Some are happy and some are mad about it but the World Cup of Hockey is back and it’s here to stay. We also now know who’ll be making up the first sixteen players on each team and there’s some Oiler content in the form of Connor McDavid on Team North America and Leon Draisaitl and Andrej Sereka on Team Europe.
With still plenty of time to see who makes the final roster of each time, we could still yet see the additions of Taylor Hall or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to the tournament.
It’s not the first time though that members of the Oilers have taken part in this tourney, far from it to be exact!
1996 World Cup of Hockey
Canada
Curtis Joseph: Cujo was coming off his first year as an Edmonton Oiler where he had a 15-16-2 mark in 1995-96 and for the Canadians he was outstanding. In his seven tournament games he went 5-2 with a GAA of 2.63 to lead all netminders in the tournament.
Ex Oilers on Squad: If I didn’t say Wayne Gretzky I’d probably get a smack upside the head from every other writer here on the site. #99 at the time was a member of the St.Louis Blues (I wrote that with a straight face) and he may not have been the same Gretzky that would have a 8 point night before you could blink, he was still one of the most dangerous players in the game and he was tied for scoring on Team Canada will fellow Oilers icon Paul Coffey with seven points.
Glen Sather who was the Oilers GM at the time would also serve as Team Canada’s head coach.
USA
Doug Weight: The future Oilers captain who had 79 for Edmonton in 95-96 would have seven points in his first senior level tournament for the American side. He’d help break the hearts of Canadians as the US would go on to take down Canada in the best of three tournament final, but he’d go on to become a folk hero to many in the 780.
Weight was the only Oiler on the US side as of the 95-96 season but Bill Guerin would later on join the Copper and Blue and this American bunch had a few Oiler killers in the form of Mike Modano and Brett Hull. *Forever screams about the Edmonton-Dallas playoff meetings after 1997*.
Sweden
No Swedish Oilers in 1996, but Tommy Salo who’d become a member of the Oil in 1998 played in two games for Tre Konor with a record of 1-1 and a GAA of 1.50 as he’d share the net with his Islanders teammate and fellow dude named Tommy in the form of Tommy Soderstrom.
Russia
Only future Oilers make this entry as Igor Ulanov, Andrei Kovalenko and Nikolai Khabibulin would suit up for the Russians in 1996. Kovalenko would have 2 points in the tourney, while Ulanov had zero points in his lone tournament game. The tournament wasn’t kind to the Bulin wall as he’d go 0-2 with a gaudy GAA of 6.00
Finland
The Ex Oiler: Jari Kurri. Kurri in the swansong in his career would play in four games in the World Cup with just one goal as the lone connection to the Oilers at the time of the tournament. Janne Niinimaa, a future long time Oiler but at the time a Philadelphia Flyer would play in two games but had zero points.
Germany
There would be a future Oiler on the German squad in the form of Jochen Hecht who played in four games and there also there is one connection to the current day franchise in the form of the original Dr.Drai, Peter Draisaitl. Leon’s father who was a long time member of the German national team and current head coach in the Czech Extraliga played in four games in the World Cup and had five points.
Slovakia
The Ex Oiler: The iconic Zdeno Ciger who would play in Edmonton during the first non playoff stretch in Oilers history in the mid 90s played in three games for the Slovaks and had two points in 96.
Czech Republic
The Ex Oiler: Josef Beranek who had two go arounds in Edmonton but was with the Canucks in 95-96 had zero points in three games for his nation. There would also be future Oilers on this squad as both Petr Sykora and Petra Nedved would find their way to Edmonton before their careers came to an end.
2004 World Cup of Hockey
Canada
Ryan Smyth and Eric Brewer: These two playing on the Canadian side wasn’t new as they both played on the 2002 Olympic Gold medal squad and in the World Cup both would have four points in six games.
Future Oilers bench boss Pat Quinn would also lead this version of Team Canada to their first World Cup title.
USA
Ty Conklin: Conklin would be the #3 goalie for the Americans and wouldn’t see any action in the tournament as only Robert Esche and Rick DiPietro would go in between the pipes for the red, white and blue.
The Ex Oiler: Doug Weight would play in five games in 04 but would have just one goal in five games.
Sweden
The Ex Oiler: Tommy Salo’s career in the NHL was winding down and in 2003-04 he’d play his final NHL season as a member of the Colorado Avalanche after being dealt at the trade deadline from Edmonton. In the World Cup, he’d only make a brief appearance by playing in one game in the tournament as Mikael Tellqvist did the majority of the work for the Swedes in the crease.
Russia
Sergei Samsonov would who would prove to be a valuable rental player in the Oilers 2005-06 playoff run played in four games for the Russians and put up three points and another future Oiler would be Mr.Humongous universe himself, Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryz would put up a mark of 2-1 with a GAA of 2.34 in the Russian net.
Finland
The Ex Oiler: Janne Niinimaa in three games in the tourney wouldn’t put up a point and he’d only play in three games for the Finns.
Germany
The Ex Oiler: Jochen Hecht, who spent 2001-02 in Edmonton and had 24 points in his lone season in YEG played in four games for Germany but would only register one goal.
Slovakia
The Ex Oiler: Miroslav Satan who started his NHL career with the Oil in 1995 before becoming one of the faces of the Buffalo Sabres played in four games but didn’t put up a single point in the World Cup. Lubomir Visnovsky, another future Oiler from 2004 would also play for the Slovaks but he to had a goose egg scoring wise.
Czech Republic
Radek Dvorak who was a household name to Oiler fans in the 2000s would play in four games but would only put up one goal.
The Ex Oiler: Jiri Dopita who had a pretty non descript 2002-03 campaign with the Oilers (6 points) would have a quiet tournament for the Czechs with one point in five games.
Jaroslav Spacek who would a couple of years after the World Cup end up with the Oilers a key cog in the 2006 playoffs would play in four games with no points in the tourney.
We’re still months away from the tournament will kick off but It will be interesting to see who those who’ll soon be playing at Rogers Place do in a tournament that will actually now remain a part of the NHL calendar.
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