Edmonton Oilers Heritage Website

On March 9, 1979, Oilers fans were outraged over an NHL vote to block their team from the NHL. Prior to the vote, the National Hockey League (NHL) and the soon-to-fold World Hockey Association (WHA) had come to an agreement in principle that would see the Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers and Quebec Nordiques join the NHL.

The deal would have seen each team pay an expansion fee of $6 million USD to join the National Hockey League and buy out the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls. Both teams would cease to operate as soon as the final WHA season was complete.

On March 9th, Oilers fans were shocked when only 12 votes to approve the deal came from the 17 governors. Without 13 votes or three-quarters of the league, the deal was dead. Of the five teams who blocked the merger, negative votes came from the NHL’s three existing Canadian squads—the Montréal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks. The Canadiens and Leafs worried that they would have to divide Molson Breweries’ sponsorship money if the Oilers, Jets and Nordiques shared in a new Hockey Night in Canada package from the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC).

With word of the block, Oilers' fans mobilized immediately. Within days of the controversial NHL vote, protesters launched a call to boycott all Molson products. In Winnipeg, the Jets downplayed their current sponsorship deal with the brewery.

It was not long before Molson executives began to feel the power of the consumer. They realized that potential sales losses and ill will in the three sizable Canadian WHA markets could be irreversible if the Oilers, Jets and Nordiques were sent into oblivion. After some significant backroom prodding, the Canucks and Canadiens agreed to switch their votes. On March 22, the existing NHL teams made a new vote, and a merger was approved. The Leafs, Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings still made their own attempts to block the deal, but were unsuccessful. With a 14-3 majority, the NHL/WHA "expansion" plan was a go.

There was one catch—not only did the four WHA teams have to pay a $6 million fee each to gain entry into the NHL, they were also expected to forfeit their rosters, and put their players into a dispersal draft. To counteract the player losses, Peter Pocklington signed his best player, Wayne Gretzky, to a 21-year, $5-million personal-service contract. Since the agreement was not a traditional player’s contract, the NHL could not force the protected Gretzky into the draft.

The WHA teams had to draft behind all the NHL clubs in the entry draft. The Oilers received the 21st, and last team to pick, and used their first round selection on a young Quebec defenseman named Kevin Lowe.

Even with a roster decimated by the dispersal draft, Edmonton was elated not only to save pro hockey in the city, but to become a member of hockey’s most celebrated league.

For Doug Hicks, a veteran NHLer and Alberta native who spent 1979 to 1981 with the Oilers, getting a team in the home province was special.

"It was a thrill to get back to Alberta," recalled Hicks. "I was born in Cold Lake and my family was living in Red Deer, so I was happy to come back to Alberta after playing for several years in the States with Chicago and Minnesota."

Sixty-two years after the National Hockey League was formed, Alberta finally got its home team.