Top 100 Oilers: No. 62 — Marty McSorley

Notable

Marty McSorley went undrafted out of junior with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL, but was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent.

He jumped right to the NHL in 1983-84, scoring nine points and 224 PIMs. After largely playing next season in the minors, the Edmonton Oilers acquired him for the rights to goaltender Gilles Meloche in 1985.

This is when McSorley became the heir apparent to Dave Semenko as Gretzky’s Bodyguard, registering 265 PIMs. They played together in 1985-86, but Semenko’s lack of versatility made him expendable, and he was dealt the following season.

McSorley also showed flashes of being able to play forward and defence, which he did throughout his career.

His on-ice play improved as part of back-to-back Stanley Cups, scoring 4-3–7 in the 1987 playoffs, and then setting a new career high in points the following season with 9-17–26.

His ability as a protector was valued enough that he tagged along with Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings (along with Mike Krushelnyski), and McSorley’s best playing days were ahead.

The finest season was 1992-93, the Kings’ eventual Stanley Cup Final appearance season, where he scored 15-26–41, a career high 399 PIMs, and then was a huge factor in the playoffs, some suggesting his play was only outshone by Wayne.

Health and suspensions started to get the better of McSorley, never dressing more than 68 games in a season again, and bouncing around to Pittsburgh again, Los Angeles again, the New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, the Oilers again, and finishing in Boston, where the bleak end awaited.

The Story

McSorley was a clear fan favourite for his dogged protection of his teammates, knowing at times he was going to cross a line to get a point across.

“One instance, we were playing Detroit. I was on the bench. Wayne and Jari [Kurri] were out there. Detroit was mugging, holding. And I stood up on the bench and yelled, “Jari, get off!” And Jari looked (confused) and came to the bench. I jumped on. I was on the ice for maybe 15 seconds and I went out to Gerard Gallant,” McSorley said in Rexall Place Memories.

“He looks and says, ‘What are you doing here?’ And I said, ‘I’ve come to kill you.’ He quickly went off the ice and so did I…to have the freedom to grow as a player and that attitude of looking after the guys and being part of the guys, really solidified me as an NHL player.”

McSorley’s nasty streak came out in Game 3 of the Smythe Division Finals against the Flames, a classic lightning rod moment in the BoA. The Oilers, perceived as underdogs, had taken both games in Calgary.

As Kevin Lowe recalls in the book Champions: The Making of the Edmonton Oilers, McSorley was dazed by a nasty hit from Gary Roberts and was seeking vengeance.

When Mike Bullard jumped out on the ice, McSorley speared him, simultaneously to Charlie Huddy scoring a 2-1 goal. To an irate Calgary bench, the goal was allowed, but McSorley was given five and a game, and then suspended for three games.

“I know I shouldn’t have done it because I put our team in jeopardy with a major penalty. But I was disoriented,” McSorley said in Champions.

Bullard said about his former Pittsburgh teammate in McSorley, in Mark Spector’s book The Battle of Alberta:

“Roberts absolutely tattooed McSorley…as soon as he saw a Calgary player, he was going to pitchfork him, it just happened to be me….Marty and I are good friends…but in the Battle, there are no friends. Marty and me? We hated each other.”

His physicality also made the Boston Bruins become unglued in the pivotal Game 3 of the SCF. Ahead 2-0 in the series and tied 1-1in the game, McSorley collided heavily with defenceman Michael Thelven at center. No penalty was called, but Thelven was hurt, requiring a stretcher to leave the ice.

McSorley got under the skin of the opposition, so much so that early in his Oilers tenure in 1986, after a brutal BoA brawl, Doug Risenbrough took McSorley’s jersey with him to the penalty box and sliced it with his skates.

In an era where playing on the edge and crossing the line was part of the deal, McSorley is a fondly remembered Oiler for being one nasty SOB.

As a personal aside, McSorley was the first big leaguer I ever met as a teenager in Vermilion, when the Stanley Cup was doing a tour before Hockey Day in Canada. He was really kind to a long-haired teenage dork like me and signed a crummy 1991 Score hockey card. Thanks, Marty.

What Brownlee said

“Wayne said to me, ‘Make sure you get McSorley.’ I worked that out pretty quickly, although Sather was not happy about the idea,” Bruce McNall said about how the biggest trade in the history of the NHL unfolded. When the greatest player ever to lace on the blades in the NHL makes you a part of a deal like that, you’re doing something right. That was McSorley, a ruffian on the ice and a smart, engaging guy off it.

The other thing about McSorley, of course, is he could play the game. As rugged and raw as he was when he broke into the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1983-84 after being undrafted, McSorley spent his years in Edmonton, and later in Los Angeles, working non-stop to become a better player. He started out as an unskilled enforcer who could throw opponents around for fun and didn’t stop striving to be better until he was a reliable player who could throw opponents around for fun.

With the Oilers, McSorley not only took a regular shift, he eventually took over from Dave Semenko as Gretzky’s designated muscle. In an era when some tough guys could barely play the game at the NHL level, the ability to do double duty served McSorley well on the way to winning two Stanley Cups in his first stint with the Oilers before he packed for Los Angeles.

The Last 10

• No. 72 — Andrew Cogliano
• No. 71 — Anson Carter
• No. 70 — Adam Graves
• No. 69 — Vincent Damphousse
• No. 68 — Dustin Penner
• No. 67 — Roman Hamrlík
• No. 66 — Pat Hughes
• No. 65 — Dave Brown
• No. 64 — Tom Gilbert