After The Trade: Edmonton And Los Angeles, And What They've Done From Then Till Now

Okay, it's been 25 years since Gretzky went from Edmonton to Los Angeles, and this stat loving blogger decided to look at exactly how both teams have fared from the season following (1988/89) to the last season (2012/13).

I realize also, I should perhaps have waited one more season for this, due to the nature of the comparison. For 25 seasons is more relevant than 25 years (See how much that strike of 2004/05 hurts the Simple Season Count. Now I always have to subtract one season off when I cover anything from before 2004/05 till after)

A little guide:

SC = Stanley Cup (Won the Stanley Cup)

F = Stanley Cup Finals (Reached that stage and lost)

CF = Stanley Cup Conference Finals (Reached that stage and lost)

CSF = Stanley Cup Conference Semi-Finals (Reached that stage and lost)

CQF = Stanley Cup Conference Quarter-Finals ("Reached" that stage and lost. Doesn't sound so bad does it, but if you must, say, "First Round!")

P W = Playoffs Wins (The total playoff games won that year by that team)

P L = Playoff Losses (The total playoff games lost that year by that team)

MP = Missed Playoffs (Pretty self-explanatory, yes?)

Italics indicate which team has the greater total of that particular category. If there are no italics on either team it means they are tied.




References


Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 06 Aug. 2013.

How The Great One Missed Out On 100!

Wayne Gretzky was off and flying in the 1981/82 season. He'd gotten 164 points the previous season, and was just 20 years old. What a season he would have!

After 39 games he had 50 goals, the last five coming in an 8-5 victory over the Flyers in game 39!

After 64 games, he had 79 goals; the last three coming in a 6-3 win over the Sabers.

Gretzky kept right on going. With three goals in the next two games, it was now 82 goals in 66 games. That’s 1.24… goals per game. Continue that pace for the next 14 games and you’re at 99.39…goals in one season. So close to 100, eh?

But here is what happened next, and for the rest of the season:

Game 67 (Enters with 82 goals and 99 assists!) at Montreal. The Habs, seeking revenge for last year's playoffs, hold Gretzky to 2 assists in the first two periods and nothing at all in the third. 3-3 tie that sees the Habs honour Gretzky as The Rocket himself presents Gretzky with a trophy (A fishermen and paddle, remember?). The Oilers swarm all over Rick Wamsley at one point and, FAIL TO SCORE!

Game 68 (82 goals, 101 assists coming in) @ Quebec. Carbon copy of previous game, 2 assists, NO goals. 6-4 for the Nords. Quebec once had an NHL team??? You know, they CAN get another. Let’s all keep are hockey sticks crossed.

Game 69 (82 goals, 103 assists coming in) at Colorado. That's Colorado Rockies, not Avalanche.  Wayne's old buddy Chico Resch does him and the rest of the Oilers in by holding the Oil to just two goals (5 for Col, btw) and NO points for Wayne. 5-2 final for Colorado.

Game 70 (82 goals, 103 assists coming in) at LA. Wayne must not have liked LA, THEN! And in a preview of what will soon transpire in the playoffs, it’s 3-0 Kings after two before finally the Oilers make a game of it. The Oilers get two goals (two assists from Wayne), but it's the Oilers THIRD straight loss! 3-2 final.

Game 71 (82 goals, 105 assists coming in) vs. Buffalo. Don Edwards (The victim of goals 77, 78, 79) gets a chance at redemption and takes it! 44 shots against him, but just two goals for the Oilers. No points for Gretzky and another loss for Edmonton! A low scoring affair by those days’ standards. In addition to just two tallies for the Oilers, The Sabers get just 3. For those who enjoy extra curricular activities in hockey, this one was a fight filled game! Another 3-2 loss.

Game 72 (82 goals, 105 assists coming in) vs. Vancouver. At last, a win. No goals though for Gretzky. Another fight-filled game that not only has blood, but something else red. But also Ketchup himself! Yep, that’s Steven Heinz in net for 'Nucks. Grand total of 23 shots for the Oilers, but Steven can’t CATCH UP to 5 of them! Gretzky does get 3 assists. Vancouver makes a game of it, however, by popping in 3 themselves. Vancouver gets 39 shots as Grant Fuhr continues to impress in the Oiler net.

Game 73 (82 goals, 108 assists coming in) vs. Los Angeles comes to Edmonton to invite Wayne to play for their team someday. Marcel Dionne’s career can be summed up by this game. He gets a goal early in the first, early in the second, and then the rest of the game overshadows his efforts. By the way, Dionne has 45 goals himself at this point. Gretzky gets an even strength marker at 15:55 to pull the Oilers to within a goal, but then Pat Hughes takes a penalty and the Oilers try to make it out of the period down just one.

Gretzky though, makes sure they head for the dressing room tied by potting a short handed tally at 17:54.

Rick Fox and Mark Messier (Up to 44 goals himself) trade tallies in the third, and the game ends 3-3. Good game for Mario Lassard, as he stops 34 of 37 Oiler shots.

Game 74 (84 goals, 108 assists coming in) vs. Pittsburgh. Legend has it that someone came to this game with a crystal ball and said, “Not tonight, but someday, I see someone called Mario, someone called Jaromir, someone called Ron, and later still, someone called Sid, someone called Evgeni, someone called Jordan, ALL playing for the Pens someday.”

Alas, SOMEDAY was NOT this day! The best the Pens could do with was Dionne. No, not Marcel, but rather Dion (as in Michel Dion) in net. 42 shots for each team. The difference was that 10 of them were goals for the Oilers and just 3 went in for Pitt. Chalk up 3 goals and two assists for Wayne.

Game 75 (87 goals, 110 assists coming in) vs. Calgary. Things looked bleak for the Oilers, as it was 3-1 with less than 7 ½ minutes remaining. But then an assist for Wayne on Messier’s PP goal and Gretzky’s 88th twenty-three seconds later made it a 3-3 final. No overtime or shootouts back then, SORRY!

Game 76 (88 goals 111 assists coming in) at Calgary. 7,234 who came ALL felt warm at the end of the game. Not from Calgary, but rather Edmonton. By the time Calgary netted their second (and final) goal of the night, the Oilers had FOUR courtesy of 2 goals and 2 assists by Gretzky. Mercifully, he would be held off the score sheet the rest of the way! 7-2 Edmonton.

Game 77 (90 goals 113 assists coming in) at Colorado. Mile high, but mild shot totals for both teams, and scoring galore! That’s the way to describe it. Gretzky is in on half of Edmonton’s goals (1G, 2A), but Colorado scores six themselves and we have another tie.

Game 78 (91 goals, 115 assists coming in) at LA. The Oiler’s don’t get ahead 5-0. They get ahead only 4-0 before the Kings get one by future NHL exec Mike Murphy. Messier makes it 5-1 by the end of 2. It is then that #92 is scored. A buck fifty in, Gretzky scores from Anderson for his LAST regular season goal of 81/82. The game ends, 6-2 Edmonton, with Gretzky getting an earlier assist.

Game 79 (92 goals, 116 assists coming in) vs. LA. The Oilers run up the score again. And this time, the Kings have had enough. Penalties! 165 minutes. 20 seconds left in the 1st, and almost nobody made it to the dressing room. The second period is tamer, but Fogolin is so incensed that he doesn’t make it to 0:01 of the third as he get ejected for fighting!

As for the scoring. It was 3-1 Kings. Then, all Edmonton the rest of the way! 1:31 seconds before all that first period mayhem, Gretzky picks up an assist. He had plenty more of those!

The third period saw some Oiler penalties and a whole lot of Oiler goals. Five to be exact! Gretzky got the assist on Hunter’s 16th, and with time winding down (23 seconds to go), Gretzky and Anderson again are involved in a 50th goal. That of Mark Messier. As before, their celebration costs the Oilers. Bruce Hood calls the Oilers bench for a minor, just like when the Oilers bench got 2 for Gretzky’s 50th that season! Finally, the game ends!

Game 80 (92 goals, 119 assists) vs. Winnipeg. Exactly halfway through the first period, Gretzky and Anderson set up Kurri’s 32 goal (Only 32?) and final goal of the year. No more scoring from the Oilers, who had just scored their second goal of the game. A tally by Winny makes it closer in the third, but the Oilers hang on for a 2-1 win.


The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/

References

Hockey Fights, Stats, Reviews and Trading. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.http://dropyourgloves.com/>

Hockey Summary Project. 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://hsp.flyershistory.com>

The Short Career Of Bill McCreary Jr.

It’s one of hockey’s greatest myths.

I hear it all the time.

“Have I ever told you about the time Gretzky got hit by that Leaf…”, some old hockey fan would tell me at a bar.

“Toronto’s Billy McCreary catches Wayne with his head down and crunches Wayne with a beauty! Funny thing folks, Billy never played another shift in the National Hockey League!” Don Cherry in Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em III.

McCreary hit the Great One and never played another shift in the national Hockey League. He was blacklisted!

So goes the legend.

The reality is that game in question was not Bill McCreary’s last game. And no he did not become a linesman after he retired. It was his second NHL game, actually. And he had ten more games to play in the NHL after the hit on Gretzky.

William McCreary Jr. was born on April 15, 1960 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Not a big or tall player, 6 feet and 190 pounds, he was selected 114th overall in the 1979 Entry Draft.

He came from a hockey family. Here’s where it gets confusing.

His father, William, played parts of four seasons (27 games) with the Rangers, Wings and Canadians. In the summer of ’67, the elder McCreary was traded to the expansion St. Louis Blues, where he embarked on a useful four seasons, even leading the league in short-handed goals in 67/68.

Also in the ‘67 expansion, Uncle Keith McCreary was plucked from the Montreal Canadians by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Later traded to Atlanta, Keith managed three 20 goal seasons.

Another uncle, Ron Attwell played 22 games with St Louis and New York that same season.

Cousin Bob Attwell made his debut in 1979/80, playing seven games that year and 15 more the next.

His other cousin, Bill McCreary, from Guelph, is the referee!

The next year was also Bill Jr. debut. Drafted in the sixth round, he found himself in one of the most famous drafts ever. It was the same draft where the Edmonton Oilers took Kevin Lowe 21st, Mark Messier 48th and Glen Anderson 69th. The draft also produced such standouts as Rob Ramage(1st), Mike Foligno(3rd) Mike Gardner(4th), Rick Vaive(5th), Ray Bourque(8th), Mike Ramsey(11th), Brian Propp(14th) and Michelle Goulet (20th)

McCreary was discovered by Leaf GM Gerry McNamara at the age of 15. At the time, Bill was attending a hockey camp in Halliburton. Coincidentally, Wayne Gretzky served as an instructor at this same camp in 1982.

At the age of 16 with the Cleveland Junior Barons of the GLJHL in 1976/77, McCreary scored 26 goals and 26 assists in 40 games. The following year was his big breakthrough which saw him net 51 goals and 123 points in 40 games. That’s three points a game for those keeping track!

McCreary attended Akron University and Colgate University, His time in Colgate saw him net 44 points in 24 games his first season. He added 7 goals and 13 assists in 9 games the next.

Then he started his professional career at New Brunswick Hawks (AHL) in 1980/81. He showed a little bit of everything there, scoring 19 goals and adding 24 assists in 61games. His toughness earned him 120 penalty minutes.

Called up in December, he played his first game on December 30 in a 5-3 loss against St Louis. He number, by the way, was 28.

Then came his second game on January 3, 1981. It was a road game against Edmonton. Here’s where McCreary made his mark.

McCreary caught a still teenager with his head down as he crossed the ice near the Leafs blue line. And at this point we know who I’m talking about. The hit seemed to knock the wind out of Gretzky, who staggered a bit before coming to a rest on the ice.

Gretzky finished the game with a goal and two assists, on his way to a record 109 assists and 164 points. The Oilers won the game, 4-1. Both NHL records were ones that Gretzky himself would topple in years to come. McCreary, for his part, said that he figured the Oilers would come back at him for that. Oddly enough, no one fought him right there or for the rest of the game.

The rest of Bill’s career has been forgotten by everyone. But there were some highlights along the way. Not only did he play the next game (very next day, actually) against Calgary, but McCreary scored his first and (as it turns out) only NHL. Coincidentally, the Leafs #99, Wilf Paiement, got the assist (along with Sittler) as Toronto took an 8-5 loss. The goalie was Reggie Lemelin.

On January 7th, during an 8-2 loss to Winnipeg, McCreary took his first ever penalty in the second period.

Now there was a January 14, 1981 game between Toronto and Edmonton. I’m not sure if McCreary played in it, but this seems to be the game that everyone assumes the hit happened. I don’t get it, because this was a home game for the Leafs and the hit happened in a road game. The Oilers won this game as well, 7-4, with Gretzky getting two goals and an assist.

McCreary did, play again. In a 2-2 tie with Vancouver on January 20, he took another minor penalty. Thus even if that hit on Wayne occurred in the January 14th game, here is proof that he continued his NHL life.

His last game for the Leafs was on January 30th 1981, one month and 11 games after his first game. He finished his NHL career with 12 games played, 1 goal, 0 assists, 7 shots on goal, a -6 rating and 4 penalty minutes.

McCreary spend 81/82 in Cincinnati of the CHL. In 69 games, he netted 8 goals and 27 assists in 69 games and dropped his penalty total to 61 minutes. But never again did he return to the NHL. His finished his career playing five seasons with the IHL’s Milwaukee Admirals in 87/88.


"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"





References

"Hockey Summary Project." Hockey Summary Project. N.p., 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 05 Apr. 2010,

Matheson, Jim. "Gretzky The Star Of His Own Show." Edmonton Journal. Edmonton. 05. Jan. 1981. C1. Web (Archive). 05 Apr. 2010., http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DyNlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SYgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4317,1606796&dq=bill+mccreary&hl=en

Podnieks, Andrew. The Essential Blue And White Book: A Toronto Maple Leafs Factbook. Vancouver: Greystone, 2001. Print.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zKFVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fEANAAAAIBAJ&pg=1149,861705&dq=bill+mccreary&hl=en