TOP 100 OILERS: KEN LINSEMAN (41)

7 years ago

Unless Ken Linseman was playing for your team, he was a dirty little %@$#^# so-and-so nicknamed The Rat who deserved to get his #%$&#% backside handed to him good and plenty, and the sooner the better. He was a miserable little $#*#~!@ cheap-shot guy loathed far and wide around the NHL. Shut your face, Linseman, you $%@^!#.

That changed in this NHL outpost when Linseman pulled on the silks of the star-studded Edmonton Oilers before the 1982-83 season. He was adopted by the local faithful as a player whose considerable skills were matched only by the edge he played with and his willingness to do whatever it took to win. The Rat? What a competitor he was. You know how it goes . . .

Ken Linseman

Forward

Born Aug 11 1958 — Kingston, ONT

Height 5.11 — Weight 175 [180 cm/79 kg]

Drafted by Birmingham Bulls

Round 10 #83 overall 1977 WHA Amateur Draft

Drafted by Philadelphia Flyers

Round 1 #7 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%
1977-78	19	BRB	71	38	38	76	6	126	216	17.6
1978-79	20	PHI	30	5	20	25	16	23	57	8.8
1979-80	21	PHI	80	22	57	79	26	107	168	13.1
1980-81	22	PHI	51	17	30	47	9	150	126	13.5
1981-82	23	PHI	79	24	68	92	6	275	212	11.3
1982-83	24	EDM	72	33	42	75	16	181	141	23.4
1983-84	25	EDM	72	18	49	67	30	119	105	17.1
1984-85	26	BOS	74	25	49	74	22	126	162	15.4
1985-86	27	BOS	64	23	58	81	15	97	132	17.4
1986-87	28	BOS	64	15	34	49	15	126	94	16.0
1987-88	29	BOS	77	29	45	74	36	167	150	19.3
1988-89	30	BOS	78	27	45	72	15	164	159	17.0
1989-90	31	TOT	61	11	25	36	5	96	79	13.9
1989-90	31	BOS	32	6	16	22	12	66	47	12.8
1989-90	31	PHI	29	5	9	14	-7	30	32	15.6
1990-91	32	EDM	56	7	29	36	15	94	49	14.3
1991-92	33	TOR	2	0	0	0	-2	2	0
6 yrs		BOS	389	125	247	372	115	746	744	16.8
5 yrs		PHI	269	73	184	257	50	585	595	12.3
3 yrs		EDM	200	58	120	178	61	394	295	19.7
1 yr		TOR	2	0	0	0	-2	2	0
1 yr		BRB	71	38	38	76	6	126	216	17.6
Career			860	256	551	807	224	1727	1634	15.7
Career			71	38	38	76	6	126	216	17.6

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%
1977-78	19	BRB	5	2	2	4	1	15
1978-79	20	PHI	8	2	6	8		22
1979-80	21	PHI	17	4	18	22		40
1980-81	22	PHI	12	4	16	20		67
1981-82	23	PHI	4	1	2	3		6
1982-83	24	EDM	16	6	8	14		22
1983-84	25	EDM	19	10	4	14	5	65	44	22.7
1984-85	26	BOS	5	4	6	10	6	8	12	33.3
1985-86	27	BOS	3	0	1	1	0	17	5	0.0
1986-87	28	BOS	4	1	1	2	-2	22	5	20.0
1987-88	29	BOS	23	11	14	25	4	56	45	24.4
1990-91	32	EDM	2	0	1	1	1	0	1	0.0
Career			113	43	77	120	14	325	112	23.2
Career			5	2	2	4	1	15

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Some hockey historians consider Linseman the first true agitator in NHL history. He was a contradictory blend of speed and skill and piss and vinegar who could play the game anyway you wanted. Linseman scored 20-or-more goals seven times in the NHL and he got better when the games got bigger. While Linseman wasn’t a big man at five-foot-11 and 175 pounds, he’d yap and hack and drive opponents to distraction.

Linseman was suspended in junior for kicking an opponent. As a member of the Oilers, Linseman was suspended for fighting Dean Kennedy of the LA Kings under the stands at Northlands Coliseum. How much of a pain in the ass was Linseman? Long after his days of dirty deeds were done, the writers at Grantland rated The Rat among the Top 10 NHL dirt bags of all time here.

Whatever your views on Linseman tip-toeing along the line that separates mayhem from being “highly competitive” – something swayed largely by whether he was playing for your team or not – there’s no getting around how effective he was with the Oilers, particularly during the playoffs and when he played on a line with Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson.

THE STORY

After coming over from the Philadelphia Flyers for the 1982-83 season, Linseman scored 33-42-75 in 72 games. In the 1983 playoffs, he added 14 points in 16 games as the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup final, only to be swept by the New York Islanders. Turns out Linseman, like the Oilers, was only getting warmed up.

Linseman scored 18-49-67 in 72 games during the 1983-84 regular season, then upped his game once again in the 1984 post-season. He’d score 10 goals and have 14 points in 19 games as the Oilers claimed their first Stanley Cup, beating the reigning champion Islanders in five games. Along the way to that first date with the engraver, Linseman scored the winning goals to clinch three consecutive series – against the Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars and the Islanders. That remains an NHL record (since tied by Martin Gelinas) today.

Edmonton’s first Stanley Cup parade wasn’t long over when GM Glen Sather dealt Linseman to Boston for Mike Krushelnyski (June 21, 184). After parts of five seasons with the Bruins and a brief return to the Flyers, the Rat returned to Edmonton for a 56-game encore in 1990-91. In 200 regular season games with the Oilers, Linseman scored 58-120-178 and he added 29 points in 37 playoff games, winning one Cup. The Rat was money.

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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TOP 100 OILERS: KEN LINSEMAN (41)

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