Alberta Oilers 1972-73
Edmonton Oilers 1973-74 to 1978-79

Owners

Charles Allard

Bill Hunter

Zane Feldman

Peter Pocklington

Rinks

Edmonton Gardens 1972 to 1974

Northlands Coliseum 1974 to 1979

Seasons & Leaders

1972-73 Record 38-37-3, 79 pts Coach Ray Kinasewich Bill Hunter Goals 39, Jim Harrison 29, Rusty Patenaude Assists 50, Al Hamilton 47, Jim Harrison Points 86, Jim Harrison 61, Al Hamilton Penalty Min. 124, Al Hamilton 112, Ken Baird Wins 28, Jack Norris Goals Against 3.06, Jack Norris Shutouts 1, Ken Brown 1, Jack Norris

1973-74 Record 38-37-3, 79 pts Coach Brian Shaw Goals 38, Ron Climie 29, Rusty Patenaude Assists 45, Al Hamilton 45, Jim Harrison Points 74, Ron Climie 69, Jim Harrison Penalty Min. 214, Doug Barrie 164, Tom Gilmore Wins 23, Jack Norris Goals Against 3.21, Jack Norris Shutouts 2, Jack Norris

1974-75 Record 36-38-4, 76 pts Coach Brian Shaw Bill Hunter Goals 35, Mike Rogers 30, Ken Baird Assists 48, Mike Rogers 40, Barry Long Points 83, Mike Rogers 60, Barry Long Penalty Min. 151, Ken Baird 122, Doug Barrie Wins 15, Jacques Plante Goals Against 3.32, Jacques Plante Shutouts 2, Ken Brown

1975-76 Record 27-49-5, 59 pt Coach Clare Drake Bill Hunter Goals 42, Rusty Patenaude 34, Tim Sheehy Assists 56, Norm Ullman 32, Al Hamilton 32, Barry Long Points 87, Norm Ullman 72, Rusty Patenaude Penalty Min. 88, Rusty Patenaude 87, Ken Baird Wins 22, Dave Dryden Goals Against 3.95, Dave Dryden Shutouts 1, Dave Dryden 1, Chris Worthy

1976-77 Record 34-43-4, 72 pts Coach Armand Guidolin Glen Sather Goals 34, Bill Flett 25, Rusty Patenaude Assists 42, Bryan Campbell 34, Glen Sather Points 54, Bryan Campbell 54, Bill Flett Penalty Min. 274, Frank Beaton 94, Dave Langevin Wins 18, Ken Broderick Goals Against 3.49, Ken Broderick Shutouts 4, Ken Broderick

1977-78 Record 38-39-3, 79 pts Coach Glen Sather Goals 41, Bill Flett 34, Blair MacDonald Assists 52, Ron Chipperfield 43, Al Hamilton Points 85, Ron Chipperfield 69, Bill Flett Penalty Min. 157, Ron Busniuk 140, Dave Semenko Wins 21, Dave Dryden Goals Against 3.49, Dave Dryden Shutouts 2, Dave Dryden 2, Don McLeod

1978-79 Record 48-30-2, 98 pts Coach Glen Sather Goals 43, Wayne Gretzky 33, Blair MacDonald Assists 61, Wayne Gretzky 39, Brett Callighen 39, Paul Shmyr Points 104, Wayne Gretzky 70, Brett Callighen Penalty Min. 158, Dave Semenko 134, Dave Hunter Wins 41, Dave Dryden Goals Against 2.89, Dave Dryden Shutouts 3, Dave Dryden

Complete Roster & Regular Season Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
Hamilton, Al	454	53	258	311	512
Patenaude, Rusty	355	136	112	248	293
MacDonald, Blair	339	118	124	242	111
Flett, Bill	225	103	84	187	68
Baird, Ken	276	77	92	169	467
Barrie, Doug	350	37	122	159	620
Harrison, Jim	112	63	92	155	192
Chipperfield, Ron	135	65	89	154	95
Callighen, Brett	180	60	85	145	239
Perkins, Ross	225	44	93	137	95
Ullman, Norm	144	47	83	130	40
Climie, Ron	125	53	63	116	37
Sheehy, Tim	138	57	59	116	25
Joyal, Eddie	239	57	55	112	26
Rogers, Mike	122	47	63	110	12
Gretzky, Wayne	72	43	61	104	19
Long, Barry	158	30	73	103	184
Shmyr, Paul	160	17	79	96	219
Micheletti, Joe	128	28	67	95	141
Wall, Bob	152	22	60	82	66
Langevin, Dave	216	19	59	78	260
MacGregor, Bruce	135	37	38	75	23
Campbell, Bryan	119	19	55	74	30
Gilmore, Tom	131	31	42	73	248
Sobchuk, Dennis	87	32	40	72	35
Carlyle, Steve	218	11	59	70	109
Morris, Rick	117	30	33	63	135
McAneeley, Bob	174	29	34	63	134
Sheehan, Bobby	87	20	42	62	14
Weir, Stan	68	31	30	61	20
Fonteyne, Val	149	16	45	61	4
Zuke, Mike	71	23	34	57	47
Walters, Ron	78	28	26	54	37
Sather, Glen	81	19	34	53	77
Lunde, Len	71	26	22	48	8
Ferguson, Norm	71	26	21	47	2
Falkenberg, Bob	156	9	37	46	76
Rota, Randy	93	17	28	45	20
Russell, Bob	115	20	24	44	60
Widing, Juha	71	18	24	42	8
Driscoll, Peter	69	17	23	40	115
Carlson, Steve	73	18	22	40	50
Hicke, Bill	73	14	24	38	16
McKenzie, Brian	78	18	20	38	66
Kirk, Gavin	52	8	28	36	16
Anderson, Ron C.	92	19	17	36	49
Semenko, Dave	142	16	20	36	298
Carlin, Brian	70	13	22	35	6
Guite, Pierre	72	13	22	35	79
McKay, Ray	83	9	24	33	51
Hunter, Dave	72	7	25	32	134
Alexander, Claire	54	8	23	31	16
Connelly, Wayne	38	13	15	28	18
Wilkins, Barry	51	4	24	28	75
Laing, Bill	97	10	16	26	99
Kennett, Murray	78	7	18	25	31
Busniuk, Ron	81	4	20	24	240
Spring, Dan	75	12	11	23	8
Carleton, Wayne	26	5	16	21	6
Morris, Pete	78	7	14	21	41
McAneeley, Ted	79	2	17	19	71
Boddy, Greg	46	1	17	18	41
Hughes, John	41	2	15	17	82
Rogers, John	77	9	8	17	34
Krake, Skip	41	8	8	16	55
Buchanan, Ron	22	6	9	15	4
Jarry, Pierre	18	4	10	14	4
DeMarco, Ab	47	6	8	14	20
Williams, Butch	29	3	10	13	16
MacGregor, Gary	37	11	2	13	29
Kassian, Dennis	50	6	7	13	14
Beaton, Frank	68	4	9	13	274
Dryden, Dave (G)	197	0	13	13	2
St. Sauveur, Claude	15	5	7	12	2
Morris, Bill	36	4	8	12	6
McCrimmon, Jim	109	3	8	11	156
Cote, Roger	120	3	8	11	80
Ketter, Kerry	48	1	9	10	20
Peacosh, Gene	11	5	4	9	14
Blanchette, Bernie	23	5	4	9	2
Berry, Doug	29	6	3	9	4
Bailey, Garnet "Ace"	38	5	4	9	22
Siltanen, Risto	20	3	4	7	4
McLeod, Don (G)	33	0	7	7	2
Goldsworthy, Bill	17	4	2	6	14
Miller, Warren	18	2	4	6	18
Kerslake, Doug	23	5	1	6	14
Norris, Jack (G)	117	0	6	6	2
Nevin, Bob	13	3	2	5	0
Simpson, Tom	15	3	2	5	16
Laframboise, Pete	17	0	5	5	12
Hurley, Paul	26	1	4	5	14
Neilson, Jim	35	0	5	5	18
Fisher, John	39	0	5	5	0
Evo, Bill	8	0	4	4	0
Merrell, Barry	10	1	3	4	0
Deadmarsh, Butch	20	1	3	4	32
Patrick, Glenn	23	0	4	4	62
Sandbeck, Cal	17	1	2	3	41
Hornung, Larry	21	2	1	3	0
Holland, Jerry	22	2	1	3	14
Fitchner, Bob	31	1	2	3	21
Herriman, Don	33	1	2	3	21
Broderick, Ken (G)	49	0	3	3	2
Scharf, Ted	5	0	2	2	14
Antonovich, Mike	7	1	1	2	0
Butters, Bill	7	0	2	2	17
Carlson, Jack	10	1	1	2	31
Muloin, Wayne	10	1	1	2	0
Topolnisky, Craig	10	0	2	2	4
Patterson, Dennis	23	0	2	2	2
Benzelock, Jim	26	1	1	2	10
Schraefel, Jim	34	1	1	2	0
Troy, Jim	47	2	0	2	124
Lloyd, Owen	3	0	1	1	4
Pinder, Gerry	5	0	1	1	0
Primeau, Kevin	7	0	1	1	0
Inkpen, Dave	19	0	1	1	16
Mio, Ed (G)	22	0	1	1	2
Plante, Jacques (G)	31	0	1	1	2
Brown, Ken (G)	52	0	1	1	4
Gustafsson, Bengt (Playoffs only)	0	0	0	0	0
Arndt, Danny	1	0	0	0	0
Doyle, Gary (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Fortunato, Joe	1	0	0	0	0
Hall, Del	1	0	0	0	0
Harker, Derek	1	0	0	0	0
McMullin, Dale	1	0	0	0	0
Colborne, Howie	2	0	0	0	0
Cross, Jim	2	0	0	0	0
Cunningham, Gary	2	0	0	0	0
Kamppuri, Hannu (G)	2	0	0	0	0
Mayer, James	2	0	0	0	0
Stewart, Paul	2	0	0	0	2
Tajcnar, Rudy	2	0	0	0	0
Zuk, Wayne	2	0	0	0	0
George, Wes	3	0	0	0	11
Prentice, Bill	3	0	0	0	2
Walsh, Ed (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Ahrens, Chris	4	0	0	0	15
Turnbull, Frank (G)	4	0	0	0	0
Wilkie, Ian (G)	5	0	0	0	0
Levasseur, Louis (G)	21	0	0	0	0
Worthy, Chris (G)	82	0	0	0	14

Complete Playoff Scoring Totals

Player (G: Goaltender)	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Penalty Min.
MacDonald, Blair	23	13	13	26	8
Callighen, Brett	23	9	13	22	38
Chipperfield, Ron	18	10	11	21	8
Gretzky, Wayne	13	10	10	20	2
Hamilton, Al	26	5	11	16	29
Sobchuk, Dennis	17	7	6	13	8
Micheletti, Joe	18	0	11	11	6
Shmyr, Paul	18	2	8	10	34
Siltanen, Risto	11	0	9	9	4
Flett, Bill	15	5	4	9	4
Ullman, Norm	9	1	6	7	2
Patenaude, Rusty	10	1	6	7	22
Rota, Randy	10	4	3	7	4
Weir, Stan	13	2	5	7	2
Driscoll, Peter	13	1	6	7	8
Baird, Ken	9	4	2	6	23
Semenko, Dave	16	4	2	6	37
Langevin, Dave	23	2	4	6	44
Gilmore, Tom	5	1	4	5	15
Zuke, Mike	5	2	3	5	0
Hunter, David	13	2	3	5	42
Sheehy, Tim	4	2	2	4	0
Perkins, Ross	5	1	3	4	2
Campbell, Bryan	5	3	1	4	0
Sheehan, Bobby	5	1	3	4	0
Gustafsson, Bengt	2	1	2	3	0
Boddy, Greg	4	1	2	3	14
Schraefel, Jim	5	0	3	3	0
Spring, Dan	2	1	1	2	0
Carleton, Wayne	4	1	1	2	2
Goldsworthy, Bill	4	1	1	2	11
Joyal, Eddie	5	2	0	2	4
Sather, Glen	5	1	1	2	2
Falkenberg, Bob	5	0	2	2	14
Guite, Pierre	5	1	1	2	20
Beaton, Frank	5	0	2	2	21
McAneeley, Bob	7	2	0	2	0
Busniuk, Ron	10	0	2	2	55
Carlson, Steve	11	1	1	2	12
Barrie, Doug	12	1	1	2	22
Morris, Pete	3	0	1	1	7
Morris, Rick	4	0	1	1	4
McKay, Ray	4	0	1	1	4
Wilkins, Barry	4	0	1	1	2
Carlyle, Steve	5	0	1	1	4
Fonteyne, Val	5	1	0	1	0
Lunde, Len	5	0	1	1	0
Russell, Bob	5	1	0	1	0
Widing, Juha	5	0	1	1	0
McKenzie, Brian	5	0	1	1	0
Kirk, Gavin	5	1	0	1	4
Connelly, Wayne	5	0	1	1	0
Jarry, Pierre	5	1	0	1	4
St. Sauveur, Claude	5	1	0	1	0
Hughes, John	13	1	0	1	35
DeMarco, Ab	1	0	0	0	0
Muloin, Wayne	1	0	0	0	0
Wilkie, Ian (G)	1	0	0	0	0
Cote, Roger	2	0	0	0	0
Bailey, Garnet	2	0	0	0	4
Patrick, Glenn	2	0	0	0	0
Troy, Jim	2	0	0	0	0
Primeau, Kevin	2	0	0	0	2
Levasseur, Louis (G)	2	0	0	0	2
Norris, Jack (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Broderick, Ken (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Mio, Ed (G)	3	0	0	0	0
Long, Barry	4	0	0	0	4
McAneeley, Ted	4	0	0	0	0
McLeod, Don (G)	4	0	0	0	0
Hurley, Paul	4	0	0	0	0
Carlson, Jack	4	0	0	0	4
Worthy, Chris (G)	4	0	0	0	0
Climie, Ron	5	0	0	0	0
Ferguson, Norm	5	0	0	0	0
Sandbeck, Cal	5	0	0	0	10
Dryden, Dave (G)	15	0	0	0	0

Complete Regular Season Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Dryden, Dave	197	11092	632	7	94-87-9	3.42
Norris, Jack	117	6656	347	3	51-53-4	3.13
Worthy, Chris	82	4368	289	3	27-39-4	3.97
Broderick, Ken	49	2798	176	4	20-23-1	3.77
Brown, Ken	52	2500	149	3	20-19-0	3.58
McLeod, Don	33	1723	102	2	15-10-1	3.55
Plante, Jacques	31	1592	88	1	15-14-1	3.32
Mio, Ed	22	1068	71	1	7-10-0	3.99
Levasseur, Louis	21	1213	88	0	6-12-3	4.35
Wilkie, Ian	5	256	9	0	3-1-1	2.11
Doyle, Gary	1	60	4	0	1-0-0	4.00
Kamppuri, Hannu	2	90	10	0	0-1-0	6.67
Turnbull, Frank	4	166	15	0	0-2-0	5.42
Walsh, Ed	3	144	9	0	0-2-0	3.75

Complete Playoff Goaltending

Goaltender	Games	Minutes	Goals	Shutouts	Record	Average
Dryden, Dave	18	958	63	0	6-11	3.95
Broderick, Ken	3	179	10	0	1-2	3.35
McLeod, Don	4	207	16	1	1-3	4.64
Worthy, Chris	4	206	15	0	1-2	4.37
Levasseur, Louis	2	133	10	0	0-2	4.51
Norris, Jack	3	111	9	0	0-2	4.86
Wilkie, Ian	1	41	4	0	0-1	5.85

History

William D. (Wild Bill) Hunter was possibly the most powerful man in hockey not affiliated with the National Hockey League during the 1960s and early 1970s. He was a key figure in the creation of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1967, a Junior circuit that grew enough in stature to be considered on equal footing with the established Ontario and Quebec leagues. He owned and occasionally coached the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WCHL. He was brash, a natural showman, a man not afraid to go up against the "establishment", which during this era always meant the NHL. Gary Davidson and Dennis Murphy needed a man of Hunter's importance to get their incipient World Hockey Association off the ground. The two Southern Californians had a solid sense of how to run the league as a business venture, but neither were hockey fans and knew very little about the actual sport. Walt Marlow, a writer for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and a Canadian by birth and upbringing, took it upon himself to make the introduction. By mid 1971, Hunter was on board, along with fellow heavyweights Bob Brownridge (Calgary) and Ben Hatskin (Winnipeg). Marlow himself would join the WHA in a media relations role. Hunter recruited local businessmen Zane Feldman and Charles Allard to help bankroll the new Edmonton entry in the WHA, and on November 1, 1971, the Edmonton Oil Kings were announced as one of the inaugural 10 WHA teams. Brownridge took control of a planned Calgary team, and Hatskin owned the Winnipeg entry. Unfortunately, Brownridge fell ill and died in early 1972. The Calgary team went moribund and the franchise was sold to Nick Mileti in Cleveland. The Oilers, as the team was now rebranded, then planned to split its home dates in both Edmonton and Calgary, and adopted the Alberta prefix in its name. However, the Oilers ended up playing their entire home schedule at the 5,000-seat Edmonton Gardens. Building a team fell under Hunter's purview. He hired Ray Kinasewich, an Alberta native who played and coached for the various incarnations of the Edmonton minor-league squads of the 1950s and 1960s, as coach. The great goaltender Glenn Hall came aboard as Kinasewich's assistant, overseeing the goalies. For players, Hunter went with what he knew best: those with Alberta roots in some form or another. Alberta native Jim Harrison was the team's first star, and he came through with 39 goals and 86 points, leading the first-year Oilers. A pair of former Oil Kings, Ross Perkins and Ron Walters, scored 58 and 54 points respecitively. Rusty Patenaude, who had played for Calgary in the WCHL, scored 29 goals. Al Hamilton, most recently with Buffalo, led the defense and would be a member of the Oilers during their entire run in the WHA. Under coach Kinasewich, the Oilers played at break-even for most of the season. In early February 1973, he was relieved of his coaching roles, being "promoted" to an office role within the organization. Hunter then took over the coaching duties. The Oilers were 14-11-1 under Hunter, but finished fast with a 10-3-1 mark to close the season. This gave them a tie (with Minnesota) for 4th Place in the Western Division. A one-game, neutral-site game was quickly scheduled. The Fighting Saints defeated the Oilers, 4-2, in Calgary. Kinasewich would not return. His assitant Hall had also retreated from the team and was not around at season's end. Brian Shaw was hired to be the team's new coach for 1973-74. Shaw had coached the WCHL Oil Kings from 1971 through 1973. The team was largely unchanged, the notable new players being Ron Climie (from Ottawa) who would score 38 goals, and a 19-year old rookie named Blair MacDonald. Under Shaw, the Oilers came out of the gate fast, winning 13 of their first 14 games. Then the team regressed and played below break-even the rest of the way, finishing with a 38-37-3 record, exactly the same as the year before. The team lasted just the opening round of the 1974 playoffs. There were big changes for 1974-75, most notably being the completion of the modern Edmonton Coliseum, which would quickly be known as the Northlands Coliseum. Also, the team signed venerable goaltender Jacques Plante, aged 45 and most recently the sometimes-coach of the Quebec Nordiques, to tend the nets, rotating with incumbents Chris Worthy and Ken Brown. Rookie Mike Rogers led the team in goals with 35, with six other Oilers scoring at least 20. Harrison was gone by now (to Cleveland). Ken Baird picked up some of the slack with 30 goals. The team was playing well, sporting a 30-26-3 record in early March when Hunter relieved Shaw as coach and once more assumed the role himself. However, under Hunter, the Oilers faded, with a 6-12-1 record to finish at 36-38-4 and last place in the Canadian Division, out of the playoffs. Plante was gone, finally retiring as a player for good. Clare Drake, a long-time colleg coach, was hired to guide the team for 1975-76. Norm Ullman, after 20 seasons in the NHL, signed with the Oilers. The 1975-76 team never got untracked and suffered through its worst season to date (and what would be its worst season as members of the WHA). Drake could only make it to mid-January before being dismissed as coach with an 18-28-2 record. Hunter, for a third time in four seasons, assumed the coaching role. But he was ineffective, the Oilers winning just 9 of 34 games under Hunter. The team finished 27-49-5 ... but made the playoffs, finishing ahead of the Toronto Toros. But not surprisngly, the Oilers were swept by eventual champs Winnipeg in the first round. This was a difficult period for the Oilers. Hunter's leadership had worn thin and the team had little to show in its four years in the WHA. The team was not healthy financially, and for some time during the summer of 1976, there was concern if the Oilers would be back for a fifth season. The WHA had drawn up contingency schedules should the Oilers not return. That year, Nelson Skalbania and Mitch Klimove assumed ownership of the team, leading a small group of investors. The Oilers had sunk to their lowest point and there was only one way to go from there. Armand "Bep" Guidolin was hired to coach as well as assume the General Manager position. As coach, Guidolin could only muster a 25-36-2 record. The 1976-77 Oilers were a revolving door of players, but two stood out: Bill "Cowboy" Flett scored 34 goals in just 48 games to lead the team, while Glen Sather scored 19 goals, but would assume the coaching role after Guidolin removed himself from that role. Under Sather, the Oilers had a 9-7-2 record, and a 4th-place finish with one round in the playoffs. The Sather era had begun, albeit without much fanfare at this early stage. Peter Pocklington purchased controlling interest in the team in 1977, with Skalbania holding on to a significant minority stake, while also buying into the Indianapolis franchise to keep that team afloat, conflicts-of-interest nonwithstanding. This was during the summer of 1977, when the WHA and NHL were negotiating a merger. Suddenly, Edmonton looked attractive, with a modern arena and owership with money. Should a merger be agreed upon, the Oilers would be included, but it wasn't, and the Oilers convened to play again for the 1977-78 season, still members of the WHA. With Sather as full-time coach and now General Manager, the Oilers improved slightly to a 38-39-3 record and another one-round loss in the playoffs. Dave Langevin, Ron Chipperfield, Paul Shmyr, Blair MacDonald and Mike Zuke were new additions that gave the Oilers much-needed depth. It was in November 1978 that the Oilers made a deal that would, without any argument, forever change hockey history. They purchsed a 17-year-old child named Wayne Gretzky from the Indianapolis Racers (along with Peter Driscoll and Ed Mio). Gretzky was already seen as a major star and in just three weeks in the league, was already showing his unique skills. The WHA viewed him as their savior. He may not have been able to keep the Racers afloat, but he would help keep the league afloat while the WHA and NHL continued with merger negotiations. Gretzky alone made the WHA and some of its teams attractive to the NHL. The NHL very much wanted Gretzky in its league and it was now understood that the only way would be to allow the whole team in. The 1978-79 Oilers were the class of the reduced WHA, winning 48 games and finishing atop the standings. Gretzky scored 43 goals and 104 points for the Oilers, setting team records which he would easily break in the coming years. The Oilers looked like they had smooth sailing toward the WHA Championship, but the Winnipeg Jets, now featuring a number fo former Houston Aeros, solved the Gretzky dilemma (smother his wingers) and won the final round in six games. But by now, the Oilers knew their fate: they had been admitted as members of the NHL in March. The WHA would shut down immediately. The Oilers have been members of the National Hockey League since 1979, coming into the NHL as part of that year's merger between the two leagues. During the latter half of the 1980s, the Oilers were the dominant team in the NHL, winning five Stanley Cups (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990), with Sather at the helm and Gretzky and Mark Messier heading an all-star cast of players. The Oilers continue to represent Edmonton in the NHL to this day.

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Reviews, Podcasts and Media

• Article: Color of Hockey: Alton White (The Hockey News), by William Douglas — March 8, 2020
• Review: US Sports History, by Rich Macales — Feb 6, 2021
• Podcast: Good Seats Still Available, by Tim Hanlon — Feb 28, 2021
• Podcast: Digital to Dice (Youtube), by Dave Gardner — July 3, 2022

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