Meanwhile allow me to dote on my Edmonton Oliers with an entries first posted back in 2007.
Buffalo, New York, October 15, 1980:
The emotionless voice of the Buffalo public address announcer begins calling out the names of the players who are listed in the program but are not dressed for tonight’s game. “For Edmonton,” he drones, “number 6 Colin Campbell…”
Soupy Campbell 27 years old, a solid defensemen widely liked by the rest of the team and respected for his tenacity, had been sent to Vancouver just before the Oilers left for this first road trip of the year; some of his friends are not happy with the way he was let go: called over to the boards in mid practice and told the Oilers had released him. Thanks Soupy and good-bye.
The Oilers quicken there pace, trying to break sweat before they must pose for the opening ceremonies. Their away uniforms, predominantly royal, blue look crisp and fresh. Their names stitched in white across their shoulders are less dominate then the orange numbers on their backs.
Number 2 is Lee Fogolin
A brawny hard working defensemen. One of his eyes looked vaguely askance but no one teased him about it. Fogolin is as strong as he appears and everyday after practice he works with weights. He was born in Chicago where his father, also Lee, was a hockey player but he spent most of his youth in Northern Ontario. Lee the son [known as Fogie] is a devout Catholic and family man and the most dedicated player on the team. One night he awoke in Hartford Connecticut with a screaming toothache. He called long distance to his sister-in-law, a dental hygienist. " Wait till morning,” she said. I can’t said Fogie I have to play tomorrow ". Then He went to the hotel closet - dismantled a coat hanger - made a small hook and ripped the cap off the offending molar. In the game the next night he beat up Hartford’s Warren Miller whose errant stick had cut him for six stitches outside the mouth.
Number 27 is Dave Semenko
It is easy to regard Semenko as a goon. He is six four weighs 215 pounds and has fierce dark eyes and a powerful jaw. On the ice he is the team enforcer and there are those who claim he is the, or could be, the heavyweight champion of the NHL. Off the ice he has a quiet off-hand wit that’s difficult to capture in print. Rod Phillips likes to tell the story of getting on an elevator with Semenko in Philly one season and encountering Wilt Chamberlain, the basketball star, who at seven feet is 8 inches taller then Semenko. Dave looked Wilt up and down and then in his deep bass voice said to Phillips “If he played in our league I’d have to score goals.”
As the national anthems end Glen Sather leans over the ledge of the press box. He looks down the way to check Phillip’s microphone. Then he cups his hands to his mouth and yells to his players below.“Come on" he shouts. “Come on you mother*******, lets go!”
[Buffalo wins 2-0]
Here are a pair of a$$holes that competed for top honors back in my day. While the following story may or may not be true it should give one an idea of just how wide open the business side of the game was back then.
My, how Maple Leafs history might have been different had crusty old Harold Ballard followed through on an alleged trade – one that would have seen two teams trade cities in what would have been the largest such deal in sports history.
According to a new biography of former Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, the fabled Oilers dynasty of the 1980s – with superstar Wayne Gretzky and holder of five Stanley Cup titles by 1990 – would have been in Toronto. Ballard and his sad-sack Maple Leafs would have been in Edmonton.
the newly published I'd Trade Him Again, Pocklington says the Leafs owner was in financial trouble and made the proposal in 1980. Ballard wanted Pocklington to pay $50 million in cash to trade cities.
"Harold phoned me and said, `Would you consider moving to Toronto with your team and I'll move to Edmonton with mine, and I'll need $50 million," Pocklington told The Canadian Press when reached at his Palm Desert, Calif., home.
"So I thought about it and said, 'Yes Harold, I'll go for that'."
According to Pocklington, Ballard was in financial straits when he made the proposal. However, a short time later, Ballard backed out of the deal.
When asked if raising the large sum was an option for Pocklington at the time, the former NHL owner responded: "It certainly was."
However, the story of the alleged swap has its doubters.
"Sometimes (Ballard would) say things to guys just to blow them off," said Gord Stellick, now a host of the Fan 590 but then working in Ballard's front office. "I travelled with Ballard, and he talked about everything. (An Oilers swap) was never discussed at any level."
And, he said, there was no way Ballard would have left the limelight. "He loved Toronto, understood the Maple Leafs. If he was in Edmonton, he wouldn't get the same headlines and national play ... which was beyond money."
Jim Gregory was hired as the Leafs' GM in 1969 and held the position for about a decade. He said it's hard to imagine such a proposal being discussed.
"Anything's possible," Gregory said with a laugh. "But I certainly never heard anything about it."
The book notes the Oilers were league leaders in attendance at a time when Leafs general manager Punch Imlach was gutting the roster, trading away fan favourites Lanny McDonald and Tiger Williams. The Leafs only won 28 games in the 1980-81 season and finished last in their division.
The book's authors, J'Lyn Nye and Terry McConnell, suggest Ballard probably found another source for the cash. It was around the same time, they write, that he brought in Molson Brewery as a partner.
Pocklington eventually had to sell the Oilers to a local consortium.
He is currently facing a bankruptcy fraud trial in the U.S.
With files from The Canadian Press
Kevin McGran Sports Reporter
Published On Mon Oct 12 2009
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