Ken Hitchcock, Dr. Randy Gregg named to Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame

Two former Edmonton Oilers have been named among seven inductees to the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame’s 2020 class.

Former Oilers coach and current team advisor Ken Hitchcock and Dr. Randy Gregg, who won five cups with the Oilers, were named to the class.

Along with them were former referee Bill Bucyk, former face of the AJHL’s Olds Grizzly’s Bob Clark, two-time Olympic gold medalist Cassie Campbell-Pascall, two-time Stanley Cup Champion Jamie Macoun, president of the New York Rangers John Davidson, and lastly, the 1974-75 Lethbridge Native Sons.

Hitchcock, an Edmonton native, has been a long-time staple in the Edmonton community getting his start as a community coach in the city before a 10-year stint running the Sherwood Park Midget AAA Chain Gang amassing a staggering 575-69 record.

Most well known for his 25 years of coaching in the NHL, Hitchcock has won the third-most games in NHL history (849) spending time behind the benches of the Dallas Stars (1996-2002, 2017-18), Philadelphia Flyers (2002-2006), St. Louis Blues (2011-2017) and Edmonton Oilers (2018-19).

Hitchcock, of course, returned to Edmonton last year taking over as an interim head coach of his hometown club. Hired on Nov. 20 after Todd McLellan was let go, the Oilers finished with a 26-28-8 record under the veteran coach and ultimately fell well short of the playoffs.

Gregg had a storied career with the Edmonton Oilers winning five Stanley Cups with the club in his 10 year career and his story is rather interesting. Years before he broke into the NHL with the Oilers, Gregg had been working towards his medical degree while playing for the University of Alberta Golden Bears emerging as a top University player in the country.

He captained the Canadian national team in 1980, before going a different route signing in Japan as a player-coach where he spent two full seasons. He returned to North America joining the Oilers for the ’82 cup run. An integral part of the Oilers blue line, Gregg went on to score 188 points in 453 games with the Oilers.

You can read more about the others inducted into the Alberta HHOF here.

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