Top 100 Oilers: Andy Moog (14)

6 years ago

For younger generations of Edmonton Oilers’ fans, say, those born after 1985 or so, their most vivid recollection of Andy Moog might be that he was playing goal for the Dallas Stars in 1997 when Todd Marchant scored the winning goal in overtime at Reunion Arena to complete a stunning upset in the first round of the playoffs. Top shelf, blocker side. That was Andy.

Moog, of course, owns a far bigger place in Edmonton’s franchise record books, a niche carved out more than a decade earlier that saw Moog’s name engraved on three Stanley Cups as a member of the Oilers. He was the underrated half of a dynamic crease tandem with Grant Fuhr during the early 1980s when the Boys on the Bus were just getting rolling. That was Andy, too.

Andy Moog

Goalie
Born Feb 18 1960 — Penticton, BC
Height 5.09 — Weight 170 [175 cm/77 kg]

Drafted by Edmonton Oilers

Round 7 #132 overall 1980 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	W	L	T/O	GA	SA	SV	SV%	GAA	SO	MIN
1980-81	20	EDM	7	3	3	0	20				3.83	0	313
1981-82	21	EDM	8	3	5	0	32				4.81	0	399
1982-83	22	EDM	50	33	8	7	167				3.54	1	2833
1983-84	23	EDM	38	27	8	1	139	1179	1040	.882	3.77	1	2212
1984-85	24	EDM	39	22	9	3	111	1050	939	.894	3.30	1	2019
1985-86	25	EDM	47	27	9	7	164	1480	1316	.889	3.69	1	2664
1986-87	26	EDM	46	28	11	3	144	1218	1074	.882	3.51	0	2461
1987-88	27	BOS	6	4	2	0	17	181	164	.906	2.83	1	360
1988-89	28	BOS	41	18	14	8	133	1079	946	.877	3.22	1	2482
1989-90	29	BOS	46	24	10	7	122	1145	1023	.893	2.89	3	2536
1990-91	30	BOS	51	25	13	9	136	1307	1171	.896	2.87	4	2844
1991-92	31	BOS	62	28	22	9	196	1727	1531	.887	3.23	1	3640
1992-93	32	BOS	55	37	14	3	168	1357	1189	.876	3.16	3	3194
1993-94	33	DAL	55	24	20	7	170	1604	1434	.894	3.27	2	3121
1994-95	34	DAL	31	10	12	7	72	846	774	.915	2.44	2	1770
1995-96	35	DAL	41	13	19	7	111	1106	995	.900	2.99	1	2228
1996-97	36	DAL	48	28	13	5	98	1121	1023	.913	2.15	3	2738
1997-98	37	MTL	42	18	17	5	97	1024	927	.905	2.49	3	2337
7 yrs		EDM	235	143	53	21	777	4927	4369	.887	3.61	4	12901
6 yrs		BOS	261	136	75	36	772	6796	6024	.886	3.08	13	15056
4 yrs		DAL	175	75	64	26	451	4677	4226	.904	2.75	8	9857
1 yr		MTL	42	18	17	5	97	1024	927	.905	2.49	3	2337
Career			713	372	209	88	2097	17424	15546	.892	3.13	28	40151

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	W	L	GA	SA	SV	SV%	GAA	SO	MIN
1980-81	20	EDM	9	5	4	32				3.65	0	526
1982-83	22	EDM	16	11	5	48				3.03	0	949
1983-84	23	EDM	7	4	0	12	110	98	.891	2.74	0	263
1984-85	24	EDM	2	0	0	0	3	3	1.000	0.00	0	20
1985-86	25	EDM	1	1	0	1	27	26	.963	1.00	0	60
1986-87	26	EDM	2	2	0	8	37	29	.784	4.00	0	120
1987-88	27	BOS	7	1	4	25	166	141	.849	4.24	0	354
1988-89	28	BOS	6	4	2	14	136	122	.897	2.34	0	359
1989-90	29	BOS	20	13	7	44	486	442	.909	2.21	2	1195
1990-91	30	BOS	19	10	9	60	569	509	.895	3.18	0	1133
1991-92	31	BOS	15	8	7	46	385	339	.881	3.19	1	866
1992-93	32	BOS	3	0	3	14	67	53	.791	5.22	0	161
1993-94	33	DAL	4	1	3	12	121	109	.901	2.93	0	246
1994-95	34	DAL	5	1	4	16	169	153	.905	3.47	0	277
1996-97	36	DAL	7	3	4	21	214	193	.902	2.81	0	449
1997-98	37	MTL	9	4	5	24	204	180	.882	3.04	1	474
Career			132	68	57	377	2694	2397	.890	3.04	4	7452

NOTABLE

Underrated? I think so. Moog, a seventh-round draft pick, 132^nd overall, from the Billings Bighorns in 1980, was the goaltender who beat the Montreal Canadiens in a shocking three-game post-season sweep in 1981. He was the goaltender of record when the Oilers claimed their first Stanley Cup in 1984, beating the four-time champion New York Islanders in five games.

The underlying issue with the masked tag-team that was Fuhr and Moog was that Oilers had only one goal crease and two stoppers good enough to claim it on a nightly basis during the team’s rise to dynasty status. There was Moog, the longshot from the 1980 draft and Fuhr, the team’s first pick, eighth overall, from the Victoria Cougars a year later, 1981.

After leaning heavily on the journeymen like Ron Low and Eddie Mio in the crease early after Edmonton’s entry to the NHL in 1979, GM Glen Sather had a juggling act on his hands with Moog and Fuhr. Moog made his mark with the sweep of the Habs in 1981 and was the go-to guy in the second round, a six-game series loss to the Islanders. Fuhr got the net in the 1982 playoffs. In the 1983 post-season, Moog was again the guy as the Oilers went all the way to the Cup final, losing to the Islanders in seven games.

THE STORY

When Fuhr was injured in the third game of the 1984 Cup final, Moog locked down Edmonton’s first Cup parade. Back and forth they went tending the twine behind a star-studded line-up right through the 1987 playoffs. Fuhr was the No. 1 guy in Sather’s mind and that finally prompted Moog’s agent, Herb Pinder, to demand a trade as training camp for the 1987-88 season loomed.

Moog joined Team Canada leading up to the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. When the Olympics were over, Sather traded Moog to the Boston Bruins and got, all things considered, a handsome return – future Conn Smythe Trophy winner Bill Ranford, Geoff Courtnall and a second-round draft pick. While Moog never played more than 50 games during a regular season for the Oilers, he got the net in Boston, playing 51, 62 and 55 games 1990-93. Ranford and the Oilers beat Moog and the Bruins in the 1990 Cup final.

All told, Moog won 143 regular season games and 23 more in the playoffs with the Oilers on the way to three Cup wins during his tenure as Fuhr’s sidekick in Edmonton. Simply put, Moog was etched in Oilers folklore long before Marchant raced in alone on him late one night in the Lone Star State in 1997. Moog was a great goaltender who enjoyed his best days in Oiler silks.

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.

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