1988 Stanley Cup Final Game 6 vs Boston Bruins

Lore & Background

The Oilers were founded in 1971 by W. D. 'Wild Bill' Hunter and Dr. Chuck Allard and played its first season in 1972–73 as one of the 12 founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). They were intended to be one of two WHA Alberta teams along with the Calgary Broncos. However, when the Broncos relocated and became the Cleveland Crusaders before the WHA's first season began, the team was named the Alberta Oilers. They were renamed the Edmonton Oilers the following year and subsequently joined the NHL in 1979 as one of four franchises absorbed through the NHL–WHA merger. After joining the NHL, the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup on five occasions: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88 and 1989–90.

Reader's Guide

The Oilers began to struggle after coming up short in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, missing the playoffs for the subsequent 10 seasons. The Oilers made 16 first-round selections in the NHL entry draft from 2007 to 2019: 11 within the first 10 picks overall, six within the first four picks and four of the first overall selections. With those first overall picks, Edmonton selected Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov and Connor McDavid; of these, Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid remained with the team, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2024 and 2025, where they lost to the Florida Panthers on both occasions.

Did You Know?

• The Oilers won six straight division titles from 1981–82 through 1986–87.
• The Oilers have not won a division title since 1987, the longest division title drought in all of the North American major professional sports.
• The Oilers team of the 1980s and early 1990s has been honoured with dynasty status by the Hockey Hall of Fame.