Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame to get 2 new members

The Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame is going to have another two additions come Oct. 25, prior to a game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins. As per a release on the team's official site, the two new members who will be enshrined, are Craig MacTavish and Randy Gregg.

MacTavish has a long and proud association with the Oilers, both as a player and a coach. The former centre is 10th in team history with 701 games played, produced 331 points and, most importantly of all, was part of three Stanley Cup-winning sides in 1987, 1988 and 1990.

The London, Ontario native would return to the Oilers as an assistant coach in 1999, going on to become head coach between 2000-01 and 2008-09. As one of the top five coaches in team history, he compiled a 301-252-103 record and in 2005-06 took the team to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1990, albeit they fell one win short of reclaiming hockey's Holy Grail.

On top of all this, MacTavish also spent time as the team's senior vice president of hockey operations and then general manager. He is forever linked with the Oilers, and thoroughly deserves his induction into their Hall of Fame.

A story of overcoming adversity

As for Gregg, he serves as an inspiration for underdogs everywhere. He went from being undrafted, to becoming just one of seven players in Oilers history to be on the teams for all five of their Stanley Cup wins.

The Edmonton native was a picture of durability and consistency, during nine seasons with his hometown team. His 130 total playoff appearances for the Oilers rank sixth all-time in team history.

Interestingly though, there were times when it seemed as if Gregg was set to walk away, after twice retiring. However, both times he came back to continue being an integral part of the Oilers' dynasty during the 1980s.

50 years in the making

MacTavish and Gregg will join an exclusive group of Oilers Hall of Famers, which currently only has 14 members. However, it should be noted this is just because it was only established in 2022, to coincide with 50 years since they started playing (in the WHA).

The 14 current members include Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Al Hamilton, Glenn Anderson, Rod Phillips, Kevin Lowe and Glen Sather. All 10 were automatically inducted as part of the inaugural 2022 Class, due to their previous banner honours.

The other four members are Lee Fogolin and Ryan Smyth, along with last year's inductees, Charlie Huddy and Doug Weight. Seven of the Oilers inductees are in the hockey Hall of Fame, including Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Fuhr, Coffey, Anderson and Lowe.

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