Top 100 Oilers: No. 73 — Don Jackson

Notable

A 39th-overall pick by the Minnesota North Stars in 1976 after a standout run at the University of Minnesota, Jackson carved out a blue-collar NHL career built on reliability and edge. He played 463 games, piling up 776 penalty minutes and 38 points while doing the sort of heavy lifting that doesn’t show up on score sheets.

In Edmonton, that toolkit translated into rings. Jackson was part of the Oilers’ first two Stanley Cup wins in 1984 and 1985, logging tough minutes as a steady, stay-at-home presence during the franchise’s transition from high-flying upstarts to champions.

After hanging up the skates, Jackson shifted smoothly into coaching, starting behind the bench with the ECHL’s Knoxville Checkers before returning to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Quebec Nordiques. Jackson made stops with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Ottawa Senators before heading overseas to Germany. Over nearly two decades, Jackson won 10 DEL Championships and one DEL Coach of the Year Award.

The Story

Don Jackson wasn’t the kind of player who was ever going to lead the team in scoring or make the highlight reels, but his role was invaluable to the Oilers as they grew from a high-scoring, wide-open young team into a championship-caliber machine.

After spending parts of five seasons with the Minnesota North Stars, Jackson was acquired by Edmonton ahead of the 1981-82 season. For a team that had all the offensive firepower in the world, what they desperately needed was some muscle and stability on the back end. Jackson provided exactly that.

A tough, physical defender, Jackson was willing to block shots, clear the crease, and stand up for his teammates when games got nasty. He played 64 games in his first full season with Edmonton, anchoring a blueline group that was still finding its identity. As the Oilers developed into champions, Jackson became a key depth piece, particularly in playoff situations where his no-frills, rugged game was perfectly suited.

Jackson was part of the roster that captured Edmonton’s first Stanley Cup in 1984, defeating the New York Islanders and ending their dynasty. He would win another the following year as the Oilers repeated as champions, cementing himself as one of the reliable role players who contributed to hockey’s next great dynasty.

What Brownlee said

There’s not a lot of room left on the marquee when you’ve got stars named Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Paul Coffey hogging the spotlight the way they did with the Edmonton Oilers in the early 1980s on the way to Hockey Hall of Fame careers. Don Jackson was always fine with that. Singers sing, dancers dance. Everybody has a job to do.

On a team full of thoroughbreds who’d tear up the track and bring fans to their feet in Edmonton and around the NHL as the Oilers rose up the ranks, Jackson, a big defenseman from Minnesota, was a plough horse. He was one of what people call the lesser lights, doing the grunt work in the background while his more talented teammates took centre stage. It was honest work. Necessary work.

Jackson’s NHL career spanned just 311 games, 262 of those with the Oilers, but he dropped the gloves a total of 43 times. Jackson was a willing, if not particularly adept, scrapper. He was the kind of guy teammates could count on to have their backs in any situation – that came in handy when the Battle of Alberta really was a battle. Playing in a support role, sticking his nose in when needed, was Jackson’s forte.

You can watch a clip of the Oilers and Flames going at it here with Jackson in the middle of the action. Some more Jackson, with Jim Peplinski, here. For a bit of comedic relief, you can watch Jackson, then coaching Cincinnati in the IHL, throwing down with Atlanta Mascot Sir Slapshot. It’s here. That dust-up cost Jackson a 10-game suspension. Suffice to say, Jackson more than made up for his lack of natural ability with a willingness to compete.

The Last 10

• No. 83 — Bernie Nicholls
• No. 82 — Georges Laraque
• No. 81 — Rem Murray
• No. 80 — Steve Staios
• No. 79 — Mike Smith
• No. 78 — Jimmy Carson
• No. 77 — Zack Kassian
• No. 76 — Eric Brewer
• No. 75 — Risto Siltanen
• No. 74 — Raffi Torres