MacTavish talks Oilers Hall of Fame induction in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. In this edition, we feature former Edmonton Oilers player, coach and executive Craig MacTavish.

EDMONTON -- Craig MacTavish joined the Edmonton Oilers as a player prior to the 1985-86 season, which was the start of a legendary career with the organization.

MacTavish won the Stanley Cup three times in nine seasons with the Oilers, was captain for two, returned to coach for eight seasons, was vice president of hockey operations for five and served as general manager for two seasons.

For his contribution to the team, the London, Ontario native was enshrined in the Oilers Hall of Fame on Oct. 25 along with former teammate, defenseman Randy Gregg.

“It is humbling,” MacTavish said prior to the induction ceremony. “For a guy like me, I was a decent player until I got to the NHL and I had to adapt because there were many players, certainly on this team, that had much more talent than I did. I think my ability to adapt my game gave me great longevity and I was fortunate to come to a group that was so mature in their leadership with Glen Sather at the helm. He had a great balance of intimidation and approachability and that’s a difficult balance to walk as a coach, and he did that.”

MacTavish won the Stanley Cup a fourth time as a member of the New York Rangers and returned to Edmonton shortly following the conclusion of his playing career.

As coach in 2006, MacTavish guided the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final where they lost in Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes. He then moved into a management role as vice president of hockey operations and general manager.

Still an active member of the Oilers alumni, MacTavish, 66, talked to NHL.com to reflect on his career in Edmonton and share his thoughts on the League today.

The Oilers always treat their alumni well and you were able to have your family, friends and former teammates at the induction ceremony. What was it like?

“It was really good. The Oilers have a great production staff and they herd us cats around. It was really well done, the whole couple of days. It’s always good to see former teammates. A lot of times I think we’re closer now than we were then, despite the fact we were close when we played. You get older and you realize more the value of friendship than when you were young and you appreciate your good friends more as you age, I think. And we’re aging.”

Is it nice to see former teammates who you might not have seen in some time?

“Yeah, it is. The one regret in my speech was that I didn’t mention Billy Ranford, because he was my roommate and the Conn Smythe winner (1990), and the fans would have loved to hear that. But sometimes you get singularly focused on delivering what you got, that you forget to open your mind to what you should be saying. But it was good to see him.”

How do you look at those 1980s Oilers teams today, considering all you accomplished, winning the Stanley Cup three times when you were there?

“It becomes more obvious why we won. You get focused on talent. We had the better players, but it’s much more complex than that. As you get older, you recognize that other qualities are so integral in success and winning. That’s leadership, and camaraderie, toughness and competitiveness. That team had all those qualities.”

What’s it like when you’re in that moment winning the Stanley Cup with a close group of friends?

“When you have Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier on your team, you kind of expect to win. And then you add in five other Hall of Famers. I’ve talked to Mike Keenan about it, the 1987 Final. He takes a lot of pride that he got the Philadelphia Flyers to seven games against us, and he should, because they didn’t have the horses that we had. Ron Hextall played well, but I thought it ended up being a closer series than it should have been. We had seven Hall of Famers, and they had two, maybe three. We had a special group of people that’s for sure, and just the loyalty. I played there for almost 10 years, and you can’t do that if you didn’t have the loyalty from ‘Slats’ [Sather] and the coaching staff and your fellow players. Slats was a really loyal leader and was loyal not just to the players, but that staff that was there, when the staffs were much smaller. You played with the same guys a lot longer than you do in today’s era.”

What did you think of last season’s run by the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Florida Panthers, and did it have any similarities to the one you went on as coach of the team in 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes?

“The parallels are eerily similar. In 2024, they got down 3-0 in the Final and we got down 3-1 in 2006 in the Final. Both teams made a great comeback, and they were very similar games in Game 6 and very similar games in Game 7. We crushed them in Game 6 in 2006 and they crushed them in Game 6 in 2024. We both couldn’t find our game in Game 7.”

What is also similar is that both teams should have won Game 1. You were up 3-0 and lost, and last season the Oilers outshot the Florida Panthers badly and lost. If you both win Game 1, then maybe you are playing to clinch at home in Game 6?

“The situation changes the dynamic of the game. I’m not sure that if we did win Game 1, maybe they win another game that we won. The situation can change the mindset and the urgency that you approach the game. I never really bought into that if we would have won Game 1, we would have won it. Maybe they would have been a lot better in Game 6, I don’t know, because you’re facing elimination. One thing I will say is that the disappointment gets worse over time. We had a great run in 2006 and took a little bit of satisfaction in that, but the longer it gets from 2006, the more upset I am that we didn’t win, because that would have been epic.”

How do you feel about the Oilers this season? They kept a lot of pieces in place and they’re expecting to take another run at the Stanley Cup.

“My sense is they know how to win now. They are mature men now and they have great character on that team. I know we are in a business where we criticize and you take the positive things for granted, but Ken Holland getting Zach Hyman and Mattias Ekholm, those guys are just gold in any locker room, absolute gold. They have great character in Darnell [Nurse], ‘Nuge’ [Ryan Nugent-Hopkins], and Connor [McDavid] and Leon [Draisaitl] are on another planet. They’re hungry and they’re experienced and they’ve got character. I think they like each other and they’re going to be formidable, that’s what I believe.”

You played with Gretzky; how do you compare what McDavid is doing in this era and the offensive numbers he’s putting up?

“I have a hard time comparing anybody to Wayne Gretzky when he was in his prime. They do it differently. They’re both the best players in their era, but Wayne’s hockey sense, nobody has had hockey sense like that before or after. How can you be on a 2-on-1 with Wayne 100 times and he puts the puck on your tape through the defenseman 100-for-100? I don’t know how he did it, and he did. Connor does it with his highly developed physical skill, and the explosiveness and competitiveness are off the charts. They’re both elite competitors, they’re both high-end competitors. It’s hard to compare, but they both dominated the game in their era. But Wayne was a different animal.”

Do you think Alex Ovechkin will be able to catch Gretzky for his all-time goals record?

“Father Time is undefeated, so we’ll see. I’ve said this before, you’d have to be a complete loser to be cheering against 'Ovi,' but I kind of do. I don’t want to be that person, but I kind of am in this race. It’s going to be an interesting thing for the Capitals to manage. As you get older you can’t help your speed, and your physical skills diminish. Everybody is a little bit different, but he’s scored a lot of goals. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”