TOP 100 OILERS: MIKE COMRIE (51)

7 years ago

Mike Comrie’s time with the Edmonton Oilers seemed scripted like one of those feel-good flicks where the local boy comes home and makes good. While it started out that way midway through the 2000-01 NHL season, it played out with more plot twists than a soap opera — complete with heroes, villains and intrigue, not to mention an unlikely encore, by the time it was done.

Truth is, the off-ice storylines were more intriguing than what happened on the ice during the 235 games Comrie spent as an Oiler in two stints with his hometown team. It was an on-again off-again tenure that saw the son of Brick furniture magnate Bill Comrie produce 154 points and make a bagful of bonus money for doing it. There was a grand entrance. A bitter break-up. A busted trade thanks to an unusual ask by GM Kevin Lowe. Then, to close the show, a reunion almost nobody saw coming. Lights, camera, action . . .

Mike Comrie

Center

Born Sep 11 1980 — Edmonton, ALTA

Height 5.10 — Weight 185 [178 cm/84 kg]

Drafted by Edmonton Oilers

Round 3 #91 overall 1999 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
2000-01	20	EDM	41	8	14	22	6	14	62	12.9	467	11:23
2001-02	21	EDM	82	33	27	60	16	45	170	19.4	1437	17:32
2002-03	22	EDM	69	20	31	51	-18	90	170	11.8	1232	17:51
2003-04	23	TOT	49	12	12	24	-6	28	101	11.9	769	15:42
2003-04	23	PHI	21	4	5	9	2	12	36	11.1	270	12:51
2003-04	23	PHX	28	8	7	15	-8	16	65	12.3	499	17:50
2005-06	25	PHX	80	30	30	60	2	55	190	15.8	1282	16:01
2006-07	26	TOT	65	20	25	45	0	44	125	16.0	991	15:15
2006-07	26	PHX	24	7	13	20	1	20	38	18.4	398	16:36
2006-07	26	OTT	41	13	12	25	-1	24	87	14.9	593	14:27
2007-08	27	NYI	76	21	28	49	-21	87	194	10.8	1458	19:11
2008-09	28	TOT	63	10	17	27	-15	32	121	8.3	989	15:42
2008-09	28	NYI	41	7	13	20	-8	26	80	8.8	675	16:28
2008-09	28	OTT	22	3	4	7	-7	6	41	7.3	314	14:17
2009-10	29	EDM	43	13	8	21	-9	30	97	13.4	612	14:14
2010-11	30	PIT	21	1	5	6	-4	18	25	4.0	248	11:49
4 yrs		EDM	235	74	80	154	-5	179	499	14.8	3748	15:57
3 yrs		PHX	132	45	50	95	-5	91	293	15.4	2179	16:30
2 yrs		NYI	117	28	41	69	-29	113	274	10.2	2133	18:14
2 yrs		OTT	63	16	16	32	-8	30	128	12.5	907	14:24
1 yr		PHI	21	4	5	9	2	12	36	11.1	270	12:51
1 yr		PIT	21	1	5	6	-4	18	25	4.0	248	11:49
Career			589	168	197	365	-49	443	1255	13.4	9486	16:06

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
2000-01	20	EDM	6	1	2	3	0	0	7	14.3	90	14:00
2002-03	22	EDM	6	1	0	1	-1	10	9	11.1	79	13:07
2006-07	26	OTT	20	2	4	6	-1	17	25	8.0	254	12:41
Career			32	4	6	10	-2	27	41	9.8	422	13:12

NOTABLE

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When Comrie, originally drafted by the Oilers 91st overall in the 1999 Entry Draft from the University of Michigan, was introduced midway through the 2000-01 season at Rexall Place after deciding to leave the Kootenay Ice, it was with great fanfare. The former star of the St. Albert Saints had leveraged unrestricted free agency – under the Mike Van Ryn precedent – to a bonus-laden contract worth $10 million over three seasons.

On the ice, Comrie didn’t waste any time triggering those bonuses during his first three seasons, campaigns in which he produced 61-72-133 through 192 games. Off the ice, Comrie soon grew weary of playing and living with the expectations that came in the hockey fishbowl that was home. The intensity of the scrutiny ratcheted up a notch when Lowe went up one side of the team and down the other after another first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Stars in 2003. With Comrie’s first contract up, things got sticky.

At the 2003 Entry Draft in Nashville, word was Lowe was testing the waters to see who might be interested in Comrie. Negotiations between Lowe and agent Ritch Winter were going nowhere. Things got ugly when Comrie was told he couldn’t attend training camp without a contract. When the season began, Comrie began a hold-out. While that was widely reported as a ploy during negotiations, it was anything but a bargaining chip. The fact was Comrie and Winter had requested a trade.

THE STORY

It looked like Comrie would get his ticket out of town when Lowe struck a deal with the Anaheim Ducks in a trade that included Corey Perry and a first-round draft pick. It was seen as such a done-deal that Comrie’s Oiler teammates held a going-away party for him. That deal came apart with an 11th hour demand by Lowe that Comrie pay $2.5 million to complete the trade – essentially, an unprecedented attempt to claw back some of the bonus money Comrie had earned during his first contract.

The Oilers were on the road in Los Angeles when Comrie was eventually dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers on December 16, 2003. The return from the Flyers was Jeff Woywitka, a first-round pick (Rob Schremp) and a third-round pick (Danny Syvret). Despite the bad feelings and a public pissing match leading up to the trade, Comrie and the Oilers eventually kissed and made up – after stops in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Ottawa and Long Island, Comrie re-signed with the Oilers as a free agent for the 2009-10 season. It was a largely uneventful reunion as Comrie scored 13-8-21 in 43 games.

While Comrie has been painted by some as a silver-spooner who took a big stack of bonus money, turned his back on the Oilers and ducked out of town, Lowe and his supporters in team ownership at the time were co-authors of all the over-the-top drama. In between a promising beginning and that ugly split, Comrie was a very good player here.

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: MIKE COMRIE (51)

BY THE NUMBERS

PLAYOFFS

NOTABLE

THE STORY

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