AHL at 20: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

by Lowetide

In the five years leading up to Edmonton’s first Stanley Cup victory, Oilers prospects (forwards) who spent time in the AHL were in a difficult spot trying to break into the NHL with the team. In the 1979-80 season, first-year wingers included first year NHL players Mark Messier, Dave Hunter and Dave Lumley. They were joined one year later by Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson and Pat Hughes was acquired in March of 1981. By the offseason of 1981, there were three sets of wingers who were young, getting better, and establishing themselves as part of the team in Edmonton. Oh, and they added veteran Jaroslav Pouzar (1982 draft) and Esa Tikkanen (1983) just in case someone on the farm had a sliver of hope. So hey, Walt Poddubny, nice year you had there. Hope you like buses!

THE ATHLETIC!

MIKE BLOOM

The first player I remember waiting impatiently to arrive in the NHL was Mike Bloom. He was drafted in 1972, and I knew the expansion draft and WHA raids meant Gregg Sheppard, Chris Oddleifson, Terry O’Reilly and Fred O’Donnell were probably getting jobs because forwards like Eddie Westfall (NY Islanders expansion draft), Derek Sanderson, John McKenzie (both WHA) were reportedly heading elsewhere. You had to watch with the WHA, because someone could “jump” to the WHA in the newspapers and then it would turn out to be untrue.

Either way, I didn’t expect Bloom to make the 1972-73 Bruins, Reggie Leach and Rick MacLeish were top-5 overall picks in 1970 and barely played in 1970-71. During the 1972-73 season, Bloom was moved from the top farm team (Boston Braves, AHL) because he wasn’t playing much. Dave Forbes, Bob Gryp and Chris Hayes all played ahead of him and so he was sent to the WHL’s San Diego Gulls. The WHL was a pro league, generally considered just a shade below the AHL, and where older players went to play out their careers and graze on the prairie grasses during the day. The WHL was capable of producing NHL players but it was off-Broadway.

Bloom scored well among the aged in the WHL and in 1973-74 spent the entire season there, scoring 69 points in 76 games and leading the Gulls in points. The Washington Capitals took him in the 1974 expansion draft, and Bloom finally made the NHL. I was pleased for him, he played with the Caps and Red Wings in 1974-75, scoring 11-27-38 in 80 games. I kind of assumed first-round picks always made it, that was my experience with the Bruins and certainly in hate watching the Canadiens.

THE CURRENT FORWARDS PUSHING

The Oilers have been collecting high end and complementary forwards at the draft over the past decade, but clearly don’t have the same quality as the group gathered 1979-81. Heading into training camp, Evander Kane, Zach Hyman, Kailer Yamamoto, Jesse Puljujarvi, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod are a solid group. How many players who spent time in the minors at age 20 since 2015-16 could crack that lineup?

Yamamoto and McLeod are in the NHL, and I think Holloway will be there in 2022-23. We have to remind ourselves he arrived mid-season, coming off an injury. He performed well in later games. After those three names, who do we see as being legit? Benson’s numbers are great but he wasn’t better than the incumbents and I don’t think that’s up for discussion. I think the cream has already risen, or with Holloway’s graduation it will have risen. That brings us to the next group. Who will push for an NHL job from the kids who are 20 and arriving in Bakersfield this fall?

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Oz

Anyway would like to say, I really enjoy this site and thank you for that

Genjutsu

Yes, it’s become a pretty big part of our lives for a lot of us.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Oz

How is your weekend going Lowetide, and I thought mine was upside down 😎

leadfarmer

Looks like the blog got lost chasing HHs goalposts again

Harpers Hair

Everything is always Harper’s fault.

defmn

I thought it was the hair.

defmn

Thank you to our host and whoever else has spent their day trying to fix the glitch in the blog.

Nothing like the site going down to remind me how much time I spend here.

OriginalPouzar

Of note, one Philip Broberg was posting pics of (presumably from) Commonwealth last name. I believe the young stud is in town!

Victoria Oil

Rory!!!

Harpers Hair

Orlando!

godot10

Also, one has to consider McLeod’s strengths. For a bottom six player he may be top decile in zone entries. If one can carry the puck into the opposition zone, one is spending more of the shift trying to retrieve it.