Franchise History Lookbacks: The first four Edmonton Oilers NHL seasons

The WHA’s brief history

The WHA managed to last seven full seasons before having to merge with the NHL, and that in and of itself was most interesting. In 1978–79, the WHA was forced to play with just seven teams when the Houston Aeros folded before the start of the campaign.

The Indianapolis Racers (more on them later) folded partway through the season, leaving the Birmingham Bulls, Cincinnati Stingers (more on them as well later), Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers to finish the last WHA season. The former two of those six would be paid to fold, as Cincinnati underperformed attendance-wise and the NHL didn’t want Birmingham to compete with the Atlanta Flames. The Flames would relocate to Calgary a year later anyway. As for the latter two, the played for the 1979 Avco World Cup, won by the Jets, their most recent pro hockey championship.

This article will be the first in a weekly series detailing all of the key points of the Oilers’ NHL history. Now that we’ve gotten the WHA backstory out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the post-merger Oilers. This article will detail the beginnings of this storied franchise.

The 1979 offseason, and the following NHL debut campaign

The Oilers went into the 1979 offseason and corresponding NHL Draft facing the same roster upheaval that the other former WHA teams would have to undergo. The process was that each team would only be able to protect two skaters and two goalies from being “reclaimed” by NHL teams with a player’s rights, with some exceptions. This would be followed by an Expansion Draft, then followed by an Entry Draft as we’ve historically seen.

All four WHA expats would be placed at the end of the Entry Draft when that occurred. This would have given the Colorado Rockies (not the baseball team, the former hockey team that would soon become the New Jersey Devils) the first overall pick. This is notable because former Racers forward Wayne Gretzky, sent to Edmonton midseason, would have been in high demand for the draft. However, the Oilers successfully got to keep him via a personal services contract he had signed during that final WHA season. Thanks to the Oilers landing a generational talent due to Indianapolis needing a cash boost, the biggest part of the Oilers future was secure.

Through the 1979 NHL Draft, the Oilers would collect more key pieces to their future. They would draft defenceman Kevin Lowe with the 21st and final pick in the first round, to start. The fireworks really came, however, in a trade executed with the Minnesota North Stars. Not only did the Oilers use their second- and third-round selections to acquire enforcer Dave Semenko, they would also receive a higher third-round pick, 48th overall. The eligible drafter they picked, from the Cincinnati Stingers? Mark Messier. Make that two talents the Oilers acquired from soon-to-be-defunct WHA brethren before their first NHL game.

One final offseason tidbit: in that reclamation process before the Entry Draft, the Oilers again had traded with Minnesota. They agreed not to protect a skater (Paul Shmyr) that the North Stars held NHL rights to, in exchange for the North Stars’ fourth-round pick. That pick would become Glenn Anderson. There may have been regret in the Minnesota front office down the road.

The season begins and the team is okay but not dominant yet

The Oilers’ first NHL game occurred on October 10, 1979 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the old Chicago Stadium. The Oilers kept it close, but ultimately lost 4–2, their only loss suffered in their first six games. Those first six games would actually be a harbinger of things to come that season. The Oilers had talent, could easily beat their ex-WHA kin (their first win would be a 6–3 decision three games later over the Nordiques) and could keep things close with NHL teams. However, they also had some growth to go through, as all four of the other games in those opening six finished with ties. Six games in, the Oilers were batting .500.

One thing the Oilers could do well early on was make their home rink a tough place for opponents to play in. Over the course of their inaugural NHL campaign, the only month the Oilers had a losing home record in was February, when they managed a 3–4–1 showing through eight home dates. Every other month in 1979–80 had a .500 or better record at the old Northlands Coliseum.

The Oilers and Whalers would both make an expanded 1980 Stanley Cup Playoffs, however neither fared well that year in the postseason. It may have been to the Oilers benefit that they snuck in to the playoffs in 1980; as we mentioned, it was still a young squad that had to grow some more. An early taste of playoff hockey would give Edmonton a taste of what it needed to do moving forward.

The pinnacle of the early years: Eliminating the Canadiens

The one thing to note about the Montreal Canadiens during this time is that, before the New York Islanders won their first Stanley Cup, the Habs had their own four-peat. When the Oilers began NHL play, Montreal was the four-time-defending champion, attempting to complete the Drive for Five. And even if they fell short of that goal, in the early-1980’s they were still no slouches.

So imagine, after having fallen in a sweep to the Philadelphia Flyers the year before, the task before Edmonton in 1981. Having to conquer a best-of-five series, as the 14th seed in the 16-team playoffs, against the third-seeded Canadiens. Gretzky had yet to register higher than a 55-goal season, WHA holdover Eddie Mio was the de facto starting goalie in the regular season, and a guy named Brett Callighen would finish ahead of Glenn Anderson in team scoring. Up against the Norris Division-best Habs.

That is just a bit of context as to why the Oilers’ three-game sweep of the Habs in the opening round of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs is such a legendary moment. It was essentially the olden-days version of the Blackhawks being swept by the Nashville Predators in 2017. Similarly to that series, the Oilers only allowed the Habs a total of six goals across all three games, with Game 2’s 3–1 decision being the closest result. The then-unheralded Andy Moog became the Edmonton starter for the playoffs, and put in a solid performance throughout the series. Gretzky set a playoff record with five assists in Game 1, and the rest wrote itself.

A lot of people who only know the Oilers’ recent history may think the reputation of the Coliseum being a loud barn is derived from the 2006 playoff run. To hear those who remember this upset in 1981 tell it, Game 3 of that Montreal series was the true genesis. Oilers fans, energized by the potential to complete the sweep, packed the Coliseum and gave the Oilers the extra vocal boost needed to snuff out any Habs comeback hopes. That kind of energy would become commonplace the rest of the decade.

A high-flying 1981–82 season

If 2022 was the starting point in the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl era from where they rose to contention, 1981 had been it for the Gretzky-Messier Oilers. They had just swept the mighty Habs, and taken a defending Cup champion Islanders team to six games in the second round. There was a strong reason to feel good about what was cooking up at Northlands, and the potential that this young team already had.

The regular season would only add to that feeling. Gretzky would set the 92-goal singleseason record that still stands today, and notch over 200 points. Moog, and newly heralded Grant Fuhr, would give the Oilers solid (for the 1980’s) goaltending. Messier, Anderson, and young defensive stud Paul Coffey joined the scoring party throughout the season.

The Oilers would finish atop the Smythe Division for the first time ever. That would set up what was expected to be an easy series with the Los Angeles Kings, who to that point had experienced very little playoff success. Vibes were high and free in Edmonton.

You have to lose to know how to win (featuring a Miracle on Manchester)

Much in the same way that 1981 was the glory-days Oilers’ version of 2022, however, 1982 would be their 2023. The year where the expectation had become much greater than the early exit of before, only for it to happen again anyway. In a full-length five-game series, the Kings managed to steal a series victory, including a clinching Game five at the Coliseum, of all places.

The “Miracle on Manchester” still stands as one of the worst collapses in Oilers history, as in Game three at the LA Forum, the Kings rallied from 5–0 down to win 6–5 in overtime. What should have been the Kings on the brink of elimination ended up being the Oilers. And despite their better efforts, Edmonton could not recover.

Notably, there’s a big parallel in net here. Much like 2023 with Stuart Skinner, the Oilers went with Fuhr, then a rookie, in goal for the 1982 playoffs, and while he was solid in the two Oilers wins of the series, he allowed 22 goals against across the three Kings wins. The rookie goalie’s first playoff run isn’t always the greatest; not all of them are going to be Can Wards or Jordan Binningtons.

This served as a needed humbling of a team that had otherwise flown so high throughout that season. The playoffs were a different animal, and the Oilers had to be reminded that talent alone would not win them a Stanley Cup. They still had to grow some more.

How would the growth factor in to their next couple of seasons? We all know what would happen following 1982. The in-depth look at 1983 and 1984 will come next weekend, as we continue the “Franchise History Lookbacks” series.