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
Kampurri, 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
Kampurri, 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

For years, hockey in Edmonton (and for that matter, all of Alberta and neighboring Saskatchewan) was dominated the colorful W. D. (Wild Bill) Hunter. By the mid-1960s, Hunter was owner and occasional coach of the junior Edmonton Oil Kings, which played in the ancient Edmonton Gardens. He was a key figure in the creation of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1967, a Junior circuit that eventually grew enough in stature to be considered on equal footing with the established Ontario and Quebec leagues. However, the creation of the WCHL did not come without some controversy, but Hunter always enjoyed a good battle in taking on the hockey "establishment". Thus, when Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson came to Canada seeking support for the new WHA in 1971, Hunter was immediately interested, and with his connections and background, helped launch the WHA in Canada. Hunter's involvement came through the efforts of a beat writer for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, a transplanted Canadian named Walt Marlow, who took it upon himself to bring together Murphy and Davidson with the heavy hitters in western Canada. With Hunter on board, the WHA awarded one of the ten inaugural franchises to him on November 1, 1971. Local businessmen Zane Feldman and Charles Allard entered in with Hunter as the bankrollers and the new team adopted the Oilers nickname. Hunter would be the team's general manager, building it from scratch. The first-year Oilers pursued NHL players with Alberta connections including former players for the Edmonton Junior Oil Kings. Ray Kinasewich, an Alberta native who played and coached for the various incarnations of the Edmonton minor-league squads of the 1950s and 1960s, was hired as coach. Helping him, in an unofficial role as assistant, was the legendary goaltender Glenn Hall. Under Kinasewich, the Oilers played break-even hockey for most of the season. Jim Harrison was the most productive forward, leading the team in goals with 39 and points with 86. Former Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Al Hamilton chipped in 50 assists to lead the club. Ross Perkins (21 g, 37 a, 58 pts), Ron Walters (28-26-54) and Rusty Patenaude (29-27-56) also posted good offensive numbers. However, Kinasewich was not around for the end: he had been replaced in early February by Hunter himself, a habit of Hunter's, carrying over from his days managing his Junior clubs. The two coaches had a combined 38-37-3 record, the team tying for fourth place with Minnesota in the Western Division. Although the two teams had identical records and also had four wins apiece against one another, the Oilers should have been declared the fourth-place team by their advantage in goals. However, the league decided at the last minute to hold a one-game playoff between the two teams to break the tie. The game was held in Calgary, and the Oilers were beaten 4-2 by the Fighting Saints. Another former Edmonton Oil Kings coach, Brian Shaw, became the coach of the Oilers in 1973-74, and despite 13 wins in the first 14 games, the second-year team finished again with a 38-37-3 record. Newcomer Ron Climie led the team with 38 goals and 74 points, and second-year men Hamilton and Harrison tied for the team lead in assists with 45. This time, the Oilers' record was good enough for third place in the Western Division, but they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota. The 1974-75 club, playing in the new Edmonton Coliseum, slipped to a record of 36-38-4, and finished last in the new Canadian Division. Jacques Plante left his coaching job with Quebec to play a season in goal for the Oilers. The 46-year old legend won 15 games and posted a shutout, part of a three-man rotation in goal. Seven players scored at least 20 goals, led by rookie Mike Rogers' 35. Hunter repeated history and fired coach Shaw, who had a winning record at the time of being let go. Under Hunter, the Oilers won just 6 of 19 games and finished last in the Canadian Division and out of the playoffs. The Oilers bottomed out in 1975-76, finishing 27-49-5. Rusty Patenaude (42 g, 72 pts), Tim Sheehy (34 g, 65 pts) and long-time NHL vet Norm Ullman (31 g, 87 pts) led the offense, but a lack of depth hurt the team. New coach Clare Drake, a successful college coach at the University of Alberta, lasted half the season before falling victim to Bill Hunter's axe, and for the third time in four seasons Hunter finished the season as the Oiler bench boss. Hunter had a 9-21-3 mark in his third tenure behind the bench. Despite a near 50-loss season, the Oilers made the playoffs, managing to finish ahead of the woeful Toronto Toros. Their fourth-place finish in the new Canadian Division was good enough for the tenth and last playoff spot in the WHA's liberal playoff format. Not surprisingly, the Oilers were no match for the powerful Jets, losing in four straight. In 1976, new owners Nelson Skalbania and Mitch Klimove took over, releasing Bill Hunter from his duties and association with the team. The Hunter era had ended. Skalbania hired former Boston Bruin and Kansas City Scout coach Armand "Bep" Guidolin to rebuild the struggling Oilers for 1976-77. Guidolin was a busy man as general manager, making deal after deal, but the transient Oilers failed to gel under Guidolin the coach. He stepped aside as coach in February 1977 and selected forward Glen Sather to assume the role. Sather, who would assemble and coach a superior Oilers team to five NHL Stanley Cups during the 1980s, cut his teeth by leading the Oilers to a fourth place finish in the Western Division and an early exit in the playoffs. Bep Guidolin's involvement with the Oilers ended after the 1976-77 season. Peter Pocklington purchased majority control of the team in 1977 from Skalbania, who in turn bought into the Indianapolis franchise (while keeping a minority stake with Edmonton). The 1977-78 club continued its rebuilding program and the Oilers finished a respectable 38-39-3 under Sather before being eliminated in the playoffs in the first round. The offense was led by Bill "Cowboy" Flett's 41 goals, with Ron Chipperfield and Blair MacDonald each meeting the 30-goal mark. The defense was anchored by the capable corps of Paul Shmyr, Dave Langevin and Al Hamilton, while Dave Dryden and Don McLeod blocked the pucks in goal. The 1978-79 club was once again playing break-even hockey when Pocklington made the most significant move in the franchise's history, purchasing 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky from the faltering Indianapolis Racers in November. Gretzky responded by setting Oiler records with 43 goals, 61 assists and 104 points. Chipperfield, MacDonald and winger Brett Callighen rounded out the offense, while Dave Dryden had a superlative year in goal, posting 41 wins, three shutouts and a 2.89 average. The upstart Oilers went as far as the finals of the 1979 playoffs, but a more experienced Winnipeg team proved too formidable and the Oilers were beaten in six games. In March of 1979, the NHL agreed to absorb four of the WHA teams as expansion teams. The Oilers were one of the new four, to begin play in 1979-80. 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 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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• Article: Color of Hockey: Alton White (The Hockey News), by William Douglas — March 8, 2020
• Review: US Sports History, by Rick 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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