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Born of the World Hockey Association in 1972, the Oilers were first called the Alberta Oilers because the team originally intended to split its games between Edmonton and Calgary, an idea that was abandoned before the WHA started play. The team became the Edmonton Oilers in 1973.
After seven seasons in the WHA, the Oilers (and three other WHA clubs, Winnipeg, Hartford and Quebec) were welcomed into the NHL. The Oilers were an immediate success, making the playoffs their first four seasons in the NHL, before annexing Stanley Cup number one in 1984.
Guided by their peerless general manager, and long-time coach Glen Sather, the Oilers had already acquired Wayne Gretzky in a WHA deal with the Indianapolis Racers. Although he was only a teenager at the time, great things had long been predicted for the man who would become known as "The Great One."
Gretzky would merely become the most famous hockey player of all time, single-handedly re-writing the NHL record book, and changing the very nature of the game itself.
Upon his retirement in 1999, Gretzky would hold some 61 NHL records, 40 in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs, and six for the All-Star Game. He would also win 10 Art Ross Trophies as the NHL's leading scorer, nine Hart Trophies as MVP, five Lady Byng Trophies as most gentlemanly player and make the first All-Star Team on eight occasions.
In the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, Sather wisely selected Mark Messier, giving the Oilers two of the greatest centers of all-time and probably the best one-two punch up the middle that the game of hockey has ever known.
During their run of Stanley Cups, the Oilers built one of the deepest squads in NHL history. There was lots of talent at every position. Grant Fuhr was rock-solid in goal. There was Paul Coffey, Lee Fogolin, Randy Gregg, Kevin Lowe and others on defense.
Up front, the great Jari Kurri lit up arenas with Gretzky and Messier. Dave Semenko, Willy Lindstrom, Charlie Huddy, Kevin McClelland and Craig MacTavish, and Esa Tikkanen were all great contributors and fan favorites. The cast was seemingly endless, constantly starring for Sather and his successor, John Muckler.
Edmonton fans were especially blessed, not only by the plethora of talent on the great Cup squads, but also by the fact that four of the five Edmonton Cups were clinched at the Northlands Coliseum (now known as the Skyreach Centre), the only home the team has ever known.
Mark Messier won the Conn Smythe in Edmonton's first Stanley Cup in 1984. Victory parades and civic celebrations were the order of the day in Edmonton in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988. Only the 1990 Cup was captured on the road, the Oilers defeating the Boston Bruins in five games.
The Great Gretzky himself actually missed Cup number five, having been traded to the Los Angeles Kings, a move that rocked the hockey world on August 9, 1988. Despite the Cup to follow, the Gretzky trade marked at least the symbolic end of the Oilers' dynasty.
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Following the fifth Cup, the Oilers were still a strong team, advancing to the Conference championship in each of the next two seasons. Then, for the first time in team history, the Oilers missed the playoffs in 1993. Three more playoff-less seasons followed.
Kevin Lowe is now the GM and the Oilers coach is Craig MacTavish as the Oilers of the past have taken over the present, looking to build a bright future.
"Through the Years" Archive
