Former Edmonton Oilers coach and general manager Glen Sather, right, was honoured before a game against the New York Rangers at Rexall Place on Dec. 11.John Ulan
The Edmonton Oilers rolled out the carpet and raised a banner for Glen Sather on Friday night, honouring the coach and general manager who built perhaps the greatest team in NHL history.
A sellout crowd raised a ruckus as a banner bearing Sather's name and five Stanley Cups was slowly hoisted to the rafters at Rexall Place. The ceremony took place before the game between the Oilers and New York Rangers, for whom Sather serves as president.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman took part in the salute, as did some of Sather's former players and fellow NHL general managers. Members of the Oilers' royal family on hand included Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson, Al Hamilton and Jari Kurri. Colin Campbell, Cliff Fletcher, Craig Patrick and Bill Torrey were among the league and team executives on hand.
Wayne Gretzky was unable to attend, but congratulated Sather via a video message.
Calling himself "the luckiest person on earth," Sather delivered a short speech, thanking players, coaches and fans.
"It is difficult for me to put in my words the gratitude I feel for this honour," Sather, 72, said.
Both teams watched the ceremony on the ice and applauded Sather.
"It is hard to believe it's been 15 years since I left Edmonton for New York," Sather said. "But each time I come back I feel like I never left."
Sather joins eight other Oilers' greats in having a banner raised at Rexall Place. His is the last to be hung in the arena, where the Oilers won five Stanley Cups between 1983 and 1990. The team will move into a new downtown rink, Rogers Place, at the start of the 2015-16 season. The banners will be moved and displayed there, as will a bronze sculpture of Gretzky that sits outside of Rexall Place.
"Essentially, this marks the end of an era," Messier said Friday. "It's a time of great reflection. It forces you to reminisce about all of the people he touched along the way.
"You can't help but be overwhelmed. I'll have my Kleenex ready tonight."
A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Messier was on all five teams that won Stanley Cups. He also won another, as captain of the Rangers, in 1994.
"The first thing I think about when I think of Glen is his competitiveness," Messier, 54, and an adviser to the Oilers, said. "He absolutely would not accept losing. And even when we lost, he would not accept quitting. He always believed we had another opportunity to do better."
A native of Alberta, Sather was born in High River, grew up in Wainwright and owns a home in Banff. He began his hockey career in Edmonton playing for the junior Oil Kings a half-century ago, and returned in 1976 as captain of the World Hockey Association Oilers after playing for six teams in the NHL over 10 years.
He took over as head coach near the end of the 1977-78 season, and stayed on in 1979 when the Oilers entered the NHL. Teams he coached won four Stanley Cups in the 1980s, and he won another as the Oilers' general manager in 1990.
On Thursday, a public celebration was held at which the city's mayor, Don Iveson, proclaimed it Glen Sather Day in Edmonton. Later in the evening, more than 1,000 people turned out for a $350-per-plate salute to Sather at the Shaw Conference Centre.
"He was our friend as much as he was our coach," Grant Fuhr, the Stanley Cup team's goaltender, said Friday. "He was the guy who taught us all."
Fuhr and former teammates swapped stories about Sather for two days leading up to Friday night's banner raising.
"There has been a lot of catching up," Fuhr, 53, said. "We are having as much fun as we ever did. It is like it never ended."
Dave Semenko, the tough guy Sather entrusted to protect Gretzky, still has a soft spot for his former coach.
"He was hard on us at times, but deservedly so," Semenko, 58, said. "He treated us with respect and made us better all-around. He wanted us to dress like a professional, and it was something he embedded in you.
"I would be on a plane flying somewhere in shorts and a golf shirt in the off-season and I'd feel guilty."
After spending more than 20 years in the organization, Sather left the Oilers after the 1999-2000 season to accept a position with the Rangers as president and general manager. Teams built by him have reached the Eastern Conference finals in each of the past three years, but he will most be remembered for his tenure in Edmonton.
The current Oilers' players, who entered Friday with a four-game winning streak, have enjoyed meeting him and rubbing elbows with some of the team's great players the past few days.
"It made me a little nervous," Jordan Eberle said. "As a fan of the game you know what they have done for this game and this city. You are kind of awestruck when you meet them."
Todd McLellan, the Edmonton coach, was unconcerned that pregame ceremonies would interrupt his players' routine. The Oilers watched, half-dressed from their bench, and warmed up afterward.
"I want them to take it all in," McLellan said. "I want them to sit and observe and absorb, and recognize the impact that team had in the hockey world. It is a pretty good example of what can be done.
"I think there is value in that."