Edmonton Expected to Continue Dominance of NHL

Edmonton has been in a world of its own for the past two National Hockey League seasons and Oiler defenseman Kevin Lowe sees no reason why anything should change for 1985-86.

“I don’t see why we can’t stay at the top for a long time,” he said. “We’re still a pretty young team. Our best days are still ahead of us.”

With the incomparable, 24-year-old Wayne Gretzky heading a collection of outstanding players in their mid 20s, it’s likely the two-time Stanley Cup champions still haven’t peaked and could dominate the NHL for some time.

“Unless someone proves them different, you have to say, from a talent point of view, Edmonton certainly stacks up as a very top-heavy favorite going into the season,” said New York Ranger Coach Ted Sator.

“Only complaceny and dissension within their team might do them in,” he said.

But not everyone is that impressed with Gretzky and Co.

“I don’t think they are that much better than anyone else,” said New York Islanders Coach Al Arbour, whose teams won four straight Stanley Cups before giving way to the Oilers the past two seasons.

“They play a disciplined type of game, that’s all,” he said.

Edmonton’s toughest competition may be a team in their own Smythe Division, the Winnipeg Jets. After years as a doormat, the Jets finally came of age last season and rate as one of the league’s top powers.

The Smythe also features the up-and-coming Calgary Flames, who took the Oilers to seven games in the 1983 division finals before losing in the third period.

Though the Flyers lost to Edmonton in five games in last year’s Stanley Cup finals, they remain a talented, precocious team that could threaten the Oilers again this season.

With 10 rookies last year, the Flyers surprised nearly everyone by putting together the league’s best regular-season record (53-20-7 for 113 points). They also possess one of the NHL’s best netminders, Pelle Lindbergh.

The Washington Capitals and Islanders, with more veterans, are considered the top challengers to the defending Patrick Division champions.

The other two division races may not be as clear-cut, although the Chicago Black Hawks have a good chance of supplanting the St. Louis Blues as champions of the relatively weaker Norris Division. In the Adams, it’s anybody’s guess between the Quebec Nordiques, Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, who won the division title last year in a tight race with the other two.

The Oilers, meanwhile, seem to have everything going for them, including a player for whom hyperbole has become commonplace: Gretzky. The fine Oilers’ center returns after winning the league’s Most Valuable Player award, the scoring championship (73 goals, 135 assists for 208 points) and the playoff MVP.

Gretzky has quickly become his own point of reference where hockey records are concerned, but he’s far from being the whole story of this Edmonton team.

It also features a number of talented players such as Jari Kurri (the league’s second-leading goal-maker), Mike Krushelnyski, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey, perhaps the best defenseman in the NHL.

More fascinating than their numbers are their ages: Coffey and Fuhr, one of the league’s top goalies, are 23; Gretzky, Messier and Anderson are 24; and Kurri is the oldtimer at 25.

Oilers Coach Glen Sather doesn’t think his team qualifies as a dynasty yet, but he isn’t modest about its aspirations.

“Right now, the Edmonton Oilers are absolutely the best hockey team in the world. I’d love to play anyone who thinks they’re better,” he said.

While nobody scores like Edmonton, Winnipeg did a pretty good imitation last year with six players topping 30 goals, include Dale Hawerchuk, the Jets’ version of Gretzky.

In putting together the fourth-best record in the NHL last year, the Jets beat the Oilers three times during the regular season and also swept all three games from Philadelphia.

Calgary is another team that closed the Edmonton gap last year, piling up 94 points to finish only 16 behind the Oilers’ 109 in the Smythe. The Flames’ big gun is Lanny McDonald.

With valuable experience in last year’s playoffs, General Manager Bobby Clarke expects great things from his youthful Flyers. Led by Lindbergh, the 1984 Vezina Trophy winner, the Flyers have the nucleus of last year’s Stanley Cup team returning. That should be enough talent to thwart challenges, especially from the Capitals. It was Washington, remember, that led the Patrick Division last year until March before succumbing to the Flyer charge.

The Rangers’ Sator, a Flyers’ assistant coach last season, is one of eight new coaches in the league for the 1985-86 season.

The others are Butch Goring of the Boston Bruins, Jim Schoenfeld of the Buffalo Sabres, Harry Neale of the Detroit Red Wings, Lorne Henning of the Minnesota North Stars, Jean Perron of the Montreal Canadiens, Tom Watt of the Vancouver Canucks, and Roger Neilson and Bob Pulford co-coaching the Chicago Black Hawks.