Over the years I have been really lucky to be able to view some of the greatest players in the history of Hockey Live in Edmonton. The list of players varies from Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Bill Ranford and Grant Fuhr to Chris Prongt and Curtis Joseph to Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. I don’t think I really realize how happy I have been to see these stars up close and personally.
No matter how impressive these players have been, there is nothing above my first oilers game in April 1974 when the oilers were part of the World Hockey Association (WHA). I was nine years old the first time I went to an Oilers game; It happened to be their first play -off victory in franchise history, A 2-1 win over the Minnesota Fighting Saints. It was the only victory that the Oilers would achieve in the first round series, because the fighting Saints brought the series four games to one, but it was just cool to be there.
Related: Oilers’ History: Reminder of the Night Gretzky Brak Howe’s Points Record
I visited my grandmother before Easter and my cousins Kenny, Terry and Robert Walchuk took me to the game. When we walked into the old Edmonton gardens, we had to walk past the Klondike Wrestling Arena where legends such as Andre de Giant and Abdullah once roamed the butcher. The gardens smelled like a small town of hockey rinking with the aroma of fried onions, .50 cents of hamburgers and cigarette smoke in the air.
When we came to our seats, we had to turn our heads to avoid the pillars that stood in the way. That was part of the charm of watching a competition in the Edmonton Gardens, a building that is famous to host Edmonton Oil Kings Memorial Cup competitions and countless concerts With artists such as Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Deep Purple, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles.
Everything was magical about that game, perhaps because the oilers won, but also just experienced a pro hockey game with the broad eyes of a curious nine -year -old. The star player of Die Edmonton/Minnesota series was Mike “Shakey” Walton who had collected and ended that season 57 goals and 117 points First general in scoring In the 1973-74 WHA season. Walton finished six points for second place Andre Lacroix of the New York Golden Blades/Jersey Knights and even reports such as Gordie Howe van de Houston Eros and Bobby Hull of the Winnipeg Jets who finished in the top five. Needless to say, the whole experience was something special that I still remember 56 years later.
Other great games in Edmonton
I usually go to a few games per season, and I can just imagine that the enormous amount of stories that can share Oilers season card holders for a long time. I was in the stands in the old Northlands Coliseum in 1984 and looked at the USSR Bee Team USA with 2-1 in a Canada Cup Round-Robin game. The game contained a young Igor Larionov for the Soviets and the first general concept choice for Team USA, Brian Lawton. I also added and saw the USSR defeated the Canada team led by Gretzky, Messier and Mike Bossy 6-3.
Years later, on October 15, 1989, I was high in the nose blood seats when La Kings Superstar Gretzky returned to Edmonton to become the NHL’s of all time when he recorded the 1,851st point of his career to go for the Great Gordie Howe. That was a night to remember, especially looking at the crowd so hard for a team other than the oilers.
McDavid -era
Living in an NHL city is a real luxury for a hockey fan. It is really something special for me to have viewed Gretzky and Messier in their Prime, and now McDavid and Draisaitl. A game that I personally saw that a big impression left on me was On December 14, 2023. That game contained a game within a game such as McDavid and Tampa Lightning goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky tried to take each other. I remember that Vasilevsky McDavid put in the game early during an escape. And then McDavid got a clear opportunity in the second period and buried it. Seeing McDavid and Vasilevskiy, two of the largest players in the NHL history, trying to surpass each other, was easily worth the entrance fee.
There are many other remarkable oilers -games, too many to name, which I was lucky to attend, but now I like to hear from you. How was your first oilers game? Or your first NHL game? I would like to hear about it in the commentary section below.
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