Gretzky shares comical story that helped Oilers win second Stanley Cup
While having a plethora of future Hall of Famers played a big part in the Edmonton Oilers winning five Stanley Cups from 1984 to 1990, there was more to it than fans may realize.
After winning their first Cup in 1984, the Oilers found themselves in some trouble in the Conference Final the following year versus the Chicago Blackhawks.
After going up 2-0 on home ice, the Blackhawks stormed back and evened up the series at two apiece. Last night on TNT, Wayne Gretzky explained that the Oilers locker room was pretty tense as they prepared to take the ice for Game 5. Sensing that his player’s nerves needed to be eased, head coach and general manager Glen Sather came up with an odd yet smart tactic to do just that.
“One year we were playing Chicago, won the first two games at home, went in to Chicago in that old stadium, and we got beat pretty badly two games. All of a sudden, the series is 2-2,” Gretzky said. “Before games, you know everybody gets a little bit nervous, and that’s when you get your butterflies and you’re excited to play. All of a sudden, Glen Sather said, ‘I’m going to have this gentleman come in and give you guys a pep talk.’
“In comes this 70-year-old cowboy, Chattanooga Smith. We’re all looking at each other, and he’s giving up this pep talk. Glen Sather just says, ‘Ok, let’s go,’ and we go on the ice, all looking at each other, going, ‘What was that all about?’ It calmed the whole locker room down. We went out, won Game 5, went into Chicago, won Game 6, and went on that year to win the Stanley Cup.”
The Oilers once had a cowboy named Chattanooga Smith give them a pep talk that propelled them to win the Stanley Cup š pic.twitter.com/YWmEwWCWWq
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 27, 2024
Since becoming an analyst for TNT, Gretzky has provided several great tales from his playing days like the example above. Widely considered the greatest hockey player of all time, fans never get tired of hearing these kinds of stories from him.
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