The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which opened in 2016.
Rogers Place, the home arena of the Edmonton Oilers
Kris Knoblauch has been the head coach of the team since November 11, 2023, and Stan Bowman has served as general manager since July 24, 2024. The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames.
The Oilers were founded in 1971 by W. D. "Wild Bill" Hunter and Dr. Chuck Allard and played its first season in 1972-73 as one of the 12 founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). They were intended to be one of two WHA Alberta teams along with the Calgary Broncos. However, when the Broncos relocated and became the Cleveland Crusaders before the WHA's first season began, the team was named the Alberta Oilers.
Early Years in the WHA
On November 1, 1971, the Edmonton Oilers became one of the 12 founding WHA franchises. The original owners were "Wild Bill" Hunter (1920-2002) and partner, Dr. Charles A. "Chuck" Allard (1919-1991) who, a decade later, also brought the SCTV sketch comedy TV series to Edmonton. Hunter also owned the Edmonton Oil Kings, a junior hockey franchise, and founded the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (now known as the Western Hockey League (WHL)). Hunter's efforts to bring major professional hockey to Edmonton via an expansion NHL franchise had been rebuffed by the NHL, and Hunter looked to the upstart WHA instead.
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It was announced in early 1972 that the team would be known as the "Edmonton Oil Kings", which referred to the previous Oil Kings teams in the 1950s and 1960s. After the newly founded Calgary Broncos folded before the commencement of the inaugural WHA season, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers as it was planned to split their home games between Edmonton and Calgary. The Oilers drew fans with players such as defenceman and team captain Al Hamilton, goaltender Dave Dryden and forwards Blair MacDonald and Bill Flett.
However, a relatively little-noticed move in 1976 had an important impact on the history of the franchise. That year, journeyman forward Glen Sather was acquired by the Oilers. It turned out to be his final season as a player and he was named player-coach late in the season, moving to the bench full-time after the season.
Although the Oilers' on-ice performance for most of the WHA's history was mediocre, they remained well-supported and financially stable by WHA standards. In 1976, Hunter and Allard sold the franchise to Vancouver real estate tycoon Nelson Skalbania, who later became notorious for flipping property, both real and franchised. Skalbania soon made local businessman Peter Pocklington a full partner, then sold his shares to him the following year.
His first year of WHA experience prevented Gretzky from being an official 1979-80 NHL rookie; his first and only WHA season, 1978-79, saw the Oilers finish first in the WHA standings, posting a league-best 48-30-2 record. However, Edmonton failed to win the championship, as they fell to the Winnipeg Jets in the Avco World Trophy finals.
Joining the NHL and the Dynasty Years
The Oilers joined the NHL for 1979-80, along with fellow WHA teams Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and the Jets following a merger agreement between the two leagues. Upon joining the NHL, the Oilers were placed in the Campbell Conference's Smythe Division. They were mediocre during the regular season in their first two seasons, finishing 16th and 14th respectively.
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The Oilers lost most of the players from 1978-79 when the NHL held a reclamation draft of players who had bolted to the upstart league as they were allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters. The Oilers acquired Jari Kurri in the 1980 draft. Originally, Gretzky was not eligible to be protected; under the rules of the time, he normally would have been placed in the 1979 NHL entry draft pool.
However, because 16 of the 21 NHL teams made the playoffs at the time, the Oilers were still able to get their young players experience in the playoffs (they made the playoffs for their first 13 years in the NHL). They won only one playoff series in their first three NHL seasons, though, upsetting the Montreal Canadiens in 1980-81. Gretzky set new NHL records in 1980-81 for assists (109) and points (164). Also, they still had great draft positions. This allowed the Oilers to put together a young, talented, experienced team quickly.
The Oilers improved in 1981-82, finishing second overall. In 1982-83, the Oilers finished third overall in the NHL. In 1983-84, the Oilers finished first overall in the NHL, winning a franchise record 57 games and earning 119 points (15 points ahead of the second-place Islanders). They were the first team to feature three players with 50 goals (Gretzky, Kurri, and Anderson). Gretzky started strong by scoring at least a point in the first 51 games of the season. Paul Coffey became the second defenceman ever to score at least 40 goals in a season. The team scored a total of 446 goals as a team, an NHL record.
The Oilers were so determined to win the Stanley Cup that they hired Roger Neilson as a video analyst. They started the playoffs strongly by sweeping the Winnipeg Jets in the Smythe Division semifinals. They faced a tougher test in the Calgary Flames, but they defeated them in seven games in the division finals. They then swept the Minnesota North Stars in the conference finals to earn a rematch with the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers split the first two games in Long Island but then won three in a row in Edmonton to become the first former WHA team to win the Stanley Cup.
The following season, the Oilers finished second overall in the NHL with 49 wins and 109 points. Gretzky led the NHL in goals with 73, and Kurri was close behind with a career-high 71. Gretzky also became the youngest player in NHL history to score one thousand points. In the playoffs, the Oilers swept the Kings in the opening round and Jets in round two. They won the first two games of the conference finals against the Chicago Black Hawks but lost the next two before winning the final two and returning to the Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton lost the first game to Philadelphia but won the next four to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row.
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Wayne Gretzky || Career NHL Highlights || 1979-1999 (HD)
Despite off-season legal issues, the Oilers were again the top team in the NHL during the 1985-86 season, with 56 wins and 119 points. They won the inaugural Presidents' Trophy, the trophy given to the team with the best regular season record. Gretzky, Kurri, and Anderson each scored 50 goals again. Kurri led the NHL in goals with 68, finishing with 131 points. Paul Coffey set a new record for most goals in a season by a defenceman (48) and just missed setting a new record for points by a defenceman with 138 (Bobby Orr scored 139 in 1970-71). Gretzky also set records for assists (163) and points (215). However, the Oilers failed to win their third-straight Stanley Cup, as the Calgary Flames defeated them in seven games in the second round. In the third period of a 2-2 tie during game 7, Steve Smith, a rookie for the Oilers, accidentally sent the puck into his own net on his birthday.
The 1986-87 season saw the Oilers capture their second straight Presidents' Trophy with 50 wins and 106 points. Gretzky and Kurri were first and second in the NHL point-scoring race, while Messier was fourth. Edmonton returned to the Stanley Cup Final and faced the same opponent as they had in 1985, the Philadelphia Flyers. The Oilers took a three-games-to-one lead in the series. However, strong goaltending by Flyers' rookie Ron Hextall forced a game 7, which the Oilers won, 3-1.
The Oilers began losing star players in 1987-88. Paul Coffey sat out the first 21 games of the season before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Andy Moog also failed to report; he was tired of being the backup goaltender. Moog played for the Canadian Olympic team in the 1988 Winter Olympics before getting traded to the Boston Bruins for Bill Ranford. Despite the changes, the Oilers placed third overall in the NHL. Grant Fuhr started a league-record 75 games (which has now been broken) and posted a team-record 40 wins.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Oilers dispatched the third-place Winnipeg Jets in five games. The Oilers then defeated first-overall Calgary in a sweep. In the conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings, the Oilers prevailed in five games. The Oilers then swept the Boston Bruins in four games. The fourth game had to be re-played because of a cancellation. With the score tied 3-3 with 3:23 to play in the second period, a power outage hit the Boston Garden, forcing cancellation of the entire game. The Oilers won the next game (originally scheduled as game five) back in Edmonton 6-3 to complete the series sweep. However, all player statistics for the aborted game four in Boston are counted in the NHL record books. Gretzky won the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the playoffs in scoring with 43 points.
After the Cup-clinching game, Gretzky implored his teammates, coaches, trainers, and others from the Oilers organization to join at centre ice for an impromptu team photo with the Stanley Cup.
A statue of Wayne Gretzky stands outside Rogers Place.
The Trade and Post-Gretzky Era
In a surprising and shocking trade, Gretzky, along with enforcer Marty McSorley and centre Mike Krushelnyski, were traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988. In exchange, the Oilers received US$15 million, young star Jimmy Carson, 1988 first-round draft choice Martin Gelinas, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989, 1991, and 1993. The trade occurred because Pocklington did not want to risk Gretzky leaving Edmonton without getting anything in return. Gretzky had converted his chance at free agency and refused, which ultimately led to the trade. None of this was public knowledge at the time.
However, the Oilers and their fans were still upset. The loss of Gretzky had an immediate impact in 1988-89, as the Oilers were only able to finish in third place in their division. Mark Messier was chosen to succeed Gretzky as captain. Coincidentally, the Oilers' first-round playoff opponent was Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings. Edmonton took a commanding 3-1 series lead, but Gretzky and the Kings fought back to win the series, winning game 7 6-3 in Los Angeles.
The Oilers underwent more changes during the 1989-90 season. John Muckler replaced Sather, who remained general manager and became the Oilers' president, as head coach of the team. During training camp, Grant Fuhr came down with a severe case of appendicitis. He missed the first 10 games of the season and when he returned he suffered a shoulder injury that eventually sidelined him for the remainder of the season. This marked the emergence of Bill Ranford as a starter. Four games into the season, Jimmy Carson decided the pressure of playing in Edmonton was too intense and he was traded to Detroit with Kevin McClelland in exchange for Petr Klima, Adam Graves, Joe Murphy and Jeff Sharples.
The Oilers improved on their previous season, finishing with 38 wins and 90 points, good for fifth place overall in the NHL. In the first round, the Oilers faced the Winnipeg Jets. Trailing the series 3-1 and trailing game 5 by an identical score, the Oilers rallied to win the next three and take the series. In the division final, the Oilers met Los Angeles for the second straight season. Edmonton swept the series 4-0, outscoring the Kings 22-10. The Oilers then met the Chicago Blackhawks in the conference finals and fell behind 2-1 in the series. However, the Oilers won the next three games to earn a rematch of the 1988 Stanley Cup Final with Boston.
The series is remembered for game 1, still the longest Stanley Cup Final game played in the modern NHL. Despite being soundly outshot by the Bruins, the Oilers won the game 3-2 when Klima-benched for much of the game and thus the only player on either team who was not exhausted-scored at 15:13 of the third overtime. The Oilers defeated the Bruins in five games and won their first Cup without Gretzky.
The Oilers lost another important player before the 1990-91 season, as Jari Kurri chose to play the entire season with Devils Milano. Grant Fuhr was suspended for 60 games for drug abuse. The season itself was not great for the Oilers, who finished with 37 wins and 80 points, in third place in the Smythe Division. In the playoffs, the Oilers met the Flames in the opening round, winning a thrilling series in seven games, led by seven goals by Esa Tikkanen. Despite injuries suffered in the series with Calgary, they next defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games.
The final star players from the Oilers left before the 1991-92 season. Despite the number of changes, the Oilers produced a comparable season to 1990-91, finishing third in the Smythe Division with 36 wins and 82 points. In the first round of the playoffs, the Oilers again met the Los Angeles Kings. Again, for the third time since the Gretzky trade, the Oilers defeated the Kings. In the next round, the Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in six games to return to the conference finals for the third straight season, this time facing the Chicago Blackhawks.
The departures of the stars from the 1980s exposed serious deficiencies in the Oilers' development system. They had done a poor job of drafting during the dynasty years, and the younger players had not had enough time to develop before the core of the 1980s dynasty left the team. This did not become apparent for a few years; as noted above, the Oilers still had enough heft to make the conference finals two years in a row. However, it was obvious that they were nowhere near being the powerhouse that had dominated the league in the previous half-decade.
Stanley Cup Championships
After joining the NHL, the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup on five occasions: 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1989-90. Along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, they are tied for the most championships won by any team since the NHL-WHA merger, as well as the most won by any team that joined the league in or after 1967. Among all NHL teams, only the Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times since the league's 1967 expansion. The Oilers also won six straight division titles from 1981-82 through 1986-87.
The Oilers began to struggle after coming up short in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, missing the playoffs for the subsequent 10 seasons. The Oilers made 16 first-round selections in the NHL entry draft from 2007 to 2019: 11 within the first 10 picks overall, six within the first four picks, and four of the first overall selections.
| Year | Opponent | Series Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1983-84 | New York Islanders | 4-1 |
| 1984-85 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4-1 |
| 1986-87 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4-3 |
| 1987-88 | Boston Bruins | 4-0 |
| 1989-90 | Boston Bruins | 4-1 |
Current Roster and Injuries
Here's a brief overview of some recent roster updates and injuries:
- Connor Clattenburg: Placed on long-term injured reserve on Sunday (Dec. 7).
- Tristan Jarry: Out with a lower-body injury. HC Kris Knoblauch said on Sunday (Dec. 17) that Jarry is expected to miss some time.
- Kasperi Kapanen: Recovering from a lower-body injury. The Oilers reported on Monday (Dec. 8) that Kapanen will be back around Christmas time.
- Noah Philp: Out with Upper Body injury. The Oilers said on Monday (Dec. 15) that Philp will be back in January.
- Jake Walman: Placed on injured reserve on Thursday (Dec. 21) due to a lower-body injury.