Marty McSorley never, ever needed Glen Sather or anybody else to draw him a picture about what his job description with the Edmonton Oilers was and he damn sure didn’t need a written invitation from opposing players to carry it out. McSorley’s job was to ride shotgun for Wayne Gretzky and the rest of a star-studded Oiler line-up and he did it with both barrels.
Happy and willing in his role was McSorley, and he was so good at it that when Edmonton owner Peter Pocklington sold Gretzky to Bruce McNall and the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 1988, the Great One insisted that the big lug from Hamilton with the flowing blond hair make the journey with him to Tinseltown. If Gretzky had to go, he wasn’t packing light.
Marty McSorley
Defense
Born May 18 1963 — Hamilton, ONT 
Height 6.01 — Weight 230 pounds
BY THE NUMBERS
Season
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1983-84
PIT
72
2
7
9
-39
224
75
2.7
1984-85
PIT
15
0
0
0
-3
15
11
0.0
1985-86
EDM
59
11
12
23
9
265
72
15.3
1986-87
EDM
41
2
4
6
-4
159
32
6.3
1987-88
EDM
60
9
17
26
23
223
66
13.6
1988-89
LAK
66
10
17
27
3
350
87
11.5
1989-90
LAK
75
15
21
36
2
322
127
11.8
1990-91
LAK
61
7
32
39
48
221
100
7.0
1991-92
LAK
71
7
22
29
-13
268
119
5.9
1992-93
LAK
81
15
26
41
1
399
197
7.6
1993-94
TOT
65
7
24
31
-12
194
160
4.4
1993-94
PIT
47
3
18
21
-9
139
122
2.5
1993-94
LAK
18
4
6
10
-3
55
38
10.5
1994-95
LAK
41
3
18
21
-14
83
75
4.0
1995-96
TOT
68
10
23
33
-20
169
130
7.7
1995-96
LAK
59
10
21
31
-14
148
118
8.5
1995-96
NYR
9
0
2
2
-6
21
12
0.0
1996-97
SJS
57
4
12
16
-6
186
74
5.4
1997-98
SJS
56
2
10
12
10
140
46
4.3
1998-99
EDM
46
2
3
5
-5
101
29
6.9
1999-00
BOS
27
2
3
5
2
62
24
8.3
8 yrs
LAK
472
71
163
234
10
1846
861
8.2
4 yrs
EDM
206
24
36
60
23
748
199
12.1
3 yrs
PIT
134
5
25
30
-51
378
208
2.4
2 yrs
SJS
113
6
22
28
4
326
120
5.0
1 yr
BOS
27
2
3
5
2
62
24
8.3
1 yr
NYR
9
0
2
2
-6
21
12
0.0
Career
961
108
251
359
-18
3381
1424
7.6
PLAYOFFS
Season
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1985-86
EDM
8
0
2
2
3
50
4
0.0
1986-87
EDM
21
4
3
7
8
65
21
19.0
1987-88
EDM
16
0
3
3
2
67
15
0.0
1988-89
LAK
11
0
2
2
-6
33
16
0.0
1989-90
LAK
10
1
3
4
-8
18
26
3.8
1990-91
LAK
12
0
0
0
-1
58
30
0.0
1991-92
LAK
6
1
0
1
1
21
10
10.0
1992-93
LAK
24
4
6
10
-2
60
42
9.5
1995-96
NYR
4
0
0
0
-1
0
3
0.0
1998-99
EDM
3
0
0
0
1
2
3
0.0
Career
115
10
19
29
-3
374
170
5.9

NOTABLE

“Wayne said to me, ‘Make sure you get McSorley.’ I worked that out pretty quickly, although Sather was not happy about the idea,” McNall said about how the biggest trade in the history of the NHL unfolded. When the greatest player ever to lace on the blades in the NHL makes you a part of a deal like that, you’re doing something right. That was McSorley, a ruffian on the ice and a smart, engaging guy off it.
The other thing about McSorley, of course, is he could play the game. As rugged and raw as he was when he broke into the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1983-84 after being undrafted, McSorley spent his years in Edmonton, and later in Los Angeles, working non-stop to become a better player. He started out as an unskilled enforcer who could throw opponents around for fun and didn’t stop striving to be better until he was a reliable player who could throw opponents around for fun.
With the Oilers, McSorley not only took a regular shift, he eventually took over from Dave Semenko as Gretzky’s designated muscle. In an era when some tough guys could barely play the game at the NHL level, the ability to do double duty served McSorley well on the way to winning two Stanley Cups in his first stint with the Oilers before he packed for Los Angeles.  

THE STORY

Slow of foot even with all the work he put in, McSorley played within his limits on the blue line and always had one eye out for trouble. Cross the line and you’d find Marty in the middle of the ensuing mayhem. In his first season with the Oilers he scored 11 goals. In his third, 1987-88, he had 26 points – not sluggo-level production, even in an era of inflated numbers.
Off the ice, McSorley was as easy-going as he was intense and ready to riot on it. I’ll never forget one early morning in Washington when we spent 30 minutes or so just walking around downtown and chatting about hockey and life in general before heading to the rink. Marty loved to walk. He loved to talk. But when the gate opened, he was ready to go.
Younger fans who don’t remember McSorley during his time in Edmonton might know him for the end of his career and an ugly incident during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks in 2000 – a hideous assault on Donald Brashear. It was an inexcusable act by the big lug and one that tainted his legacy as a tough, honest player who made the most out of the limited talent he had.
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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