First Goal

The Alberta Oilers could thank the Buffalo Sabres for much of their early World Hockey Association (WHA) success. Bill Hunter’s preparations to ice a team for the inaugural 1972-73 season was buoyed when Buffalo Sabres mainstays Ron Anderson and Al Hamilton both agreed to leave the security of the National Hockey League (NHL) for the maverick WHA.

Anderson, who in 1970 scored the first-ever shorthanded goal in Sabres’ history, would also make history for the new Alberta Oilers franchise. On October 11, 1972, the Oilers faced off in their first-ever regular-season game against the Ottawa Nationals. At 6:10 of the first period, Anderson netted the first goal in club history, with assists from Jim Harrison and Steve Carlyle. Anderson’s marker set off a flurry of goals by both teams, but the Oilers emerged victorious, 7-4.

Anderson, a Red Deer product, would score 18 more times for the Alberta Oilers over the next two seasons, before the club released him in 1974.

While Anderson’s stay in Edmonton was short, Harrison, who assisted on the goal, went on to become the team’s leading scorer that year. The former Toronto Maple Leaf scored 39 times and added 48 assists that season.

Harrison posted a major milestone as an Alberta Oiler on January 30, 1973. That night, in an 11-2 win over the New York Raiders, he became the first professional player in the modern era to record 10 points in a single game. Harrison scored three times and added seven assists against the Raiders. He delivered a 10-point night a full three years before former Maple Leaf teammate Darryl Sittler recorded his famous 10-points against the Boston Bruins.

That first season saw the Oilers’ finish one game over .500, tied for the final playoff spot in the Western Division with the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The question the league needed to answer was who would qualify? The WHA decided that the two teams should meet in a one-game playoff on neutral ice to determine who would go on and play Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets. The game was played in Calgary, and the Saints triumphed by a 4-2 score.

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