by Mark Spector
If you grew up watching the Battle, you expected more than one prize in the box of Cracker Jack because that is what the games delivered nightly. They never played 2–0 hockey; there weren’t any no-hitters.
The players let their emotions get away from them, and they did dumb things.
It didn’t always make for an instructional video. But, boy, were there highlights.
Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier celebrate one of Andy’s 498 career goals. “The hardest things to beat,” said Anderson. “The heart, the mind, and the soul.”
Glenn Anderson on a fly-by through the slot, with Al MacInnis. “As the Dalai Lama said, ‘Never lose the lesson from a loss.’ ” —Anderson
“It’s a great day for hockey” was Badger Bob Johnson’s motto.
Dave Semenko and Tim Hunter discuss the weather as linesman Bob Hodges adjudicates. “I hated every single guy on the Oilers, ’cause they all hated me. It wasn’t about having a relationship with anyone from the Edmonton Oilers. It was about The Battle.” —Hunter
The men in this picture—from left: Mel Bridgman, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr, Lanny McDonald, Lee Fogolin—played a combined 5,134 NHL games.
Mike Bullard leaves on a gurney after being speared by Marty McSorley in 1988. “Nothing like being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Bullard would say later.
Always more fun to score against Edmonton. Gary Suter, Tim Hunter, and Lanny McDonald silence the Northlands Coliseum patrons.
A young Theoren Fleury looks so innocent. “In order to get room out there, I had to become this f— hatchet man. And I had no problem f— cutting your eye out. Wouldn’t have bothered me a bit.” —Fleury
“I knew how big this Edmonton–Calgary rivalry was,” Fleury said. “And I knew that if I played real well against the Oilers it would go a long way to me making the Flames as a regular. From that moment on, I played some of my best hockey against the Oilers.”
Doug Gilmour was one of three Calgary players acquired by GM Cliff Fletcher who would be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Joe Mullen and Lanny McDonald were the others.
“Wayne understood our job very well. He always worked with us. The mutual respect between him and I was perfect.” —Referee Denis Morel
“He and Jari Kurri … they were lethal. A match made in heaven.” —Flames winger Colin Patterson
This photo, taken shortly after the 1988 Stanley Cup, marks the last time Gretzky donned an Oilers uniform. He would be traded to Los Angeles on August 9, 1988.
Gretzky and Coffey in 1985. Edmonton went 16–3 that spring, and 10–0 at Northlands.
The only two members of the 800 Goal Club: Wayne (894) and Gordie (801).
“I was never knocked out. I was never knocked down and couldn’t get up. I came out relatively unscathed, and I was probably the guy who fought the most against the Edmonton Oilers.” —Tim Hunter
“The Montreal–Toronto (rivalry) was unbelievable. Philadelphia–Toronto was pretty heated. But nothing compared to Calgary–Edmonton.” —Lanny McDonald
Kevin Lowe played in all five playoff installments of The Battle.
Look at the hook on that Sherwood PMP! Al MacInnis had the biggest blast in The Battle.
Paul Baxter finds out that Kevin McClelland is a lefty.
Marty McSorley was a tough, valuable defenceman/policeman who Gretzky demanded be included in his trade to L.A.
The only team in NHL history to score 400-plus goals in a season was Edmonton. They did it five times from 1981–82 to 1985–86.
The 1985 All-Star Game was played in Calgary, and the Oilers dominated the Campbell Conference roster.
Joel Otto and Mark Messier went Cooper to Winwell over many a draw. “He’s unpredictable,” Otto said. “I approached him like I was going into the cage with a lion. You had to be careful.”
A little Stampede wrestling.
A young Glen Sather mastering “The Smirk”.
Scrumming it up at the Saddledome.
Semenko, seen here tussling with Hunter, on fighting: “I didn’t like the thought of it. But once it was going, I was fine with it.”
Neil Sheehy: “I was there to be a pest. To be an annoying SOB, OK? Listen, I understood why the guy [Wayne Gretzky] would despise and hate me. Because I was an annoying prick, you know? OK?”
“I think of mean, I think of tough … I think of a game that would border on mayhem.” —McCreary, on The Battle
Mike Vernon and the Flames are the only visiting team to hoist the Stanley Cup in Montreal.
Gretzky in his office.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Jack Cookson’s photographs provided the inspiration for The Battle of Alberta, and they are available at proamsports.ca. Colin Patterson and Tonya Young didn’t know me from Adam when I first contacted them, but they generously opened up their contact lists and pointed me in the right direction. Wayne Gretzky, Reggie Lemelin, Mark Messier, Theo Fleury, Glenn Anderson, Neil Sheehy, and so many other survivors of the Battle found time to answer my calls and texts, long after they’d given me a lengthy interview, for follow-ups. Thank you.
Among my colleagues, Al Maki, Eric Duhatschek, Jim Matheson, and George Johnson were generous with their memories, old books, and newspaper clippings that I could not possibly have unearthed myself. HockeyDB.com was essential, and is unmatched in the industry. And Dean Bennett, an old and dear friend who once kept me in the business when I was literally walking away, lent his keen eye to this manuscript. Thanks, Dean. Without you, I might have had to get a real job.
Thank you all.
