There was a message to Sather’s madness

EDMONTON — Wayne Gretzky is the best who ever played, but even No. 99 wasn’t above the odd shot from Glen Sather in the Edmonton Oilers’ glory days.

There was always a message to Sather’s madness. He never wanted his team too comfortable.

“I remember we lost Game 1 of the 1985 finals in Philadelphia, 4-1, and after the game, Glen lit into me and Mark (Messier) and Paul (Coffey),” Gretzky said. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow!’ I mean, we’d just won our first Stanley Cup the year before. We felt like he’d absolutely destroyed us. We didn’t like what he said, but looking back, it wasn’t that bad. It really wasn’t that hard. Seemed like it at the time, but that was just how Glen was.”

Sather, who will be honoured with a banner-raising ceremony Friday at Rexall Place, hated to lose. So did his team. Sometimes that needed reinforcing.

The Oilers won the next four, knocking out Mike Keenan’s Flyers in five games.

“Sometimes Glen wouldn’t know what to say. One night we lost 11-9 in Toronto. A crazy, stupid game. After the game, Glen said it was all Marty’s (McSorley) fault. He said he wanted too many tickets to the game (bugging the players for extras). Marty had one shift in the game,” laughed Gretzky.

Sather ran a loose ship, giving his players lots of rope. Practices started “about 11.” Buses left close to on time. But he was firm when it came to winning.

“I remember we lost one game on a home stand, and Glen said he was going to take the team to Vegreville to live there. Vegreville? We didn’t even know where that was,” Gretzky said.

“Glen had a vision (as a coach), watching (Anders) Hedberg and (Ulf) Nilsson and Bobby Hull in Winnipeg in the WHA. He wanted our team to be like that. He also wanted individual success for us. I think that came from when he played in Montreal.

“He wanted Art Ross trophies (scoring titles), Hart trophies (MVP), Norris trophies (top defenceman), as long it didn’t take away from team success. He wanted Coff (Coffey) to win the Norris, he said that the first day of camp, and me to win the scoring race. He pushed that hard. He thought that was as important as championships and was part of the identity of the team.”

Sather didn’t like having the same cast from year to year, either. Even when the team won, he always made a few tweaks.

“When Glen traded Kenny Linseman, I thought ‘ Oh my gosh, how can he do that?’ It was the only time I went into Glen’s office to question him on something. Glen said to me, ‘ You and Mark are getting your 40 minutes (a night). Kenny will be fine (somewhere else),’” Gretzky said. “After every Cup, Glen made changes.”