Randy Gregg, Craig MacTavish get the nod for Edmonton Oilers’ Hall of Fame
Established in 2022 and adding members at the rate of two per year, the Edmonton Oilers’ Hall of Fame is in no danger of running out of deserving candidates any time soon. This was proven yet a third time on Thursday with the reveal of the Class of ’24:
“Class” is the operative word. Both men have it in spades.
The local Hall started from a position of strength, seeded with the eight Oilers whose numbers have been retired: #3 Al Hamilton, #4 Kevin Lowe, #7 Paul Coffey, #9 Glenn Anderson, #11 Mark Messier, #17 Jari Kurri, #31 Grant Fuhr and #99 Wayne Gretzky. GM/Coach Glen Sather’s banner has no number, but does bear a representation of the five Stanley Cups the Oilers won on his watch.
The first retiree, Hamilton, was honoured primarily for his contributions in the franchise’s earliest days in the World Hockey Association. All of the rest are members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, admission to which became the de facto manner in which to qualify for a number retirement.
Edmonton’s Hall of Famers all date back to the dynasty years of the 1980s. What was once a steady stream of inductions and number retirements slowed to a trickle after the early 2000s and surely reached its natural conclusion with the double honour of Lowe in 2020 to complete the inner circle.
But there have been numerous other great Oilers who didn’t quite clear that high bar, so ultimately the club decided to create its own Hall to honour them. The outer circle, if you will. Each of the first two years featured a defenceman from the dynasty team and a forward of more recent vintage.
They’ll be joined in 2024 by rearguard Randy Gregg and centre Craig MacTavish, both key contributors to the dynasty years. Presented here in chronological order:
Randy Gregg
Or as many call him, Dr. Randy Gregg. To say he followed an unconventional path to the NHL would be an understatement. The Edmonton native joined the University of Alberta Golden Bears at age 19, already in his fourth year of med school. He would go on to play four years there as he pursued his M.D., the last two of which would see the Bears win the national title. Gregg himself would captain the squad while copping the CIAU Player of the Year in 1978-79. The following year he changed gears, becoming the captain of Team Canada as our country returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1968.
Gregg would spend the subsequent two years in Japan, playing for Kokudo Bunnies before returning to his home continent, and town, to join the Oilers at age 26. Not often does one see players jump from the Asian League directly to the NHL, but Randy Gregg was no ordinary case.
