Glen Sather, former Oiler coach, GM, 'a father figure to a lot of us'
Banner-raising ceremony to honour architect of Oilers dynasty of 1980s
The glory years are returning to Rexall Place, albeit for one night only as former coach and general manager Glen Sather is honoured at a banner-raising ceremony Friday.
"I'm so excited to be a part of this celebration for Glen over the next couple of days and look forward to welcoming him as really only the city of Edmonton can do best," said former team captain Craig MacTavish, who went on to coach and manage the Oilers himself.
"I'm really looking forward to the sign of appreciation from our great fans for what's been a great role model for all of us, " he said at a media conference at Rexall Place, Wednesday.
MacTavish was joined by former captains, Al Hamilton, Kelly Buchberger, and Kevin Lowe.
Sather is considered the architect of all the great Oiler cup-winning teams from the 1980s.
Not afraid to crack the whip
Lowe remembers Sather always being a player's coach, but wasn't afraid to crack the whip when needed, Lowe said.
Lowe recalled how he and Mark Messier showed up late for a practice during a road trip in Los Angeles.
Sather was unimpressed, he said.
"He told me and Mark, 'I want you to climb the stairs at the L.A. Forum with your skates and equipment on, and watch practice today, since you weren't interested in practice today, you can sit up there and watch,' " Lowe said.
"After we did that for about five minutes, he called us down and put the whole team in the stands and he left Mark and I out on the ice to skate. I don't know if that's crazy," Lowe said.
Scoring goals wasn't exactly Kelly Buchberger's forte when he was drafted by the Oilers as a ninth rounder in the 1985 NHL draft. In fact he was a long shot to make the team.
But Sather believed in him and gave him his first taste of the NHL during the 1987 Stanley Cup finals.
Buchberger, from Lagenburg, Sask., went onto play 12 seasons for Edmonton, captaining the team for four of those years, and winning cups in 1987, and 1990.
'He was fair and a father figure'
He was asked if Sather was a tough coach to play for.
"I wouldn't say he was overly mean at all, he was fair and a father figure to a lot of us growing up," Buchberger recalled.
"It was the impact Sather had on his players off the ice," he said.
"From dressing yourself, to the way you're acting in public, he expected you to be accountable to people away from the game and in the game, and he just wanted you to be a better person and a better player. "
Sather played pro hockey for 10 years, but it was during his junior hockey years when he got to know Al Hamilton.
Both would eventually go on to play and captain the Oilers in the World Hockey Association.
Hamilton said Sather left an instant impression on him as a 17 year old.
"He was the man about town, he was the captain of the Oil Kings.
'He had an air about him'
"He had an air about him even then of confidence, and he always had nice-looking girlfriends.
"I just watched the way he carried himself, and thought this is a guy who's going to go a long way."
The next 48 hours are going to be busy for Sather. Tomorrow the City of Edmonton is hosting a public celebration for him in the foyer of the Winspear Centre starting at 12:15, where Mayor Don Iveson will recognize his contributions to the city.
In the evening the Glen Sather tribute gala dinner is being hosted by the Oilers Entertainment Group at the Shaw Conference centre, all net proceeds will go to the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation.
Fans going to the Rangers game Friday are being asked to be in their seats by 6:20 p.m.
That's when Sather's banner-raising ceremony is scheduled to start and when the man known by many as Slats will take his place amongst his greatest players.