1985 Oilers Day By Day

You can look, but you won't find better coverage of the 1985 Waiver Draft than right here on @OilersDayByDay . It happens today and the excitement is palpable. Matty reports that the Oilers may receive Mike Moller as the futures for Pat Hughes and John Tonelli continues to sit.

The Oilers closed out the 1985 pre-season with 6-3 win over the North Stars. Wayne Gretzky didn't dress, so who wore the C? DAVE SEMENKO. No photo of that exists so I made one with "AI". MacTavish, Summanen & Tikkanen have all made the team after solid preseason results. Depth!

Novelist Mordecai Richler says Wayne Gretzky is safe, for now, from fame in the USA. He adds Canadians take sour pleasure in having its icons be overlooked in the larger world. If 99 becomes a success in the US, only then will Canada find his flaws, or invent them.

Dave Lumley racked up 4 pts in last night's putrid 7-5 pre-season loss to St. Louis, but says he'll retire if any team claims him in the waiver draft. Mike Palamateer got in his 3rd game as an Oiler and allowed 3 goals in 15 shots. But the farm team already has Daryl Reaugh...

Blue Jays, Yankees, game 160 of the regular season. It's Toronto's 9th MLB season and they still have three originals from the expansion draft, Whitt, Iorg & Clancy. Today they're trying to win the powerful AL East for the first time. To Fergie Oliver & Ken Singleton:

Some other names available in the waiver draft:
Dan Bouchard, Don Lever, Bobby Orr (lol), Ivan Boldirev, Phil Russell, Doug Shedden, Bengt Lundholm and ex-Oilers: Ed Mio, Ccolin Colin Campbell, Mike Rogers & Tom Roulston.

Pat Hughes' goal totals over his first three seasons as an Oiler were 24, 25, 27 but last year fell to 12, with just 1 in the playoffs. His greatest game as an Oiler came when he recorded 5 goals in January of 1984:

Breaking - A two time Stanley Cup winner with the Oilers, PAT HUGHES has been dealt to the Penguins, for futures. Sad! The Oilers' waiver list is out, and Willy Lindstrom, Larry Melnyk, Marc Habscheid, Bill Carroll & Dave Lumley are all available.

Oct-4-85:
- The upcoming waiver draft is agony on Sather, who shows so much loyalty to his player. Hughes, Lindstrom, Lumley, who stays, who goes?
- Raimo Summanen is poised for a breakout year
- Marc Horton says Blue Jays '85 fever will take time; Expos 80-81, now THAT was a team

Playing an incredible 7th pre-season game in 9 nights, the Oilers scored a 7-5 win over Chicago at Northlands. The building was mostly quiet, except whenever Semenko came on the ice. He scored his 5th of the pre-season, still no fights, and looks like a new player.

Oct-2-85:
- Fan vote all-star game ballots were released today, a first. Ten Oilers, including both goalies!
- Mike Palmateer is looking less likely to be an Oiler
- Real Cloutier, 3-time WHA scoring champ, has retired at 29 after a failed comeback with Quebec

Meanwhile the Oilers demolished the North Stars 9-2 last night in a fight-filled game. McClelland, McSorley (playing on the wing, not his usual D), Beukeboom, Steve Smith and Anderson all dropped the gloves. Semenko didn't and scored his 4th of the pre-season.

Rangers goalie Terry Kleisinger, a college student on a tryout, becomes a MSG hero after he skates the length of the ice to take on Flyers goalie Bob Froese at the end of a long pre-season brawl last night.
22 players were ejected from this game! The Flyers were down to 7 men!

Don Jackson fears for his job - he's being challenged at training camp by Steve Smith, Jeff Beukeboom, John Miner & Marty McSorley. Miner has been the best so far. McSorley, they say, will start in the minors.
Will Lindstrom has been told the Jets will claim him if unprotected.

Even if it was just pre-season, the Black Hawks relished their 4-2 win over playoff rival Oilers last night in Chicago. 5'5 Darren Pang stole the shole with 19 saves in half of the game. John Short says the Oilers will the Cup more easily than ever this season.

Words such as "intense" and "cocky" are being used to describe 19 year old Patrick Roy, who was brilliant in a 6-1 win over the Nordiques tonight. The Habs have Doug Soetaert, 30, Steve Penney, 24 and Roy at training camp, but so far Roy has earned the most raves from teammates.

Craig MacTavish scored his first goal as an Oiler in last night's 5-3 pre-season win over the Blues, cementing his position on the team. Raimo Summanen also looked sharp. Semenko picked up his 3rd of the pre-season, giving him the label of "Mr September" from Gretzky.

Glen Sather may be look to package up a bunch of players to avoid losing them in the upcoming waiver draft, hockey's form of socialism. A recent rumour has them sending Habscheid, Summanen & Don Jackson to NYR for Don Maloney. Willy Lindstrom thinks he'll be claimed by the Jets.

The article mentions Guy Lafleur is currently shooting an instructional hockey video on VHS. Here's a small taste of it, with the highlight reel at the end including a goal against the Kansas City Scouts:

No one is sure if Lafleur is serious about an NHL comeback, and Glen Sather only makes jokes about acquiring him when asked about it. The Habs say they'll protect Lafleur in the waiver draft. Lafleur said the players he'd most like to play with are: Gretzky, Lemieux or Dionne.

Oilers d-man John Miner had two goals in last night's 7-6 win in Montreal, making a strong case for the 6th D spot on the club. Jeff Beukeboom also turned up the intensity dial after words from Sather.
Despite the loss, Larry Robinson was enthused by rookies Skrudland & Richer.

The Oilers are in Montreal tonight, and the fighters in this scrap, you've probably never heard of them, are Jeff Beukeboom and Shayne Corson.
No other highlights exist, but the Oilers came away with a 7-6 pre-season win, with Semenko getting the GWG with under 4 minutes left.

Wendel Clark and Marty McSorley fought again! They also did battle at Northlands a few days ago.

And there it is, your first ever photo of Mike Palmateer as an Oiler, first of many over the years I'm sure. Palmateer was in net for the Oilers 6-5 pre-season OT loss to the Leafs last night, his 1st game at MLG in about 20 months. His contract with the Oil is still conditional.

And there it is, your first ever photo of Wayne facing off against his brother Keith, first of many over the years I'm sure. Keith had a breakaway but failed to score on Fuhr, while Gretzky got the winner on Tom Barrasso in the 2-1 game in Halifax, in front of parents Walter & Phyllis.

7Up!? If anyone needs a 7UP, it is me

They've been clowning around in 7UP commercials for years, but tonight's the night they finally face each other for real. It's Keith Gretzky, Buffalo Sabre vs Wayne tonight in pre-season action from Halifax NS. The Hunters, the Sutters, the Stastny's...now we have the Gretzkys.

Breaking - Guy Lafleur has quit his front office job with the Montreal Canadiens after a public dispute over pay, and has stated he's thinking about a comeback as a player. Both the Jets and Nordiques have indicated some interest.

Welcome to the NHL Wendel Clark, and welcome to the Oilers Marty McSorley - the two fought each other early in tonight's 4-3 Oilers pre-season win. Messier, Kurri (2) & Anderson had the goals on a rare night-off for Gretzky. Mike Palmateer made his Oiler debut and let in all 3.

Bernie Parent talks about his career in this 1982 interview with Bobby Orr: