Oilers’ Draft Class in 1995: The Worst First Class in Franchise History – Hockey Writer – Oilers’ History
This year is 30Th The Edmonton Oilers hosted the only historically only anniversary at the NHL’s annual admissions conference.
On July 8, 1995, 26 teams in the league held the 1995 NHL Draft at the Northlands Stadium. The draft consisted of nine rounds, all packed a day, and over a few hours, the exciting activities were exciting.
The draft picks for No. 1 to No. 5 belong to the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim’s powerful Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning. The host team sat outside the top five and ranked sixth, when it was tied for the second highest draft pick in Edmonton’s NHL history.
Edmonton missed the playoffs for the third straight season and he hopes to turn in the rebuilding. There are eight draft picks in total, including five of the top 109 picks, and the Oilers are well positioned to land some key parts in the future. The first time they have to make these choices in front of their fans.
July 8, 1995, in image and literal way, this stage was a wonderful day in the history of the Oil Man. But this is not the result at all.
Only 3 draft picks
The 1995 NHL draft was a huge defeat for the Oilers in arrears with apology to Georges Laraque. Of the eight choices Edmonton made, only three entered the NHL, and Laraque was the only one to stay together.
Edmonton’s 1995 draft courses merged and participated in only 845 professional NHL regular seasons, ranking 22nd out of 26 teams in the draft that year. Of the last 10 choices in the first round, all four teams with a smaller total of games (Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyer and Washington Capitals) were selected.
Kelly chose sixth place
Drafts On that Saturday morning, Bryan Berard finished first by Ottawa, followed by Wade Redden (Islander), Aki Berg (King), Chad Kilger (Magic Duck) and Daymond Langkow (Lightning).
This put Edmonton on the clock, and expectations inside the Northland Stadium are being established. Fans applauded, cheered and yelled Shane Doan, Halkirk, Alberta, who played for the Kamloops blazer (WHL) of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Oilers general manager Glen Sather came on stage to announce his team’s draft pick: forward Steve Kelly from the WHL Prince Albert Raiders.
Courteous applause followed by silence in the North Country Stadium. Oilers fans aren’t going to boo their team’s latest, but he certainly isn’t what they want. Their eyes Apple Doan was selected by the Winnipeg Jets for the next draft pick, seventh overall.
Fans know best
Fans often like to think they know better than NHL coaches and general managers. In this case, the Oiler is actually a wise choice.
Kelly could both score and mix it up (37 goals and 106 penalty minutes in 71 games with Kamloops in 1994-95), and was touted as being the fastest player in the 1995 class, which is largely what made him so attractive to the Oilers (“We’ve built our teams around speed and he’s certainly got lots of that,” Sather said on the TSN/ESPN2 simulcast), but his game never quite translated to the NHL.
The 6-foot-2 left wing made his NHL debut later in the 1996-97 season, scoring a goal in eight games against the Oilers. He played six more games in the 1997 playoffs.
Kelly started with the Oilers in 1997-98 but failed to get a consistent position in their roster, with only 19 of the team’s first 39 games. Then, on December 30, 1997, Kelly traded to Lightning with Jason Bonsignore and Bryan Marchments in exchange for Paul Comrie and Roman Hamrlik.
Just two and a half years after drafting, Kelly’s Oiler’s term ended. He only played 33 games for Edmonton (regular season and playoffs), with a total of one goal and two assists.
Kelly bounced between the NHL and minors over the next few years, serving in the New Jersey Devils, Kings and Minnesota Wilds. He retired in 2009 and participated in only 149 NHL regular season games, recording nine goals and 12 assists.
Meanwhile, Doan has scored 402 goals and 570 assists in 1,540 NHL regular season games, all along with the Jets/Phoenix Coyotes/Arizona Coyotes organization. He was a multiple All-Star, won the Clancy Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier Leadership Award and represented Canada in the Olympics and World Championships.
Not choosing Doan is probably Edmonton’s biggest regret for the 1995 NHL draft. But he is just the first of many stars they have experienced.
Laraque selected in round 2
Second choice, 31Yingshi Overall, the Oilers took Laraque, a striker for St. Jean Lynx of the Quebec Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Laraque may not have reached his draft position yet, but he is a good choice for the Oilers.
The 6-foot-4 and 245-pound left wing played a role in Edmonton for several years and became one of the most popular oil workers of his time. Spreading 1997-98 and 2005-06, he played 490 games with the Oilers, with a total of 43 goals, 68 assists and 826 minutes (8th in franchise history).
Laraque left Edmonton as a free agent in the 2006 offseason and separated the final seasons of his career between the Coyotes, Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens before retiring after 695 career NHL regular season.
Draft prairie
Edmonton was a lonely attraction at the 1995 draft. After Laraque, the host team went downhill completely. Of Edmonton’s last six options, only goalkeeper Mike Minard (83road) actually came out in the NHL, and that was just a game, in the 1999-00 Oilers (to be credited with Minard winning that game, with a unique distinction of being one of only four goalkeepers in franchise history with a win percentage of 1.000).
The rest didn’t even play a single game for Edmonton’s minor league branches without having to mind the oilers. Czech Blueliner Lukas Zib (57Th Overall) From the Future to North America; Ontario Hockey League (OHL) defensive player Jan Snopek (109Th) Spend his career overseas; WHL Center Martin Severn (161YingshiBy 2001,) completely left hockey; OHL defender Stephen Douglas (187Th) Never surpassed the ECHL, Czech skater Jiri Antonin (213Th Overall) after 1995-96, the level of hockey DB was so low that the hockey DB had no roster.
As for some of the prospects that Edmonton might draft: Jarom Ikinla (11Th Overall), Jean Sebastian Giger (13Th), Petr Buzek (63road), Sammy Kapanin (87Th), Mark Savard (91Yingshi), Mikka Kiprusoff (116Th), Stephen Robidas (164Th) and Filip Kuba (192ND), all of which are all stars.
Not as good as in 1990
There are some notorious draft classes in Edmonton’s history. In fact, the Oilers made the worst performance ever in the NHL draft because they chose 11 players in 1990, rather than one of them played a game in the NHL.
Related: Revisiting the disastrous draft of Edmonton Oilers in 1990
Edmonton’s 1990 draft class was actually untouchable. Especially in this era, when promising lenses around the world are easily accessible, it will require a self-sabotage act to make things badly messed up.
But, in terms of the second-worst draft in the Oilers history, 1995 might have been the case, given its importance to the franchise and its importance as a host team.
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