 19 of 23.
They have $12.7m left to fill out the last 3 d-men spots. This does not include any ‘LTIR’ contracts they decide to buy. I expect that this year and next they will run with 22 contracts instead of 23.
It is tight, no denying it, especially if the Cap is any less than the $83.5m, but really, I think they are just waiting for Seattle expansion and the new TV contract to hit.
They will lose Hyman (and a draft pick to Seattle), one of Kapanen Johnsson or Kerfoot and one of Ceci, Barrie or Muzzin (read: Ceci) and have 2 to 3 lean years but they will be fine.
Decent, if expensive, work by Dubas. Injury and goalie voodoo could be the big betrayer and their young d-men HAVE to deliver, but we’ll see.
(Note: Travis Dermott could be a more expensive piece that they expect and I think they’ll give Ceci’s money to Barrie but as an UFA it will be interesting to see what Barrie does.)
It appears to be LTIR that is keeping them compliant at the moment with $13.7M on LTIR and being $13.2M over cap. As you said, I’m not sure how they’ll remain cap compliant this year or next summer when Clarkson and Horton contracts expire. Wow. The loophole might buy them some time but that’s about it. I guess they’re in win now mode. A bit premature although they really did improve their D in the last year adding Ceci, Muzzin, and Barrie (or did they?).
I don’t see it either but I didn’t see how they were going to do it this summer either.
Honestly, did you think they could keep all of their young guys this summer and add Ceci, Barrie, and Kerfoot and just lose Marleau Kadri and Gardiner?
I hate the Leafs as much as any good Oiler fan but imo Dubas did a lot better than I thought he would and next summer is a long way off.
You cannot go through 4 rounds of the hardest cup to win in all major sports with a soft D and losing Kadri up front doesn’t help their chances either with the big bad Bruins.
Sure, they’ll make it through this season. It’s next year when the shoe drops. Maybe they can figure it out, but the defence group will be pretty ugly next year. I simply can’t see how you can be successful with $40 mill invested in four players. Or even $33 mill in three players.
Comparing Dubas to Chia is a pretty low bar IMO.
I vaguely remember the Grinder and David’s days and if you were really adventurous you would end up at Sugars at 3:00 AM. Sather was more than a coach he was a father to his players he brushed and bailed out more players then I and you can imagine. In the eighties anyone associated with the Oilers was above the law and that’s a fact jack.
The Leafs are one injury away from Gravel on their 2nd pair and nothing they can do about it. If I’m Holland then I’m on the phone trying to pry Kapanen away for an extra young, cheap dman who is ready to go like Caleb Jones. Might have to dump Gagner or Brodziak on somebody like OTT for a pick to make the cap work, but so be it.
I guess it depends how you look at it. He is going to go into the season compliant with a lineup that has to be one of the favourites to win the cup.
That is a different definition of hell than most would have.
Do we know that they have actually signed a contract ? So far all I’ve seen is that they agreed to a deal. Is there anything to stop the Leafs from waiting until after they show the required season-opening cap compliance before filing a Marner contract with the league ?
Dubas was the creator of his own hell. The day he signed Tavares to an $11 mill contract, he doomed the team to cap hell. This created expectations for everyone else on the team. And now they have four guys taking up $40 mill in cap. And this isn’t hindsight either. It was talked about the day he did the deal for Tavares.
I won’t disagree but will point out that their cap situation looked even worse this summer and yet somehow they are sitting with a cup contending team even if they can’t add to it during the season.
I think most predicted they would have to lose a player or even two this summer and yet to me they look stronger than the team they iced last season.
Thank you Mr. Mitchell for all you have done for hockey people who love the sport and all it involves. Go Oilers!
My thoughts for a while now is that the Leafs wouldl need to trade someone now or soon to give them some cap room. I believe the Canucks, Flames and Tampa will be in the same boat once their RFAs sign. Marner’s contract doesn’t help the situation as its not exactly a bargain for the team. Maybe slightly lower than expected but still high.
There’s maybe a handful of 2Cs in the league that can actually drive a line. And there’s probably a handful of 1Cs that can’t drive a line either. If RNH is your 2C, you’re looking pretty good. I like what Holland has done this year, but the biggest hole outside goalie was finding a legit top six winger and he didn’t get one.
It’s a bit different for the Leafs. They’re over the Cap hy a wide margin before they’ve already begun, as opposed to after they’ve been successful.
They’re over the Cap, have quite a few large dead cap contracts and spots taken, and need to sign 6+ Defencemen next offseason. Andersen’s renewal is coming up next offseason as well. Will that be more than the current $5 million?
As for the Oilers, they are not in Cap Hell, as the Leafs are. They have something like $30 million opening up next offseason with Nurse being the primary concern, and goaltending. Maybe they sign Andersen and go on to win Back-to-Back Stanley Cups, who knows?
If Neal pans out then they have a good thing going, despite an overpay. If he doesn’t then, well, unfortunately another buyout could happen but it would be a more palatable one than the alternative that could have been.
CallighenMan,
Reminds me of an absolute troll on the Sportsnet comment board. Obviously no job and no life, commenting on every Oiler story. If I’m bored and want to laugh at sheer stupidity, I’ll log in and he never disappoints, lol. Lots of different ID’s but what the moron writes shines through every time. They call him spilly or spillies but he’s been kicked off so many times he can’t use those names anymore.
Man, Lowetide taught me so soo much about everything!! Thanks Lowetide for hosting this place after all of these years!
… you’ve got to pay the troll toll (https://youtu.be/3sYSt26kh6Y)
TROLL go back into your hole.
Great post. Absolutely agree.
Maybe, careful not to fall for the ol’ tube sock in the jock
trick.
Classic Nuge
At least half the teams in the league are in cap hell. It isn’t all that special a club.
The one-year hold period only applied to compliance buyouts.
The Tkachuk klan will torture the Flames for at least 8,5-9 on a front loaded contract. I might be lowballing him at 8.5. Why would they hold out for months because they can.
Man did I live the verbal from Tippets availability today on Kassian and him being a UFA this year. Haha – “pretty simple” being on the RW spot with McDavid and Drai in a UFA year. Lol
LT taught us about what a quality org is!
Pennants!
You are not a championship, Cup contender until you make the final 4.
7 of 8 final 4 teams are top GA teams.
Their are 29 losing orgs and 2 championship teams each year.
Toronto is a Brutal closed low density shot def team.
When game tightens in Playoffs.
Bottom closed Low density def teams disappear in first 2 rounds. Most in the first like TOR & Calgary.
Tor have not been a Championship contender since 01-02.
Leafs have not won a championship in the Modern Era.
Oilers have a championship post 05-06 lockout.
Fuk the leafs and the Canucks who booed team Canada off the ice in 72.
In their 3 year entry Tkachuk has .77 ppg
Marner has .93 ppg
Tkachuk has .83 of the ppg that Marner has
I know this doesn’t take into account 5×5 vs PP or PK or defensive play or quality of opponents or Zone starts , but based purely on box scores the market for Tkachuk based on Marners deal is 6x$9 million
Hope Keith junior has to hold out a month or two then gets it
18/19:
Tavares: 82gm 47G 41A 88P
6@ 11.0M
Mathews: 68gm 37G 36A 73P
5@ 11.634M
Marner: 82gm 26G 68A 94P
6@ 10.893M
110G 145A 255p for 33.527M
Thinks back to all the TOR media saying EDM was handcuffed by Mcdavid Draisaitl contracts.
Draisaitl: 82gm 50G 55A 105P
6@ 8.5M smiles realizing
-Cap hit is a steal
– Mathews contract expires a yr before Drai.
Mcdavid: 78gm 41G 75A 116P
7 @ 12.5M smiles realizing
– Marner contract expires a yr before Mcdavid
RNH: 82gm 28G 41A 69P
2@ 6.0M
119G 171A 290P for 27M
9G and 45P more for 6.527M less.
Smiles!
17/18
Nylander: 80gm 20g 41A 61P
5@ 6.932M
Neal: 71Gm 25g 19A 44P
4@ 5.75 + .750 lucic (6.5m)
Interesting!
What does the Marner contract imply for Tkachuk?
Also how did the flames re- sign Stone? I thought the team that buys out a player couldn’t re- sign him. Which is why the oilers didn’t buy out gagner and re – sign him this summer to league minimum
The mc jesus name is offensive but the association of mc being rooted from the mega franchise mc Donald combined with the most known figure of the human race ; real or not.
Mcjesus is the most powerful name a player could have
I WISH the Oilers were porridge… but not that instant oatmeal crap. Real porridge. Thick enough to stop a bullet (and certainly more pucks than the Oilers did last year).
A long way to porridge…
what food group would you use to describe the team you cheer for? Sour grapes possibly?
The Leafs and Oilers are both in cap hell.
One team is a cup contender, the other is porridge.
Isn’t this true for pretty much every team in a capped league?
The Leafs aren’t at the cap, they are $13M over the cap.
I’m not actually sure how they have signed this contract because they are more than 10% over – the max off-season overage amount.
They must be using off-season LTIR.
Dubas and his team are going to have a heck of time this year just staying cap compliant on a nightly basis – if the Leafs end up with a solid amount of injuries, they may not be able to call up replacements.
Forget about material in-season acquisitions, even at the deadline.