TOP 100 OILERS: BORIS MIRONOV (57)
7 years ago
I’ve written about the misadventures of Boris Mironov as a member of the Edmonton Oilers a time or two, so I’m not going get too much into specifics again. You can read some of it here. What I will say, though, is it’s too bad Mironov wore out his welcome in Edmonton because he was a helluva player and a guy who everybody in the dressing room loved.
It wasn’t really surprising, then, that when the Oiler contingent rolled into Chicago in November of 1999 for their first game against the Blackhawks since GM Glen Sather had traded him the previous March, boozing Bobo was waiting on us in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton. Same big smile. Same big handshake. A new big contract from the Blackhawks. He was happy to see us. We were happy to see him. That was Boris.
Boris Mironov
Defense
Born Mar 21 1972 — Moscow, Russia
Height 6.03 — Weight 220 [191 cm/100 kg]
Drafted by Winnipeg Jets
Round 2 #27 overall 1992 NHL Entry Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% | ATOI |
1993-94 | 21 | TOT | 79 | 7 | 24 | 31 | -33 | 110 | 145 | 4.8 | |
1993-94 | 21 | 65 | 7 | 22 | 29 | -29 | 96 | 122 | 5.7 | ||
1993-94 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 14 | 23 | 0.0 | ||
1994-95 | 22 | 29 | 1 | 7 | 8 | -9 | 40 | 48 | 2.1 | ||
1995-96 | 23 | 78 | 8 | 24 | 32 | -23 | 101 | 158 | 5.1 | ||
1996-97 | 24 | 55 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 2 | 85 | 147 | 4.1 | ||
1997-98 | 25 | 81 | 16 | 30 | 46 | -8 | 100 | 203 | 7.9 | ||
1998-99 | 26 | TOT | 75 | 11 | 38 | 49 | 13 | 131 | 173 | 6.4 | 25:39 |
1998-99 | 26 | 63 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 6 | 104 | 138 | 8.0 | 25:55 | |
1998-99 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 27 | 35 | 0.0 | 24:17 | |
1999-00 | 27 | 58 | 9 | 28 | 37 | -3 | 72 | 144 | 6.3 | 24:53 | |
2000-01 | 28 | 66 | 5 | 17 | 22 | -14 | 42 | 143 | 3.5 | 22:05 | |
2001-02 | 29 | 64 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 15 | 68 | 129 | 3.1 | 22:43 | |
2002-03 | 30 | TOT | 56 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 56 | 70 | 8.6 | 20:05 |
2002-03 | 30 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 22 | 14 | 21.4 | 19:12 | |
2002-03 | 30 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 34 | 56 | 5.4 | 20:35 | |
2003-04 | 31 | 75 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 86 | 129 | 2.3 | 20:37 | |
6 yrs | EDM | 320 | 42 | 118 | 160 | -36 | 444 | 717 | 5.9 | 25:55 | |
5 yrs | CHI | 220 | 21 | 69 | 90 | 4 | 231 | 465 | 4.5 | 22:52 | |
2 yrs | NYR | 111 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 4 | 120 | 185 | 3.2 | 20:37 | |
1 yr | WIN | 65 | 7 | 22 | 29 | -29 | 96 | 122 | 5.7 | ||
Career | 716 | 76 | 231 | 307 | -57 | 891 | 1489 | 5.1 | 22:43 |
PLAYOFFS:
Season | Age | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% | TOI | ATOI |
1996-97 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -6 | 16 | 31 | 6.5 | |||
1997-98 | 25 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 27 | 26 | 11.5 | |||
2001-02 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5:41 | ||
Career | 25 | 5 | 11 | 16 | -9 | 45 | 57 | 8.8 | 6 | 5:41 |
NOTABLE
The occasionally AWOL and always popular Mironov had played 320 regular season games and 24 more in the playoffs for the Oilers when Sather shipped him, Dean McAmmond and prospect Jonas Elofsson to Chicago for Chad Kilger, Daniel Cleary, Ethan Moreau and Christian Laflamme on March 20, 1999.
The trade most certainly re-shaped the Oilers on Edmonton’s end. For Mironov, the move meant a new deal with Chicago and a raise from the $1.2 million he’d earned in Edmonton to a salary of $3.1 million as part of a four-year contract worth $12.9 million. Part of the move, as always, was about money with all eyes in Edmonton on the bottom line.
Part of it was Sather was dealing from a position of depth – he also had Roman Hamrlik, Janne Niinimaa and a young Tom Poti on the blue line. In that regard, it made some sense as a hockey move. Kilger, Cleary and Moreau were all first-rounders who hadn’t yet panned out. Still, in Mironov, the Oilers sent away a guy who could hit, shoot the puck, produce points and always volunteered as social director and head of sight-seeing.
THE STORY
Mironov twice hit 40 points with the Oilers, including 46 in 1997-98. He had 40 with the Oilers the next season at the time the trade was made. Mironov wouldn’t match those numbers with the Blackhawks or with the New York Rangers, his final NHL stop. Mironov was just 31 in his final season with the Rangers. Then, after 716 games, he was done.
I often wondered how good Mironov might have been had he taken his career more seriously – had he put in the work during the off-season, occasionally made curfew on the road. He had a boatload of talent, but he was pretty much indifferent on the dedication end of things. Even so, Mironov lead Edmonton D-men in scoring for four straight seasons.
In the end, Mironov was here for a good time, not a long time. That was true in Winnipeg, where he began his too-brief NHL career, Edmonton, Chicago and New York. The life of the party, out looking for Kovy, was Bobo. That’s who he was and the way he chose to go.
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.
PREVIOUSLY:
- 58. Jaroslav Pouzar
- 59. Tommy Salo
- 60. Dave Brown
- 61. Rem Murray
- 62. Sam Gagner
- 63. Sheldon Souray
- 64. Dustin Penner
- 65. Bernie Nicholls
- 66. Roman Hamrlik
- 67. Zdeno Ciger
- 68. Jeff Petry
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