Matt Greene

Matt Greene

Matt Greene (born May 13, 1983 in Grand Ledge, Michigan, U.S.) is a professional ice hockey defenseman who currently plays for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

Greene was drafted in the 2nd round (44th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to his professional career, he played for three seasons with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In 2004–05, Greene captained the Sioux to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship game, losing to the University of Denver Pioneers 4–1.

Due to his talent, Greene was encouraged to leave college hockey after only three seasons to start a professional career. After a successful training camp with the Oilers prior to the 2005–06 season, Greene signed a pro contract with Edmonton and was assigned to their AHL farm team in Des Moines, the Iowa Stars. He made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers on December 30, 2005 versus the Nashville Predators, and scored his first NHL point on January 25, 2006 in Anaheim, assisting on an Ales Hemsky goal.

Wearing sweater number 32 for the first 13 games of his NHL career, Greene changed to sweater number 2 on February 2, 2006 when the Oilers faced off against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Greene was part of the Edmonton Oiler team that made a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the Oilers lost in game 7 of the finals to the Carolina Hurricanes. Greene had 0 goals and 1 assist in the 2006 Playoffs.

Greene scored his first NHL goal on December 15, 2006 against Minnesota Wild netminder Manny Fernandez. The goal was scored in the third period of the game, bringing the score to 1–1. The Oilers would eventually score 2 more goals, winning 3–1. Local Edmonton broadcaster Gene Principe awarded Greene the game puck during an interview session following the game. Greene also received the second star of the game due to his effort.

Greene and his Oiler teammate Jarret Stoll were traded to the Los Angeles Kings on June 29, 2008, in exchange for Kings defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky. On October 8, 2008 he was named as an Alternate Captain of the Kings. Nine days later, on October 17, Greene signed a five-year contract with the Kings.

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Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The team is currently part of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Oilers were founded on November 1, 1971, with the team playing its first season in 1972 as one of twelve founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). Notably, the team was temporarily renamed the Alberta Oilers when the Calgary Broncos (a fellow WHA founding franchise in Alberta) relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. However, the team returned to the Edmonton Oilers name the following year. The Oilers subsequently joined the NHL in 1979 as one of four franchises introduced through the NHL merger with the WHA. The Oilers are now the sole remaining WHA team playing in their original city.

After joining the NHL, the Oilers quickly went on to win the Stanley Cup on five occasions: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. As the dominant NHL team of the 1980s, the Oilers team of this era has been honored with "dynasty" status by the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame.

Their greatest success away from the dynasty years was their Cinderella run to the the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006.

As part of the Battle of Alberta that has manifested throughout Alberta sports history, the Oilers continue to maintain an intense rivalry with the Calgary Flames.

On November 1, 1971, the Edmonton Oilers became one of the 12 founding World Hockey Association franchises. The original team owner was Bill Hunter. Hunter had previously owned the junior hockey franchise Edmonton Oil Kings. He had also founded what would become the Western Hockey League. However, Hunter's efforts to bring major professional hockey to Edmonton via an expansion NHL franchise had been rebuffed by the NHL. Therefore, Hunter looked to the upstart WHA instead. It was Hunter who chose the "Oilers" name for the new WHA franchise. This was a name that had previously been used as a nickname for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 1950s and 1960s.

After the newly founded Calgary Broncos were relocated to Cleveland prior to commencement of the inaugural WHA season, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers as it was planned to split their home games between Edmonton and Calgary. Therefore, the team began their inaugural year wearing the name of the province ("ALBERTA") along the backs of their jerseys where the players' names would usually appear. However, the team switched to presenting the players' names midway through the season. Possibly for financial reasons or to allow for a less complicated return of the WHA to Calgary, the team ultimately played all of its home games in the Edmonton Gardens and subsequently changed its name back to the Edmonton Oilers the following year.

The team proved popular with the fans, behind stars such as defenceman and team captain Al Hamilton, star goaltender Dave Dryden, and forwards Blair MacDonald and Bill Flett. The team's performance would change for the better in 1978, when new owner Peter Pocklington scored one of the greatest trades in hockey history, acquiring already-aspiring superstar Wayne Gretzky as an under-age player (consequentially, his first year of WHA experience did not make him an official 1979–80 NHL rookie), as well as goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll, from the recently-folded Indianapolis Racers for a token sum. Gretzky's first and only WHA season, 1978–79, saw the Oilers shoot to the top of the WHA standings, posting a league-best 48–30–2 record. However, Edmonton’s regular season success did not translate into a championship, as they fell to the rival Winnipeg Jets in the Avco World Trophy Final. Young Oilers enforcer Dave Semenko scored the last goal in WHA history late in the third period of the final game.

The Oilers joined the National Hockey League for 1979–80, along with fellow WHA teams Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the Jets following a merger agreement between the two leagues. Of these four teams, only Edmonton has avoided relocation and renaming; the Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995, the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, and the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997.

The Oilers lost most of the players from 1978–79 when the NHL held a reclamation draft of players who had bolted to the upstart league. They were allowed to protect two players and two skill players, including Gretzky.

However, GM/coach Glen Sather carefully restocked the roster in the expansion draft. He later said that out of 761 players on the draft list, only 53 really interested him. He concentrated on drafting free agents, since the Oilers would get compensation if they signed somewhere else. He estimated that this saved the Oilers as much as $500,000 that could be used in the Entry Draft.

This strategy allowed the Oilers to put together a fairly respectable team quickly. In marked contrast, the Jets finished dead last in the league two years in a row. The Oilers benefited from an early run of success in the Entry Draft. Within three years, Sather and chief scout Barry Fraser bagged an outstanding core of young players, including Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog.

Blessed with an abundance of speed and skill and given room to grow by Sather, this impressive group of young talent matured into one of the greatest teams in hockey history, dominating the NHL in the mid-to-late 1980s. Many experts consider the Oilers from that decade not only to be the best team ever in the long history of the NHL, but also one of the best sports teams ever, as evidenced by a recent Sporting News poll in February 2006 when the 1987–88 Oilers were listed as one of the top-five teams from the last 120 years.

The Oilers made a name for themselves very early, making the Stanley Cup playoffs in their first NHL season (1979–80) with a dramatic late-season winning streak, but were swept by the Philadelphia Flyers in three games. Gretzky’s rookie disappointment was not limited to the “merger” rule that disqualified him from Calder Memorial Trophy voting—the Los Angeles Kings’ Marcel Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy (point-scoring crown), even though the rookie Gretzky had an equal point total, 137: Dionne with 53 goals and 84 assists; Gretzky with 51 goals and 86 assists. Dionne won the Art Ross on the basis of more goals, even though Gretzky had played only 79 regular season games to Dionne's 80. In his 1985 biography of his son, Gretzky: From the Backyard Rink to the Stanley Cup, Walter Gretzky argued that the NHL was inconsistent and unfair with regards to Wayne's eligibility for the Calder Trophy and "loss" of the Art Ross Trophy. While the letter of the law was against him, Gretzky won over the voters with his remarkable performance, and was awarded the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, an unprecedented feat for a teenager.

In the 1980–81 regular season, Gretzky began to take serious aim at the record book, scoring 109 assists and 164 points to break records held by former Bruin greats Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Bill Cowley. The Oilers unveiled a spectacular crop of rookies: Kurri, Anderson, Coffey and Moog. The youthful Oilers, whose seven key players were 21 or younger, stunned the hockey world by sweeping the heavily-favoured Montreal Canadiens in three games and pushing the (successfully) defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders to six games.

In the 1981–82 season, the Oilers made a dramatic leap in the standings—jumping from 74 points (14th overall) in the previous season to 111 points (second overall, behind only the Islanders). Gretzky not only became the third NHL player to score 50 goals in 50 games, joining the Islanders’ Mike Bossy from the previous season and Canadiens legend Maurice Richard from 1944–45, he obliterated their mark by accomplishing the feat in just 39 games. Gretzky finished the season with unprecedented totals of 92 goals and 212 points, and the explosive Oilers became the first NHL team to score 400 goals, a feat they accomplished in five consecutive seasons. But youthful lapses of discipline led to a first round defeat at the hands of the Kings, even as Gretzky beat Dionne for the Art Ross—in the 1980–81 to 1986–87 seasons, Gretzky won the Art Ross trophy every season, beating the annual runner-up by a colossal average of 66 points. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in each of his first eight seasons.

In 1982–83 the Oilers solidified their status as an elite team, making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, they were swept in four games by the three-time defending champion Islanders, who had already-greats like Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Denis Potvin. Goaltender Billy Smith played a huge role in the Finals, holding the high-scoring Oilers to just 6 goals. Despite the sweep, many hockey pundits believed it was only a question of when, not if, the Oilers would finally break through.

In 1983–84, the Oilers roared through the regular season, earning a franchise-record 57 wins and 119 points—by far the best record in the league—while scoring a still-unmatched NHL record 446 goals. They earned a rematch with the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals. They won the opening game in Long Island by a score of 1–0, and were pounded 6–1 in the next game. However, the Oilers erupted on their home ice to outscore the Islanders 19–6 over the last three games of the series. Gretzky scored his 99th and 100th goals of the season in the finale, a 5–2 Oiler triumph on May 19, 1984. Mark Messier, a former All-Star left wing switched to center late in the season in an inspired move by Sather, emerged from Gretzky's shadow with a dominating Finals performance that earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Edmonton repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1985, overpowering the Philadelphia Flyers and goaltender Pelle Lindbergh. Gretzky, Coffey, and Kurri all established playoff scoring records, with Gretzky capturing the Smythe Trophy for his virtuoso 47-point performance. The Oilers were unstoppable, scoring eight goals in the final game of each of their last three series, as well as going on an unmatched record 10 game winning streak to start the playoffs.

The Oilers seemed invincible after another record-smashing regular season in 1985–86, in which they won the first-ever Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team finishing with the most points in the regular season. Kurri, Anderson, and Gretzky all scored over 50 goals, while Coffey notched 48 to break Bobby Orr's record for defencemen. Gretzky's 163 assists established a seemingly-unbreakable league record; in fact, at that point no other NHL player had ever scored that many points in a season. Shockingly, their bid for a third straight championship—“three-peat”—came to an end in Game 7 of the 1985–86 Smythe Division Finals against the Flames. In the third period of a 2–2 tie, rookie defenceman Steve Smith banked his breakout pass off goaltender Grant Fuhr's left skate and into the Oilers' net. The goal stood as the game- and-series-winning goal.

At this point, Edmonton home attendance began to suffer for reasons unknown. In 1986–87, Edmonton returned to the Stanley Cup Final and again defeated the Flyers in a tense seven-game series, overcoming a Conn Smythe Trophy winning performance by Philadelphia rookie goalie Ron Hextall. In the seventh game Oiler stars Messier, Kurri, and Anderson were able to solve Hextall for a goal apiece, and a mature Edmonton squad held the Flyers to just two shots in the third period en route to a convincing 3–1 victory. In the post-game celebration, Gretzky immediately passed the Stanley Cup to Steve Smith, now vindicated after his costly miscue the previous season.

The following season saw some trouble with fluid blueliner Coffey, who was unhappy with his contract. He held out, prompting a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team on which Mario Lemieux was the main star. The key player acquired in return was Craig Simpson, who went on to score 56 goals that season. Without Coffey in 1987–88, the Oilers were dethroned as Smythe Division champions by their provincial rivals, the Flames, who also won the President's Trophy. However, the playoffs saw the Oilers make their strongest run to the Cup, losing only two playoff games (the lowest loss total ever for the Cup winners under the "16 wins" playoff format) and sweeping the Boston Bruins to win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years. In doing so, the Oilers left their mark as one of the greatest teams of all time.

A notable event in Finals history occurred in Game Four on May 24. With the score tied 3–3 in the second period, a power outage struck the legendary Boston Garden, forcing cancellation of the whole game. Then-NHL President John Ziegler ordered the game to be re-scheduled, and, if necessary, played in Boston after the originally scheduled Game Seven in Edmonton. The Oilers would win the next game (originally scheduled as Game Five) back in Edmonton 6–3 to complete the series sweep. All player statistics accrued in the aborted Game Four in Boston are counted in the NHL record books. Gretzky established yet another record with 13 points in the Finals en route to his second Smythe Trophy. After the Cup-clinching game, Gretzky implored his teammates, coaches, trainers, and others from the Oilers organization to join at centre ice for an impromptu team photo with the Stanley Cup, a tradition since continued by every subsequent Stanley Cup Champion.

On August 9, 1988, Gretzky, along with fan favourites Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, was traded to Los Angeles for $15 million, two rising young players (Jimmy Carson and Martin Gelinas), along with three first-round draft picks. Carson only played two seasons in Edmonton before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings. Gelinas played five years for Edmonton, never scoring more than twenty goals. The Oilers traded the 1989 pick (Jason Miller) to the New Jersey Devils for defenceman Corey Foster, then used the 1991 and 1993 picks to select Martin Rucinsky and Nick Stajduhar, respectively, neither of whom were major contributors during their time in Edmonton.

The 1988–89 season was a troubled one, as the Oilers were booted out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1982, losing a seven-game series to Gretzky's Kings. On top of this defeat, they had to see the Cup ultimately claimed by Calgary, their bitter rival. Gretzky and Kurri had been the dominant offensive pairing of the 1980s, and many said that Kurri without Gretzky would be ordinary. But in making the NHL Second All-Star Team in his first season without Gretzky, with 44 goals and 58 assists, Kurri proved his critics wrong.

It was seemingly the beginning of the end for Edmonton's brilliance, and 1989–90 looked set to continue the turmoil for the former juggernaut. Fuhr, the team's All-Star goaltender and a future Hall of Famer, was injured for most of the season and playoffs with a badly separated shoulder. He would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1991 after publicly acknowledging his cocaine problem (for which he was suspended an NHL record 60 games during the 1990–91 season). However, the team rallied behind Fuhr's backup Bill Ranford and an MVP season from new team captain Mark Messier to achieve a second-place finish in the Smythe Division behind Calgary. In the playoffs, the Oilers, led by their "Kid Line" of Gelinas, Adam Graves, and Joe Murphy (not to be confused with the 1932 Leafs line of the same name consisting of Busher Jackson, Joe Primeau, and Charlie Conacher), defeated Winnipeg, Los Angeles, and Chicago before disposing of the Bruins in five games to claim their fifth Stanley Cup in seven years. Ranford won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff Most Valuable Player for his brilliant goaltending, and Kurri said of the victory, “Just a great load off the backs of us Oilers—we’re not a one-man show, and everybody knows it now, after we won without Wayne.” This season was also a test for Mark Messier, who was named captain one season prior. He proved his leadership skills, having a career season with 129 points, finishing second to none other than Gretzky in scoring, scoring five more goals than Gretzky, and captaining his team to the Stanley Cup.

Seven Oilers, including Messier, Anderson, Kurri, Lowe, Fuhr, Randy Gregg, and Charlie Huddy, played on all five of those championship teams. Messier, Anderson, and Lowe subsequently won a sixth Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994; by remarkable coincidence, they were the first three draft choices in the history of the NHL Oilers.

The Gretzky trade had opened up a new reality of rapidly climbing salaries in the NHL. Edmonton has always been one of the smallest markets in the NHL; for most of the dynasty years it was the fourth-smallest (ahead of only Quebec, Hartford and Calgary) and is currently the smallest market. Despite Pocklington's wealth, the Oilers simply were not able to match the salaries offered by larger-market teams. This rash of escalating salaries hit the Canadian teams particularly hard; only Toronto, Montreal, and (to a lesser extent) Vancouver had the resources to compete in this new environment. In addition, Pocklington's business empire sank under the weight of recession, scandal, and corruption.

Messier, Kurri, Fuhr, Anderson, and later Craig MacTavish all left the team in rapid succession after the 1990 Cup triumph. Many of the players from the dynasty years continued to play at an elite level well into the 1990s, leading to speculation about how many more Cups the Oilers would have won had Pocklington been able to keep the team together. For instance, in 1994, the Rangers won the Cup with seven former Oilers on the roster– Messier (the first Stanley Cup captain on two teams), Lowe, Anderson, Graves, MacTavish, Esa Tikkanen, and Jeff Beukeboom. The Rangers' Stanley Cup win was where the last hurrah for the great Edmonton team of the 1980s came in.

The departures of the stars from the 1980s exposed serious deficiencies in the Oilers' development system. The younger players on the roster hadn't had time to develop before the players from the dynasty era left town. Also, the Oilers had done a poor job of drafting during the dynasty years, though it had gone unnoticed since their stellar records resulted in them drafting late in the entry draft. However, this didn't become apparent for a few years, as the Oilers were still strong enough to make it to the Campbell Conference finals in 1991 and 1992. However, it was obvious that the Oilers were nowhere near being the powerhouse that had dominated the league in the previous half-decade. In 1993 the Oilers missed the playoffs for only the third time in franchise history, and their first time as an NHL team. They would not return to the post-season for four years, despite the emergence of young centremen Doug Weight and Jason Arnott.

Trouble followed the team off the ice as well. For most of the 1990s, the Oilers were desperately trying to stay alive. In 1998, the team was nearly sold to Houston interests who sought to move the team, but before the sale was finalized, and with just hours left on the deadline, the Edmonton Investors Group, a consortium of 37 Edmonton-based owners, raised the funds to purchase the team from Pocklington, vowing to keep the Oilers in Edmonton. The Oilers received support in this endeavour from the NHL, which had already seen two Canadian teams (the Nordiques and Jets) move to the United States earlier in the decade.

In 1997, the Oilers made the playoffs for the first time in five years, and in the first round, they upset the Dallas Stars, who had compiled the league's second best record, in an exciting seven-game series. Riding on the hot goaltending of Curtis Joseph, the Oilers completed the upset on a breakaway by Todd Marchant in overtime. Another highlight of that playoff series was on April 20. Down 3–0 with just under four minutes to go in Game Three, the Oilers rallied for three goals in the final three minutes of the third period to tie the game and eventually win 4–3 in overtime on Kelly Buchberger's game-winning goal.

Though Edmonton would lose to the defending Cup Champs, Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche, in the next round, fans were ecstatic about the Oilers' return to the playoffs. In 1998, Joseph led the Oilers to another first-round upset. After spotting the Avalanche a 3–1 lead, the Oilers held the powerful Avalanche scoreless for eight straight periods en route to winning the series in seven games. Dallas and Edmonton met again in the second round, but this time, the Stars were the victors. This was the start of one of the most unusual rivalries in hockey: between 1997 and 2003 the Oilers and Stars played each other in the playoffs six times, five of them first-round matchups. The only year in which they did not meet was 2002, when neither team made the playoffs. This streak was not formally ended until 2006, when the second-seeded Stars (in the Western Conference) were eliminated in the first round by the Avalanche, while, for the first time in 16 years, the eighth-seeded Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Finals.

On November 22, 2003, the Oilers hosted the Heritage Classic, the first regular season outdoor hockey game in the NHL's history and part of the celebrations of the Oilers' 25th season in the NHL. The Oilers were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens 4–3 in front of more than 55,000 fans, an NHL attendance record, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. A few days earlier, on November 17, 2003, the Edmonton Oilers desperately needed a centre, and signed veteran Adam Oates to a contract. However, the 2003–04 NHL season was a disappointment as the Oilers failed to make the playoffs, despite also acquiring centre Petr Nedved from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline as the team went on a late-season surge, staying in the playoff hunt until the end of the season, narrowly eliminated from the postseason.

On July 23, 2004, the team announced that its American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Roadrunners, would play the 2004–05 AHL season at the Oilers' home arena of Rexall Place. The decision, an unusual one for a North American professional sports organization, was likely influenced by the expectation that the 2004-05 NHL lockout would wipe out the 2004–05 NHL season. After an unsuccessful year, the Edmonton Road Runners were suspended, and as of 2007, have not yet been revived in any form. Those plans have all but been terminated as the Oilers' long-planned push to own an expansion Western Hockey League major-junior franchise were granted on June 27, 2006. That team began play in the 2007–2008 season.

The Oilers struggled with their small-market status for years as big-market teams scooped up high-priced help, but after the wiped-out 2004–05 season, the Oilers looked poised to compete again. 2004–05 NHL lockout negotiations led to a collective bargaining agreement between the NHL owners and players that included a league-wide salary cap, forcing all teams to essentially conform to a budget, as many small-market teams had been doing for years. Sold-out buildings and a more reasonable conversion rate of Canadian dollar revenues to U.S. dollar payroll in the new millennium have also helped the Oilers to return to profitability.

Although Edmonton was one of the last teams to make a big splash in the free-agent market, they were able to acquire the rights to and sign former Hart- and Norris Trophy-winner Chris Pronger from the St. Louis Blues to a 5-year, $31.25 million contract, as well as trade for New York Islanders forward Michael Peca, two-time winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy for best defensive forward. Although the club had to give up Mike York and Eric Brewer to the Islanders and Blues, respectively, fans now hoped the team could at least return to the playoffs, if not to the glory the franchise enjoyed during its mid to late 1980s dynasty era.

However, the team suffered again from inconsistency during the first few months of the regular season, especially in goal and on offence. Goaltender Ty Conklin was injured during training camp, and when he returned, was unreliable in net. Nominal backup Jussi Markkanen showed flashes of brilliance, but still was not quite ready for regular NHL goaltending duty. Edmonton even tried third-string goalie Mike Morrison, called up from the East Coast Hockey League, but after a strong start, he too faded. A streaky goal-scoring production led by left-wingers Ryan Smyth and Raffi Torres had trouble putting pucks in the net at times, but Torres did produce back to back two goal games on his 24th birthday, October 8, 2005, against the Vancouver Canucks and on October 10, 2005, against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Chris Pronger also struggled early on with the rule changes restricting the amount of obstruction and front-of-the-net abuse—Pronger's previous specialty—that could be performed without a penalty, while Peca simply had trouble adapting to the Oilers' system and expectations, desperately underachieving. Many called for head coach Craig MacTavish to be fired; others wanted a big trade, some miracle. Nothing major materialized, but by the end of December, the Oilers led the Northwest Division with a 22–18–4 record for 48 points.

However, the Oilers remained inconsistent. By the end of January, the Oilers traded for scoring defencemen Jaroslav Spacek from the Chicago Blackhawks and Dick Tarnstrom from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and both defencemen, Spacek in particular, secured their shaky blue line. However, their goaltending was still in doubt, and the Oilers struggled after the Winter Olympic break. But right before Trading Deadline 2006, the Oilers added 2004 All-Star goaltender Dwayne Roloson from the Minnesota Wild, and speedy forward Sergei Samsonov, a former rookie of the year, from the Boston Bruins. The Oilers gave up a pair of picks for Roloson, and checking centre Marty Reasoner and prospect Yan Stastny (previously acquired from the Bruins) along with a 2006 second round draft pick for Samsonov. Reasoner returned to Edmonton after the 2006 playoffs ended.

The new acquisitions paid off, and Edmonton finished the regular season with 95 points, clinching the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference over Vancouver. Oiler youngsters Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, and Jarret Stoll led the way in scoring, with break-out seasons of 77, 73, and 68 points, respectively. Smyth finished with 36 goals and 66 points, the second-best seasons of his career in both respects. Smyth led the team in goal-scoring, with Raffi Torres next on the list at 27.

In the first round of the playoffs, the Oilers played the Presidents' Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings. Though not given much of a chance by experts around the league, the Oilers embarked on a great Cinderella run, pulling off a six-game upset, neutralizing Wings' offensive weapons Brendan Shanahan, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk by using the neutral zone trap. It was the team's first playoff series win since 1998. Edmonton would meet the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Semifinal. The Oilers weren't expected to win here either, after regular season scoring leader Joe Thornton (also acquired from the Bruins to go to San Jose) and goal champ Jonathan Cheechoo had torn through the Nashville Predators in just 5 games. After trailing the series two-games-to-none, the Oilers won the next four, vaulting them into Conference Final. In Game Six, Roloson had a 2–0 shutout—his first ever—and Michael Peca netted the game- and series-winning goal. In doing so, the Oilers became the first eighth-seeded team to reach a Conference Final since the NHL changed the playoff format in 1994. There the Oilers would beat the sixth-seeded Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in five games, claiming the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for a record seventh time.

Edmonton continued their Cinderella run against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals (marking the first time two former World Hockey Association franchises met in Stanley Cup play—the Hurricanes were previously the Hartford Whalers). In the third period of Game 1, with the score tied at 4, Oilers blue-liner Marc-Andre Bergeron knocked 'Canes winger Andrew Ladd into Oilers starting goalie Dwayne Roloson, causing an injury to Roloson's MCL, knocking him out of the series. With Roloson out, Rod Brind'Amour scored the game winner on a mix up by Ty Conklin and Jason Smith with only thirty seconds left. After trailing the series 2–0 and 3–1, the Oilers forced a seventh game while riding backup Jussi Markkanen, a miracle overtime shorthanded goal in game 5 by local hero Fernando Pisani, and a 4–0 shutout win at home in Game 6. They could not complete the comeback, however, as the Hurricanes won Game 7 by a score of 3–1 to capture their first ever Stanley Cup championship. The Oilers, on the other hand, would later hang their 23rd banner in their young history by winning the Western Conference Title.

Four days after their loss to the Hurricanes, Chris Pronger surprised Oiler fans and management when he issued a trade request on June 23, citing unspecified personal reasons. On July 3, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for sniper Joffrey Lupul, top defensive prospect Ladislav Smid, Anaheim's first round draft pick in 2007, Anaheim's second in 2008, and a conditional first. In addition, many of the Oilers' 2005–06 acquisitions signed for contracts elsewhere: Jaroslav Spacek went to the Buffalo Sabres on July 5, Sergei Samsonov signed with the Montreal Canadiens on July 12, and Michael Peca with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs on July 18. In addition, enforcer and fan favourite Georges Laraque, despite offering the Oilers a substantial pay cut in exchange for a no-trade clause, wound up signing with the Phoenix Coyotes, and goaltender Ty Conklin, seeking to rebuild his reputation, signed a two-way contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets the following day. The Oilers also lost 2002–03 New York Rangers acquisition Radek Dvorak to unrestricted free agency as the St. Louis Blues signed him on September 14.

Despite these losses, many of the Oilers' core players were re-signed. Playoff heroes Fernando Pisani and Dwayne Roloson signed as unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on the first day of eligibility, July 1. Jarret Stoll, Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky filed for arbitration as restricted free agents, but all settled for multi-year deals before their hearings came up; Hemsky, in particular, signed for six years and $24.6 million. The Oilers also brought back centre Marty Reasoner, whom they had traded for Samsonov in March, prospect Tom Gilbert from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, defenceman Daniel Tjarnqvist from the Minnesota Wild, and defenceman Jan Hejda from Mytishchi Khimik of the Russian Super League, whose rights were acquired from the Sabres for a seventh-round pick. On August 11, Rangers UFA forward Petr Sykora and the Oilers agreed on a one-year contract. Just over a month later, on September 12, Joffrey Lupul and the Oilers agreed to a three-year contract worth $6.935 million.

The Oilers posted a 32–43–7 record, their lowest point total since the 1995–1996 season, finishing in 11th place in the Western Conference and missing the playoffs. Throughout the season, the Oilers lost various players to injury and illness. At one point, they had eleven players out of the line-up and had to rely on emergency call-ups to fill their roster.

In May 2007, Daryl Katz offered $145 million towards the purchase of the team. Sources close to the Edmonton Journal state that, as part of the deal, the team will remain in Edmonton. No negotiations took place as the Board of Directors immediately responded that the Oilers were not for sale. In July 2007, Katz tried again, this time increasing the offer to an amount over $170 million dollars. Katz bypassed the Board of Directors and brought the offer directly to the shareholders. As of January 31, 2008, Katz has upped the offer to $200M plus $100M towards a new arena. He is expected to take over control of the team before the February fifth deadline.

The Oilers started out of the gate very slowly, going 5-10 in their first 15 games. They would finish the first half of the season 16-21-4. They would, however, turn it around after New Year's. With the emergence of young players like Sam Gagner, Andrew Cogliano, Robert Nilsson, Tom Gilbert, and Denis Grebeshkov, the Oilers would finish the second half of the season a remarkable 25-14-2 in 41 games. This despite missing big free agent signing Sheldon Souray, Shawn Horcoff, Raffi Torres, and team captain Ethan Moreau for the rest of the season. The Oilers finished 41-35-6, in ninth place in the Western Conference and only 3 points back of a playoff spot. Expectations are high for the 08-09 season.

In the off season, Kevin Lowe traded centreman Jarret Stoll and defenceman Matt Greene for the experienced Lubomir Visnovsky of the Los Angeles Kings. He also traded promising young defenceman Joni Pitkanen for the veteran power forward Erik Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes. Lowe also made offers in the off season to sign star forwards Marian Hossa and Jaromir Jagr, although neither deal went through. These moves were uncharacteristic for the Oilers over the last decade, but with new ownership and a new NHL, the Oilers have shown that they can compete in the free agent market for high priced talent.

The Oilers record against the Dallas Stars during the playoffs is 10-23, winning 1 series and losing 5. The Oilers record against the Minnesota North Stars during the playoffs is 5-4 (Edmonton recorded a 4-0 sweep over Minnesota in the 1984 conference finals) Combined, the record is 15-27.

The original 1972 design featured the now-traditional colours of blue and orange, but reversed from their more familiar appearance in later seasons, orange being the dominant colour and blue used for the trimming. For the first few games of the 1972 season, player names were not displayed on the uniform; rather the word "ALBERTA" was written in that space. Once it became clear, however, that the team would play exclusively in Edmonton, the player names made their appearance. These jerseys also featured the player numbers high on the shoulders, rather than on the upper sleeve.

In the 1975–76 WHA season the jersey was changed to the more familiar blue base with orange trim, but with some minor differences. The logo that appeared on programs and promotional material remained the same; however, the logo that appeared on the home jersey had a white oil drop, on a dark orange field, with the team name written in deep blue. The away jersey featured the orange-printed logo that many mistakenly attribute to the entire history of the WHA Oilers. Otherwise, though, the jerseys were nearly identical to the dynasty-era form that is known throughout the hockey world.

When the team jumped to the NHL in 1979, the alternate logos were discarded and the jersey took its most famous form, though the logo did appear slightly different on a few vintages of the jersey. Minor changes were also made to the numbering, lettering, and collar in their first few NHL campaigns. The essential design remained untouched until 1996, when the blue and orange were replaced by midnight blue and copper. Other changes made to the jersey at that point were the removal of the orange shoulder bar and cuffs from the away jersey, and the addition of the "Rigger" alternate logo to the end of the shoulder bar on the home jersey, and the equivalent position on the road jersey. A year later, the shoulder bars were removed from the home jersey as well, and the Oilers' sweater design then remained stable until 2007.

On September 16, 2007, the Oilers revealed their Reebok Edge jerseys during the Joey Moss Cup, which is held annually before each preseason. The Oilers' colours remain copper and blue but the style is quite different.

Rumors circulated over the off-season of possibly a new alternate jersey for the Oilers after the original alternate jersey was abandoned with the release of the new RBK Edge jerseys.

On October 7, 2008, the Edmonton Oilers announced their new design publicly on their official website. As suspicions confirmed, the jersey is remarkably similar to the 1980s away jersey with the only difference of significance being the new collar style of the RBK Edge jersey system. This jersey helped commemorate the Oilers 30th season in the NHL.

The Edmonton Oilers play at 16,839 capacity Rexall Place, previously known as the Edmonton Coliseum, Northlands Coliseum, and Skyreach Centre. They have played at the arena since it opened in 1974. In that time, they have seen two major renovations take place; once in 1980 when 2,000 seats were added to bring it up to NHL standards of the day and again in 1994 when luxury suites and club seating were added. Prior to that, the Oilers played at the now-demolished Edmonton Gardens. New Oilers owner Daryl Katz and numerous civic politicians have expressed a desire to build a new arena in downtown Edmonton.

An artist's interpretation of the new building's design has been fabricated as well as published in both of the city's major newspapers, the Edmonton Journal and the Edmonton Sun.

The Oilers are the northernmost team in the four major North American professional sports leagues. Edmonton is located above 53 degrees north latitude.

The Oilers are one of five teams in the NHL without a mascot.

Updated March 4, 2009.

Note: This list includes Oiler captains from both the NHL and WHA.

Note: This list does not include selections from the WHA.

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

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Ľubomír Višňovský

Ľubomír Višňovský (; born August 11, 1976 in Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia), is a Slovakian professional ice hockey defenceman with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Prior to joining the NHL, Višňovský played with Slovan Bratislava. His play attracted the attention of the NHL and he was drafted 118th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings as their 4th choice. He made the team for the 2000–01 season and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team after a 39-point campaign, tops among rookie defencemen. Višňovský remained with the Kings for seven seasons, recording a career-high 67 points in 2005–06.

Višňovský returned to play in his home country for the locked out 2004–05 season and was voted best player in Slovakia.

On June 29, 2008, Višňovský was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Jarret Stoll and defenceman Matt Greene on the day before his no trade clause would take effect. He was put on the injured reserve on February 5, 2009, after dislocating his shoudler in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 3. It was later revealed Višňovský required season-ending surgery to repair his labrum.

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2007–08 Edmonton Oilers season

The 2007–08 Edmonton Oilers season began on October 4, 2007. It was the Oilers' 35th season, 28th in the National Hockey League. This season also marks the debut of the Edmonton Oil Kings, a Western Hockey League expansion team purchased by the Oilers after the team spent several years attempting to buy and relocate any existing WHL team to the Alberta capital.

With major rebuilding necessary, the Oilers began the NHL free agency period on July 1st, trading Joffrey Lupul and Jason Smith to the Philadelphia Flyers for defencemen Joni Pitkanen, left winger Geoff Sanderson and a third round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Petr Sykora, having become a free agent, left the Oilers franchise and signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jan Hejda, also a free agent, left for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Oilers made a call to Ryan Smyth's agent early in the morning on July 1st stating they were interested in making an offer. Smyth wound up signing with the Colorado Avalanche.

Netminder Mathieu Garon was signed on July 3, 2007, as the backup goaltender to Dwayne Roloson.

It has also been reported that the Oilers had agreed to a contract with free agent Michael Nylander through his agent. While the Oilers were expecting a signed contract from Nylander and his agent, they later found out that he had signed with the Washington Capitals. The Oilers are currently pursuing their legal options on the matter.

Matt Greene signed a two year contract, Raffi Torres signed for three.

On July 5, the Edmonton Oilers Offered restricted free agent Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres a 7 year contract worth $50 million. The Buffalo Sabres quickly matched the Oilers offer.

On July 12, the Edmonton Oilers signed unrestricted free agent Sheldon Souray to a 5 year deal worth $27 million dollars.

On July 20, the Oilers signed Newly acquired defenceman Joni Pitkanen to a one year, 2.4 million deal.

On July 26, the Oilers offered Anaheim Ducks Forward Dustin Penner, a restricted free agent $21.25 million over 5 years. This is the second restricted free agent the Oilers have attempted to sign this off-season. The Ducks declined to match the offer, officially making Penner an Oiler.

On October 2, 2007, the Oilers announced Ethan Moreau as the 15th Captain in team history.

On February 19, 2008, Denis Grebeshkov scored the 8000th goal in the Oilers' franchise history.

On February 26, 2008, the Edmonton Oilers set a new NHL record for 13 shootout wins in a season, previously held by the Dallas Stars at 12 wins. Oilers goalie Mathieu Garon has stopped 30 of 32 shots and is 10 – 0 in shootouts.

On March 4, 2008, Gilbert surpassed Paul Coffey and Marc-Andre Bergeron for the Oilers' franchise record for most goals scored by a rookie defencemen with his 10th goal on the power play against the Nashville Predators goalie Dan Ellis.

On March 18, 2008, the Oilers scored eight goals for the first time in five years in an 8–4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

April, 2008, Oilers fail to place in the playoffs.

The Oilers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

The Oilers have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Edmonton's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio. The Oilers have three first round selections in this draft: 6th overall, the 15th pick, acquired in the Ryan Smyth trade, and the 30th pick, acquired in the Chris Pronger trade.

After shipping their prospects out across several clubs, the Oilers have signed a deal with the Springfield Falcons to be their American Hockey League affiliate in 2007–08. The Falcons will be the Oilers first full time AHL affiliate since the Edmonton Road Runners were suspended following the 2004–05 season.

The Stockton Thunder of the ECHL remain Edmonton's secondary affiliate.

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Jarret Stoll

Jarret Stoll (born June 24, 1982, in Melville, Saskatchewan) is a professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. Prior to joining the Kings, Stoll also played for the Edmonton Oilers, and the American Hockey League's Hamilton Bulldogs, as well as the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League.

Stoll played his early minor hockey in Melville, and then moved down the highway to Yorkton, Saskatchewan, excelling for their 'AA' and 'AAA' teams throughout the years. In 1997, Stoll helped the Yorkton Bantam AAA Terriers to a Western Canadian Championship. While in Yorkton, Stoll attended St. Paul's Elementary School and Sacred Heart High School. Jarret has an older brother, Kelly, who played for the Yorkton Terriers of the SJHL, and a younger sister Ashley who played for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women's hockey Team.

After winning the bantam championship, Stoll moved on to play for the Saskatoon Blazers of the Saskatchewan Midget Triple A Hockey League. Prior to joining the Blazers, Stoll was the first overall pick of the 1997 WHL Bantam Draft by the Edmonton Ice.

Stoll started his WHL career at the end of the 1997–98 season with the Ice, while they were still located in Edmonton. After this season, the team relocated to Cranbrook, British Columbia, and were renamed the Kootenay Ice. He played his entire junior career with the Ice franchise. In his third season, he was named team captain. In his final junior season (2001–02), Stoll captained the ice to a Memorial Cup championship.

While playing in Kootenay, Stoll went through the NHL draft process twice. In his initial year of eligibility, he was selected by the Calgary Flames 46th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He was unable to come to terms with the Flames. The Flames arranged a trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who thought they had made arrangements to have a contract signed by the appropriate deadline, but their fax to league headquarters did not make it in time. Stoll ended up re-entering the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. This time he was selected by the Edmonton Oilers 36th overall.

Also during his junior career, Stoll twice represented his country at the World Junior Hockey Championships, in 2001 and 2002, winning bronze and silver medals respectively. In 2002, Stoll was named captain for Team Canada.

After completing his junior career with Kootenay, Stoll entered the Oilers system, and suited up for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL in 2002–03. During the season, he received his first call up to the Oilers, and played in his first four NHL games, registering an assist as his first career point. In 2003–04, he skated with the Oilers full time. During the lockout season of 2004–05, Stoll returned to the AHL, with the Edmonton Roadrunners.

During the 2005–06 season with the Oilers, and during their run to the playoffs, Stoll solidified his position as a top faceoff man, and reliable NHLer. During a game against the Vancouver Canucks on February 4, 2006, Stoll set an Oilers record by winning 21 of 22 faceoffs (95.45%). The 2005–06 season marked his first Stanley Cup playoffs appearance.

In the 2006–07 season, Stoll ran into the first serious injury issues of his career, when he was waylaid with a concussion and missed over 30 games. Heading into the 2007–08 season, Stoll was named one of the Oilers alternate captains for the team's road games.

On June 29, 2008, Stoll was traded to the Los Angeles Kings along with Matt Greene for Ľubomír Višňovský. On September 5, the Kings signed Stoll to a four year deal worth $14.4 million.

Stoll has been dating Rachel Hunter, since 2006. The couple have a joint home in Hermosa Beach. While on a trip to Auckland, New Zealand, Hunter was seen with a ring on her left ring finger.

During the off season, he hosts a charity golf tournament in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to benefit the Jarret Stoll Comfort fund at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.

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United States men's national ice hockey team

The United States men's national ice hockey team is the national team for the United States, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The team is controlled by USA Hockey. As of 2008, the US team was ranked 6th in the IIHF World Rankings . The United States won the silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the gold medal at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Their most recent medal at the World Championships came in 2004 with a bronze and they won the tournament in 1960 and 1933. At the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the U.S. was unable to defend its title, losing to Finland in the semi-finals. Most recently, the team finished sixth in the 2008 IIHF World Championship. Their current head coach is Ron Wilson. As of 2007, the United States has a total of 457,038 registered ice hockey players (0.16% of its population).

Team USA's greatest success was the "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, when they defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to a gold medal. Though hockey is not a universally popular sport in the United States, the "Miracle" is often listed as one of the greatest achievements in the history of American sports.

U.S. hockey had a spike in talent in the 1990s with top NHL stars like Brett Hull, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch and Mike Modano and as a result, the team won the 1996 World Cup and earned a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. But by 2006, many of these All-Stars had retired or lost their skill with age. Though the 2006 Olympic Team finished a disappointing 8th place, it was more of a transitional team, featuring young NHL players like Rick DiPietro, Jordan Leopold and John-Michael Liles, and other young talents like Patrick Kane, Dustin Brown, Zach Parise, Phil Kessel, and Ryan Miller already have hockey analysts listing the United States as a potential medal contender for 2010.

The US team at the 2008 IIHF World Championship finished in 6th place after a loss to Finland in the quarterfinal round.

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