WCF Game 4: Stars at Edmonton

I always believed winning the Stanley Cup during the Connor McDavid era in Edmonton would be Everest. A friend of mine called on the night of the draft and told me he expected ‘four, maybe five’ championships and I just didn’t see it. Why? Let me tell you.

This generation of the franchise didn’t have the talent base the 1980’s enjoyed and did not have the creative edge in coaching or management the Gretzky-Messier era enjoyed. There were reasons the 1980’s Oilers won five.

First, the Oilers entered the NHL with Wayne Gretzky. That’s a helluva head start. Second, Barry Fraser was out of his mind brilliant in the 1979-81 drafts. He changed the hockey world’s power base with the help of crusty old men driving Oldsmobiles built low to the ground creaking across the Ontario, Finnish and prairie highways to find the next brilliant player.

Third, and this one is true even if you don’t believe me, most of the NHL owners and general managers were slow on the uptake in the 1980’s. Each fall, you could eliminate most of the teams from SC contention. In fact, the fall of 1983 THN preview had the Oilers winning the Smythe, Chicago taking the Norris, the Islanders at the top of the Patrick and the Bruins winning the Adams Division. Beyond those four teams, you could reasonably have argued that the Buffalo Sabres, Quebec Nordiques, Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers had a chance to go deep. All but Chicago and Edmonton played out east. The two smartest general managers in the league were Bill Torrey (Islanders) and Glen Sather (Oilers). Some of the men running good NHL teams simply didn’t have the creativity, ability to sell their players, or desire to risk it all for a run to glory.

The Minnesota North Stars surprised Chicago in the Norris, but pretty much everything else went according to Hoyle. Edmonton had the most trouble with the Calgary Flames, who were mediocre during the regular season but an absolute load in the playoffs.

By the way, as the Oilers entered 1983-84, a few things we consider ‘settled law’ were not yet true. Quoting THN: “Andy Moog has proven to be one of the NHL’s better young goalies, and Grant Fuhr is waiting in the wings for a chance to redeem himself. He was a rookie sensation, suffered in his sophomore season (last year) and has yet to really establish himself again.” Also notable: rumours of a trade with the Flyers for Bill Barber as the season drew near. In fact, the big deal of the winter came in early December, as Slats acquired giant center Kevin McClelland. He would score perhaps the most important goal in team history in the spring.

I should say something about tonight’s game, but we’re at a point in the season where analysis and cheering are basically the same. We don’t have enough sample to make a case, so when single events go one way or another there’s a tendency to weave a story around 12 minutes instead of waiting for 200.

Here’s the ugly truth of all sport, especially hockey: the percentage of events that impact the outcome of a single game, that can be counted as luck, is significant. So, a pre-game analysis is about the same as lighting a candle.

I can write you a pre-game story, but the word “if” would figure prominently. There are moments in life when you have no control despite great interest and overwhelming anxiety. That’s why sports is so very good. We don’t know what is to come, only that it matters. Pretending we do know the outcome is like waving a lantern at a runaway train.

The Lowdown hits at noon today, Sports 1440. We’ll have Daniel Nugent-Bowman at The Athletic as our feature guest. Declan Krueger and Donovan Paulson will join me in what has become a two-hour Tuesday rockin’ radio show. It’s basically out of control but an absolute gas.