Stan Weir never turned into the kind of scorer the California Golden Seals hoped he’d be when they plucked the Ponoka boy from the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 1972 NHL Amateur Draft. Not sure if the white skates the Seals made him wear had anything to do with that, but it didn’t help.
What Weir did turn into a half-dozen years or so into his NHL career, a stretch that saw him play for the Golden Seals and then the Toronto Maple Leafs with nary a flash of the point producing prowess he showed in junior, was a mentor and a leader with a young group of Edmonton Oilers making the transition from the WHA to the NHL.
Stan Weir
Center — shoots L
Born Mar 17 1952 — Ponoka, ALTA
Height 6.01 — Weight 170 [185 cm/77 kg]
Drafted by California Golden Seals
Round 2 #28 overall 1972 NHL Amateur Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | Playoff GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972-73 | NHL | 78 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1973-74 | NHL | 58 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1974-75 | NHL | 80 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1975-76 | NHL | 64 | 19 | 32 | 51 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |
1976-77 | NHL | 65 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
1977-78 | NHL | 30 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
1977-78 | CHL | 42 | 24 | 33 | 57 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1978-79 | WHA | 68 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 20 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |
1979-80 | NHL | 79 | 33 | 33 | 66 | 40 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
1980-81 | NHL | 70 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 40 | -7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
1981-82 | NHL | 51 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | |
1981-82 | NHL | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -7 | — | — | — | — | — | |
1982-83 | NHL | 57 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | |
1983-84 | CHL | 73 | 21 | 44 | 65 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1984-85 | IHL | 26 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
WHA Totals | 68 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | |||
NHL Totals | 642 | 139 | 207 | 346 | 183 | 37 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 4 |
NOTABLE
Weir had back-to-back seasons of 111 and 133 points with Medicine Hat, but never managed to come close to replicating that with California or Toronto, so rather than slip down the depth charts further or find himself stuck in the minors, Weir jumped to the Oilers as a free agent in time for their final WHA season, 1978-79.
When the Oilers joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season, Weir went with them. At 28, he was one of a handful of veterans, along with the likes of captain Al Hamilton, Bill Flett and Colin Campbell, in the mix with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Kevin Lowe, rising youngsters still in their teens or just bumping their early-20s.
Weir proved to be much more than just a babysitter and somebody to make sure the kids made curfew in that first NHL season. He has the best season of his NHL career, 33 goals and 66 points, leaving him behind only Gretzky (137 points) and Blair McDonald (94 points) in team scoring.
THE STORY
That 1979-80 season would prove to be a one-time bump in production for Weir, who’d have to find other ways to stick around as the Oilers improved and added depth. He did. He was a solid face-off man and penalty-killer during the rest of his tenure in Edmonton, playing deeper in the line-up.
Weir would spend 200 games as an Oiler, scoring 48-66-114, but was long gone – he was traded to Colorado in March of 1982 – and out of the NHL completely and playing with the Montana Magic of the Central Hockey League by the time the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup in 1984.
While Weir never got his name engraved on the Cup, he most certainly played a role in shaping the careers of many who did as members of the Oilers, as Gretzky and Messier are always quick to mention when you ask them about those early days in the Big League.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
Listen to Robin Brownlee Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260.
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