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head coach: Ron Low

roster: C - Doug Weight, Todd Marchant, Tony Hrkac. LW - Dean McAmmond, Rem Murray, Valeri Zelepukin, Ryan Smyth, Mats Lindgren, Bill Huard, Mike Watt. RW - Bill Guerin, Mike Grier, Andrei Kovalenko, Kelly Buchberger, Georges Laraque, Dennis Bonvie. D - Bobby Dollas, Sean Brown, Greg deVries, Kevin Lowe, Roman Hamrlik, Boris Mironov, Drake Berehowsky, Frank Musil, Janne Niinimaa. G - Curtis Joseph, Bob Essensa.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Colorado   82  39  26  17    95  231  205  
x-Los Angeles82  38  33  11    87  227  225  
x-Edmonton   82  35  37  10    80  215  224  
x-San Jose   82  34  38  10    78  210  216  
Calgary      82  26  41  15    67  217  252  
Anaheim      82  26  43  13    65  205  261  
Vancouver    82  25  43  14    64  224  273  

x - Clinched playoff spot
y - Clinched division

team news:

by Simon D. Lewis, Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers entered the 1997-98 season with high hopes for their on-ice performance. They were coming off their first playoff appearance in five years. They'd beaten Dallas in a spirited series and shown a game effort against the powerful Avalanche. The core of the team was intact and there were great expectations for some of the youngsters.

There was also a black cloud hanging over the boys in blue and gold. The team was up for sale. Houston magnate Les Alexander was making noises like he really wanted the Oilers. The owner at the time, Peter Pocklington, was infamous for his twisted approach to business. Not many Edmontonians trusted that Peter Puck would leave the city with a happy outcome. This was the guy who traded Gretzky!

Throughout the season the "Sale" was the background in front of which every game was played. Though the Oilers started slowly, they managed to pick up their game enough that you could say the games actually went pretty well. The team never rose too far in the standings, but was in the hunt the whole year.

Curtis Joseph in goal was the anchor for this sometimes storm-tossed ship. His season started shakily, but he soon got his sea legs under him. Captain Kelly Buchberger manned the con as well as any swarthy, salt- encrusted, veteran skipper could. Bucky led by example. There was no shot too hard to block, no check too unimportant to finish. The part of the first mate was played to a tee by Doug Weight. The overall points leader on the team was the "go-to guy".

At the risk of stretching this metaphor beyond all tolerance, we'll just say that there were some other able seamen aboard the Good Ship Oiler. Dean McAmmond became a scoring threat. Boris Mironov developed into the offensive defenceman who was not nearly so often a liability in his own end. Ryan Smyth reacted well to the increased checking attention he got. He didn't manage to post the big scoring numbers, but he had to fight through an injury. Mats Lindgren and Todd Marchant often reminded this writer of Buffalo's mid- 70s penalty killing duo of Don Luce and Craig Ramsay. Aggressive and stifling come to mind.

About mid-season, GM Glen Sather decided to cut his losses and a cancer from the team. The enigmatic Jason Arnott was traded to New Jersey for Bill Guerin. Most fans were more than happy to see the unmotivated Arnott hit the road. Guerin, who was already good buddies with Doug Weight, proved to be a welcome addition who later supplied some timely scoring in the first round of the playoffs.

The Oilers made the playoffs by going 5-1 to finish off the season and wound up facing the same two teams as they had the previous season. This time they upset Colorado and lost to Dallas. The script was quite similar. They looked like they were down and out as the Avalanche charged out to a three games to one lead. Somebody call the ski patrol! Some inspired play and a seemingly flat Colorado team (see: Mark Crawford, firing of) led to the big three-game comeback and a victory for the team from the Great White North.

Dallas was another story. The story was goaltending. Belfour marginally outplayed Joseph in a very low scoring affair. The series was characterised by stifling checking and bad ice in Dallas. It really reminded you why hockey is a winter sport best played between November and March in cold climates. Anyway, the Oilers went down and, once more, said, "Wait until next year."

Only problem there is that Curtis Joseph and Doug Weight are free agents.

Oh yeah! That sale thing. It happened. A group of roughly 30 interested Northern Albertans ponied up the cash to buy the team. It was like pulling teeth, but it showed that despite the all-time low Canadian dollar and the unholy amounts American teams are shelling out to the Marty McSorleys of the world, that the people of Edmonton really want this team. You can bet the folks in Winnipeg and Quebec City are nodding there heads sadly and wishing they'd done the same.

Curtis Joseph by Meredith Martini

TEAM MVP: So...the brain trust at LCS Guide to Hockey (see: domination, world) wants you to know who the Most Valuable Player was on the Edmonton Oilers. If you're any kind of fan you'll already know the answer to this one: CUJO CUJO CUJO (see: Joseph, Curtis). Without the kind of goaltending this guy comes up with on a regular basis, the Oilers would not be the same team. Period. At this writing he's still an Oiler. Look for the big chequebooks to lure him away. Hint: They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway.

SURPRISE: Had to be a guy called Michael Largue. He ain't no hockey player. He tried to buy the team at one point...kinda. Here's what we wrote in LCS Hockey in March:

"And if you believe that, I've got some swamp land..." -- In the frenzied search for funding for the Oilers, it looked like a guy with a white hat was about to come to the rescue. His name - Michael Largue. He said he had a bankroll of $100 million from a Swiss millionaire named Lester Mittendorf who owned the Bern Bears. He said he was a former hockey player who had actually played for the Bears.

Wrong!!

After Largue swept into Edmonton on a wave of media hype he was proven to be an absolute and total liar.

Turns out that Mr. Largue, among other accomplishments, has been convicted of defrauding his apartment co-op of $39,000. He arrived in Edmonton after clearing the trip with his parole officer. On May 21, 1993 his name appeared on a list of people and companies who were fined and suspended from the National Association of Security Dealers. His estranged wife says, "I'll tell you something...he's a loser. He's a loser and he doesn't have any money." The phrase, pathological liar was thrown around.

Nice job, Mike. Now get back in your hole and stop wasting everyone's time. Snake oil anyone?

DISAPPOINTMENT: For the Oiler faithful it was frustrating and heartbreaking to see Kevin Lowe have to sit out the season. The original Oiler NHL draft pick and the scorer of their first NHL goal had returned to the team in 96-97 as an elder statesman, a guide for the young bucks on the blue line. In October he was put on the IR because of labyrynthitis. In English that means that he had inner ear problems that made him so dizzy he couldn't stand, let alone skate. He was more worried about his life than his career. The prognosis was varied: could be a few months, could be longer.

Lowe managed to recover enough to get into a handful of games at the end of the season and one in the playoffs...a major disappointment.

OFF-SEASON CHANGES: There was some talk that GM Glen Sather might jump ship if he didn't like the way the new owners dealt with him. That seems to be history. He wouldn't budge for the Leafs, the Canucks or the Atlanta Thrashers (didn't they used to have a team down there?).

Where the change is coming is in goal. Free agent Curtis Joseph has to take the money and run. The Oilers have already acquired Eric Fichaud as security.

Doug Weight is another likely free-agent flyer although Sather says he will try to sign both him and Joseph.

Scott Fraser, the 26-year-old rookie who finally made the big time is also a free agent. With expansion and the crazy financial climate in the league, you just know he's going to get an offer. Sather probably has another guy like him in mind. He's proven over the years that he knows where to find overlooked talent.

That's it. It's Next Year Country!

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