The Edmonton Oilers' history reveals a remarkable series of accomplishments during a span of 26 seasons. Those 26 seasons have seen the Oilers begin life as a charter member of the World Hockey Association in 1972/73 and evolve into one of the world's greatest teams as a member of the National Hockey League.One of the founding franchises of the WHA, the Oilers began play in the new league in 1972/73 as the Alberta Oilers. After their inaugural season, the franchise was renamed the Edmonton Oilers and the familiar oil drop logo on the team's sweater has become known the world over as a symbol of excellence in the sport.The Oilers played seven seasons in the WHA, reaching the Avco Cup Final in the league's final season of 1978/79, losing the best-of-seven series to the Winnipeg Jets in six games. The summer of 1979 produced the most heralded sports announcement in Edmonton's history. With Peter Pocklington playing a prominent role, the Oilers along with three other WHA teams - Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers - were accepted into the National Hockey League.The Oilers' first opportunity to take part in a National Hockey League draft came that summer, and their first selection developed into one of the best in the game. Kevin Lowe's talents were quickly evident, and he helped solidify a strong blueline corps. The second round and third round choices also developed into great players. Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson personified the Oilers' commitment to high speed excitement.After a very tenuous beginning that season, the Oilers turned things around to capture a playoff spot in their first year in the League; and although they were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round, the potential of the team was enormous.In 1980/81, successful drafting again helped to shape what would turn out to be a meteoric rise to the top. Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri and Andy Moog were all selected that season and all played a significant role in helping the Oilers capture a playoff spot and then stun the hockey world by upsetting the famed Montreal Canadiens in three straight games.
The eventual Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders eliminated Edmonton from the playoffs, but the team was now poised to take a significant run at first place in the National Hockey League, despite being in only their third NHL campaign.
As the Oilers entered their 1981/82 season, the most prominent newcomer was goaltender Grant Fuhr, the team's first round draft pick that year. Backstopped by Fuhr and Ron Low, the Oilers played brilliantly to finish the season in second place overall. Offensively, they continued to be paced by Wayne Gretzky's remarkable accomplishments. He registered 92 goals and 120 assists for 212 points, all records. He thrilled a Christmas holiday crowd at the Coliseum on December 30th by scoring five goals against Philadelphia to give him 50 goals in just 39 games.  
Despite all of the excitement, however, the year would be remembered for the bitter disappointment of losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Kings. After their shocking elimination by the Kings, the Oilers' resolve intensified as they realized how hard it was to win the Stanley Cup.    
In a move to further shape the team's destiny, Glen Sather engineered a complicated trade to acquire Ken Linseman and drafted for Czechoslovakian veteran Jaroslav Pouzar. Both moves turned out to be vital to the team's fortunes over the next two seasons.The 1982/83 season was Edmonton's fourth in the League, but everyone was impatient for the regular season to end so the Oilers could pursue what appeared to be their destiny.After finishing first in the overall standings, the Oilers entered the playoffs with an intensity rarely seen in young teams.
That commitment carried them to the finals of the Stanley Cup playdowns, only to be eliminated by the New York Islanders, but the team now had a taste of success, and it seemed only a matter of time before they would ascend to the throne.      
 
As the 1983/84 season dawned, the prophetic words of Peter Pocklington were recalled. As the Oilers entered the League, he had stated the Oilers would win the Stanley Cup in five years. Although he has since admitted he had no idea how difficult that would be, he also conveyed his philosphy of positive thinking to the young Oilers.
The Oilers finished with a remarkable 119 points that season, and then steamrolled their way through the playoffs to face their nemesis, the New York Islanders, in the finals. New York had won four straight Stanley Cups, and the feeling was that they would again handle the upstart young Oilers.
On May 10, 1984, at Long Island, the Oilers played one of the greatest games in their history scoring a 1-0 triumph that served notice to everyone that the Oilers were for real and that they would not be denied. They lost only one game in the series; and on May 19th, the city of Edmonton erupted into a celebration reminiscent of VE-Day as the Oilers skated to victory and claimed the Stanley Cup
The next season was evidence that success would not spoil the Edmonton Oilers. After an enormously successful season, they again entered the playoffs with one objective - to prove they were the best team in the world. Sweeping aside their opposition, the Oilers again advanced to the final to face the Philadelphia Flyers. After dropping the opening game in Philadelphia, the Oilers then swept the next four games and retained possession of the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.1985/86 turned out to be a bittersweet season for the Oilers. They dominated regular season play to the extent that they were runaway winners of the first ever President's Trophy, a new award given to the first place finishing team. Wayne Gretzky established lofty new assist and total point awards, while Paul Coffey was named the best defenceman in the League after breaking Bobby Orr's goal scoring standard.
The playoffs, however, were a different story. After sidelining the Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers encountered their provincial rivals from Calgary. The Flames, smarting from the many losses they had suffered at the hands of the Oilers, played the series of their lives and won the seventh and deciding game of what many hockey observers called the most intense and exciting series in National Hockey League history
The first eight years of the Oilers' tenure in the NHL, 1979/80 to 1986/87 saw the team set countless records, register hundreds of victories and win three championships. But the Oilers didn't stop there. The last nine seasons have been an exhilarating ride, complete with two more championships and more post-season thrills than most cities experience in a lifetime.Let's pick up the action in 1987/88, which was another banner year for the Oilers...literally. They finished the season with a 44-25-11 record, good enough for 99 points and second in the Smythe Division.Led by Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, Jari Kurri and Kevin Lowe (all of whom played in the All-Star Game) and Glen Sather (who coached it), the Oilers were a force to be reckoned with. Fuhr won the Vezina Trophy as outstanding goaltender, Gretzky had 149 points, Messier 111. Craig Simpson, acquired from Pittsburgh in the Paul Coffey trade, is named top first year Oiler.
They were an absolute powerhouse that steamrolled through the playoffs, beating Winnipeg 4-1, sweeping Calgary 4-0, dumping Detroit 4-1, and sweeping the Bruins 4-0.Actually they swept Boston 5-0. Game four was cancelled due to a power failure, so the series returned to Edmonton, where the Oilers won on home ice 6-3. Their 16-2 playoff record still stands today.
Late in the regular season, in a deal that didn't seem like much at the time but turned out to be monumental, the Oilers acquired Bill Ranford and Geoff Courtnall for Andy Moog.The 1988/89 campaign marked the first time the Edmonton Oilers began a season without Wayne Gretzky. The Great One had been traded to the Los Angeles Kings in the off-season for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, draft picks and cash.People wondered how the Oilers would fare without the greatest player in hockey. They didn't have to wait long for an answer. Edmonton had a pair of 100-point men (Kurri with 102 and Carson with 100), Messier had 94 and Grant Fuhr was still Grant Fuhr. A total of six Oilers made the All-Star game in Edmonton. Fuhr, Kurri, Lowe, Messier, Carson and Sather. In other words, there was still plenty of ammunition in the Oilers arsenal.The Club finished the year with 84 points; and as fate would have it, met Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs. It was a beauty. After splitting the first two games in Los Angeles, the Oilers went up 3-1 with a pair of victories at home.It looked like the series was over. But the Kings, with the help of Gretzky and unknown miracle man, Chris Kontos, roared back to win the series in seven games. It didn't work out for the Oilers, but it was great hockey, full of emotion.In the off-season, Sather continued to tinker with the machinery. Carson was dealt to Detroit that summer for Joe Murphy and Adam Graves. Like the Ranford deal the year before, few people realized how significant that trade would become.The 1989/90 was the year the Oilers proved they were more than simply Wayne Gretzky's supporting cast. This was their coming out party.Kurri, Messier, and Lowe made the All-Star team; Messier finished the season with 129 points, second only to Gretzky's 142. Mess would later go on to win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. John Muckler moved behind the bench as co-coach.
The Club finished the year with 38 wins and 90 points. They were good, but they weren't expected to win the Stanley Cup. Boston had 101 points, Calgary 99, Buffalo 98 and Montreal 93.With Fuhr injured right before the playoffs, their hopes looked bleak. When Ranford struggled in a division semi-final series opening 7-5 loss to Winnipeg, it appeared as though golf season would be starting early in Edmonton.
But that would be the last bad game Ranford played that Spring, and the "Kid Line" of Murphy, Graves and Gelinas was a blur of perpetual motion.
The Oilers beat Winnipeg in seven games, swept Los Angeles in four, beat Chicago in six. Then they met the Bruins, who finished first overall, in the final. No contest. The Oilers wrapped it up in five games, one of them a triple overtime victory capped off by Petr Klima's goal. Bill Ranford won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
In 1990/91, led by Messier, Ranford and Steve Smith, the Oilers finished the year with a .500 record, 80 points in 80 games, but the regular season wasn't the story that year. It was the playoffs.The Battle of Alberta. It was the first time Edmonton and Calgary met in the playoffs in three years. Any time the provincial rivals met it was an event, but this was one of the greatest, most dramatic series of all time.The Oilers took a 3-1 series lead, with Klima, Tikkanen and Murphy scoring winners.    
But Doug Gilmour, Theo Fleury, Al MacInnis and the Flames wouldn't quit. They won game five, then game six in overtime. It all came down to game seven. Calgary built a 3-0 lead at home, but the Oilers led by their new leader Tikkanen, fought back to tie it late in the game. At 6:58 of overtime, Tikkanen won it.
Edmonton beat Gretzky and the Kings in the next round, in a series where four of the six games went to overtime. By the time the conference final came around, the Oilers were physically and emotionally drained and lost to Minnesota in five games.Edmonton didn't win the Cup that year, but they provided some of the great moments in NHL playoff history. Ted Green took over from Muckler in 1991/92, and led the Oilers to a 36-34-10 record and third place in the Smythe. The Oilers had been restocking and retooling for the future that summer.Vincent Damphousse, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton and Peter Ing joined the fold in a blockbuster deal for Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube. And Messier went to the Rangers for Bernie Nicholls, Steve Rice and Louie DeBrusk. Kelly Buchberger scored 20 goals and 44 points to go with his 157 penalty minutes that year.The Oilers beat their old foes, Los Angeles, in six games. Then Vancouver in six, but the high-flying Chicago Blackhawks proved too much, beating Edmonton in four straight in the Campbell Conference Final.
The rebuilding began in earnest in 1992/93. On the ice, the Oilers were 26-50-8 for 60 points and missed the playoffs. Off the ice, they were among the busiest teams in the League. Shayne Corson came to Edmonton for Vince Damphousse. Zdeno Ciger and Kevin Todd arrived from New Jersey in exchange for Bernie Nicholls.Late in the season, the New York Rangers wanted Tikkanen for their playoff drive. In a move that didn't generate a great deal of attention at the time, the Oilers gave up Tikkanen in exchange for an American-born player named Doug Weight. That deal might just go down as the best move in franchise history.
Weight only had 40 points in 65 games with the Rangers, and added only eight more over the last 13 games in Edmonton. But, as Oilers fans would later discover, it would only be the beginning.The winter of 1993/94 saw more new faces in the Oilers dressing room. They missed the playoffs again, but you could see the sculpture taking shape. Weight had 24 goals and 50 assists in 74 games. First round pick Jason Arnott won the team award for top first year player, and narrowly missed winning the Calder. Arnott picked up 33 goals and 35 assists as a rookie, along with 104 penalty minutes, serving notice that he will be a force to be reckoned with very shortly. Zdeno Ciger scores 57 points. Dean McAmmond and Igor Kravchuk come to Edmonton for Joe Murphy. Edmonton also drafted Miroslav Satan in the fifth around
In the Spring, the Oilers traded Dave Manson to Winnipeg for Boris Mironov, Mats Lindgren and a first round pick (Jason Bonsignore). A week later they traded Craig MacTavish to the Rangers for Todd Marchant. In August, an arbitrator awarded the Oilers Bryan Marchment as compensation for the Hartford Whalers signing of Steve Rice. Yes, the team was definitely taking shape.Nothing went well in 1994/95. Right from the lockout-shortened season to the 17-27-4 record to the firing of head coach George Burnett. Arnott suffered through a little of the sophomore jinx, but still managed 37 points in 42 games. Marchant scored 27 points and was named top first year Oiler. Weight, Arnott, Corson and Oliver led the team in scoring, but nobody was anywhere near the top 25. Burnett was fired 35 games into the year with a 12-20-3 record and Ron Low takes over, leading a playoff drive that falls just short.The Oilers looked more like a rebuilding contender in 1995/96. Arnott returned to his dominating self. Weight had his first 100 point season and made the All-Star Team. Satan, Marchant, McAmmond and Mironov began living up to their potential. Mariusz Czerkawski came over in a trade for Bill Ranford. Curtis Joseph came here for Shayne Corson, and proved the Oilers didn't skip a beat when they decided to change goalies.The Club hit stride down the stretch, emerging as one of the top teams in the League, but simply ran out of games and missed the playoffs.The 1996/97 season saw the Oilers rebuilding efforts finally bear fruit as the team finished with a 36-37-9 record and qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in five seasons. Led by the stellar play of Doug Weight, Ryan Smyth and Curtis Joseph, the Oilers improved a total of 13 points over their 1995/96 record of 30-44-6, finishing in third place in the Pacific Division standings
Weight led the Oilers in scoring for the fourth consecutive season as he tied for 17th in the NHL scoring race with 21 goals and 61 assists for 82 points in 80 games.Smyth enjoyed the best season of his career as he scored 61 points in 82 games, leading the Oilers with 39 goals. His 39 goals ranked 13th in the League and he tied for the NHL lead with 20 powerplay goals. With the 20 powerplay goals, Smyth tied the team record for most powerplay goals in a season which was established by Wayne Gretzky in 1983/84.Joseph backstopped the Oilers to their first post-season berth since 1991/92 as he played in 72 of the team's games and established a new Oilers' record with six shutouts.
The Oilers met Dallas, which finished with the second best record in the NHL, in the first round of the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs and in the post-season's most exciting series defeated the Stars 4-3 in overtime of the seventh and deciding game. Todd Marchant scored the series-winning goal on a breakaway at 12:26 of overtime as his shot beat Dallas goaltender Andy Moog. Just prior to Marchant's goal, Joseph had made an unbelievable save on a shot by Joe Nieuwendyk to keep the score tied.
Following their series victory over Dallas, the Oilers met the Colorado Avalanche in the conference semi-finals and fell four games to one to the defending Stanley Cup Champions.