Open-Mic: Edmonton Oilers All-Time Line Up

Wow this was difficult!!  With such an awesome history it was not easy to pick an all-time Edmonton Oilers lineup.  I grew up as a fan of the Oilers so not putting some of the players on the team was hard to do.  That being said, I did make this a four-line team and not an "all-star" team.

Jari Kurri                Wayne Gretzky (C)          Ales Hemsky    

Ryan Smyth            Mark Messier (A)               Glenn Anderson

Esa Tikkanen             Todd Marchant               Mike Grier

Kelly Buchberger      Craig MacTavish             Georges Laraque            

Paul Coffey (A)          Kevin Lowe

Charlie Huddy           Steve Smith

Jason Smith             Dave Manson

Grant Fuhr

Andy Moog

The first line is pretty self explanatory.  You need Gretzky and Kurri together and the thought of Hemsky playing with those guys just makes me drool on the keyboard.

I see my second line as a group of grinders and goal scorers.  I can see all three guys going into the corner, coming out with the puck and placing it into the back of the opponents net.

The third line is a trio of players who can put the puck in the net, but can also play defensively - someone you would ask of any third line.  Todd Marchant is on my team no matter what because of that playoff over-time goal he scored against Dallas on April 29th 1997. 

My fourth line I put together to protect Gretzky.  I know Dave Semenko did an admiral job in his day, but this fourth line would protect Gretzky so much better that his career would have continued for another five years.  Oh.  I also think these guys are not just a bunch of thugs either.  They should produce some goals too.

The defensive pairings. 

My first pairing was a no-brainer. 

The second pairing I found the haredest to do.  The Oilers have had a fair number of offensive minded defensemen in their history, but I felt these two would have good chemistry and would not hurt them defensively either (unless Smith is playing with the puck behind his net again.  Sorry Steve!!)

For the third pairing I wanted a couple of crease-clearing, body-smashing, shot-blocking defensemen and I think I got two of the best in Oilers history for that.

The goaltenders were pretty easy to pick.  They have been the two best in Oilers history and, on a side note, Grant Fuhr was the reason I always wanted to play goalie during road hockey.  I could watch his saves over and over again!!

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