MacT makes his way on to the Edmonton Oilers Wall of Honour on Friday

Article content

During the glory days of the Edmonton Oilers, Craig MacTavish always knew who he was.

“I do consider myself fortunate because I wasn’t the guy driving the bus,” he said. “I was smart enough and competitive enough to make sure I had a seat on the bus but it was near the back. My philosophy was make the best team you can and then hang on as long as you can.”

And what a ride it’s been for MacTavish over the last 40 years. He’s had just about every job — valuable third-line centre for the Oilers for 701 games, head coach for nine years, general manager for two seasons, also vice-president of hockey ops and sometimes TV analyst — everything except maybe singing along to O Canada at the Oilers games.

Article content

Joey Moss always had first dibs on that, clearing his lungs nightly, but nobody has touched as many lives or bases as their three-time Stanley Cup winner MacTavish, which is why his name is going up on the Oilers Wall of Fame at Rogers Place to join along Ryan Smyth, Lee Fogolin, Charlie Huddy, Doug Weight and, in tandem with Randy Gregg, at Friday’s ceremony.

Predictably, MacTavish, 66, — the best No. 14 in Oiler history with apologies to Jordan Eberle and Mattias Ekholm — liked playing more than anything else for the adrenalin and the gratification, although he also coached the Cinderella Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final against Carolina, a major feat, in almost a decade behind the bench.

And, as GM he was in charge when the Oilers won the draft lottery in 2015 and knew they were getting Connor McDavid, a year after MacTavish drafted Leon Draisaitl (third overall) and two years after picking Darnell Nurse (seventh).

A complete 200-foot player

MacTavish came to the Oilers in the summer of 1986 from Boston, a third-line centre with the Bruins, and sliding into the same role with the Oilers.  If you wanted a faceoff won here, he was the guy. If you wanted a responsible player at both ends of the ice, he was your man. If you wanted 20 goals a year, he quietly did it six times here and almost never saw the PP.

Article content

He got around the ice, in control and was absolutely dogged along the boards, spinning off checks, eating time off the clock in his end, seldom putting the puck into harm’s way. Average speed, very quick mind.

“You know I could always out-skate people, I could wind it up, until I got to the NHL. Then I had decent enough to speed, so not too many people were catching me from behind But that was back in the era where you could hook and hold, and I did lots of it,” he laughed.

He was the Oilers best man on the draw, for years.

“The first shift I ever had in the NHL with Boston was in Philadelphia. I won the faceoff Mel Bridgman, got it back to Rick Smith, he shot it and either Wayne Cashman or Stan Jonathan tipped it in. I had a point in in the NHL in five seconds, then Bridgman punched me in the face,” said MacTavish

“The only guy who ever dominated me on faceoffs was Brent Sutter. In the playoffs, he beat me, lots,” said MacTavish.

He was the last NHLer to not wear a helmet. How many times was he told to put on a helmet? “Not many. Maybe there was a stick or two but I don’t think I ever got hit in the head with the puck. I was smart enough to keep myself out of the line of fire of the puck, survival mentality,” he said.

Article content

Article content

“I did get knocked out once with a skate (to my head) but I was wearing a helmet then, in the American League, in Erie, Pennsylvania.”

Was not wearing a helmet, last guy standing, a badge of honour for him? No.

“Never gave it much thought. The second last guy, I believe, without a helmet was ironically Brad Marsh and I played minor hockey with Brad, same team in London,” said MacTavish.

And winning his three Stanley Cups here in 1987, 1988 and 1990?

One memory stands out.

The deep-in-the-third-overtime goal in Game 1 of the 1990 Cup final in Boston will always stay with him, his last Cup win with the Oilers before winning a fourth Cup with Rangers in 1994. He broke out with Jari Kurri and Petr Klima, with Klima beating Andy Moog for the winner after Klima had sat on the bench for three hours because coach John Muckler didn’t like how he was playing.

MacTavish remembers that like it was yesterday.

“The puck came around the boards, I passed it to Jari. I was wide-open (rush up ice) and Jari looked me off. I’m thinking ‘give it to me, Jari, give it to me Jari,’ and I can see him thinking ‘uh, no, I think I’m going to put this over to Klima,” chuckled MacTavish.

Article content

That was an insult considering Klima had barely played.

“Yeah, I know, but as usual Jari was a smarter guy than I was,” he said.

“That Cup was really rewarding because it was without Wayne and it wasn’t easy to do to win without him. That team came together in a way that was unexpected. We had Mark, Andy, Simmer (Craig Simpson), Mark Lamb, Jari, Tikk (Esa Tikkanen) and the kid line (Joe Murphy, Marty Gelinas, Adam Graves). They were as dominant as any line in the playoffs, all so fast, smothering the opposition, and all talented enough to make them pay.”

He didn’t exactly fall into coaching. He was programmed for that.

“I always had a coaching component in my contract with Glen (GM Sather), the last two contracts I did with him and he was really supportive of that. To play, then retire and be an assistant coach for two years with the Oilers,” he said.

“I also talked to Puck (owner) Peter Pocklington after we won the Cup in New York in ’94 and I was pretty sure that if I wanted, I could be head coach of the Oilers. But I wanted to keep playing. I thought I’d be a much better coach with a bigger bank account,” he kidded.

Article content

Became head coach in 2001

Lowe, who replaced Sather as GM, gave MacTavish his first head coaching job here in 2001.

“The coaching was so much fun in 2006. I always say I coached for nine years and had two really good months,” said MacTavish, who did have some lighter highlights, like pulling the tongue out of Harvey the Hound, the Flames mascot, one night in Calgary.

And being a GM? Getting the No. 1 pick and McDavid?

“With the lottery in 2015, we were in Switzerland (world U18 championship), at a hotel, waiting for the results (2:30 am in Europe), everybody was yelling, and 10 days later, I was fired,” said MacTavish.

“That was as disappointed as I’ve been in my career (scouting McDavid but not being his boss). Did I see it (firing) coming? Not, really. When you had the kind of record we had, I guess there was a possibility. But, I’ve always said, I’m pretty naive. You’re asked to a meeting, and you’re saying ‘yeah, sure, you want to meet across the street from the office?’’’

“I walk in, say ‘what’s going on, guys?’ and they’re telling me to sit down.”

But, at least MacTavish had the high of drafting Draisaitl and Nurse for the Oilers.

Article content

With Nurse, the Oilers were thinking seriously of trading away the pick.

“Yeah, we had talked to Vancouver about Cory Schneider, then Roberto) Luongo. I was probably of the mind-set to do it for a goalie but it wasn’t supported by the rest of our staff and rightfully so. I wanted Darnell. I saw the competitiveness, and the range and the toughness as a junior. I wanted to add that to the team. I thought he’d a really good leader for a lot of years,” said MacTavish.

MacTavish was also senior vice-president of hockey ops in 2012, just before becoming GM, when the team went all in to get college free-agent defenceman Justin Schultz.

“We were so happy to get him when everybody else wanted him,” he said.

“But he was the wrong player at the wrong time for our team. He was a poor defender who had to spend 80 per cent of his time in our end because we were very poor. Every weakness was exposed nightly. Then he went and won some Cups (two in Pittsburgh). He was in the offensive zone and the mistakes went away. A strong team can hide individual weakness,” said MacTavish.

Schultz was only here for a short time while the player MacTavish left for the Rangers, then a time with Flyers and St Louis, but, as they say “Once and Oiler, Always and Oiler.”

Article content

It’s like MacTavish, who had a life outside hockey, getting his MBA in finance from Queens University in 2011 when working briefly for the Vancouver Canucks, another stop along the way, never, ever went away.

“Glen (Sather) was always great to me and I was able to see, full-on, what true leadership was with Glen and with Wayne, Mark, obviously, and Kevin. Wayne had the principles of Wally and Phyllis (parents), Mark the toughness of (dad) Doug and empathy of (mom) Mary-Jean and Kevin had the grit and loyalty from (mom) Jesse. All those families were such role models in the day for all of us,” he said.

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content