TOP 100 OILERS: MIKE GRIER (49)

7 years ago

There isn’t a single player on this list of Top 100 Oilers who was more of a longshot to play 1,000 games in the NHL than Mike Grier, and there hasn’t been anybody who did it with more professionalism and class during his time in Edmonton than the guy teammates called Rosey, the Big Train from Detroit, did.

Grier was essentially a throw-in from the St. Louis Blues as part of the trade that landed Edmonton goaltender Curtis Joseph — GM Glen Sather worried the 265-pound right winger, who came from a football family, might be too big to be a hockey player. Grier proved to be anything but a spare part, terrorizing opposing players with hellacious hits, killing penalties and playing an effective two-way game for 448 games with the Oilers.

Mike Grier

Right Wing

Born January 5th, 1975 — Detroit, MI

Height 6.01 — Weight 224 [185 cm/102 kg]

Drafted by St. Louis Blues

Round 9 #219 overall 1993 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
1996-97	22	EDM	79	15	17	32	7	45	89	16.9
1997-98	23	EDM	66	9	6	15	-3	73	90	10.0
1998-99	24	EDM	82	20	24	44	5	54	143	14.0	1308	15:57
1999-00	25	EDM	65	9	22	31	9	68	115	7.8	1024	15:45
2000-01	26	EDM	74	20	16	36	11	20	124	16.1	1239	16:44
2001-02	27	EDM	82	8	17	25	1	32	112	7.1	1232	15:01
2002-03	28	WSH	82	15	17	32	-14	36	133	11.3	1459	17:48
2003-04	29	TOT	82	9	20	29	-9	36	133	6.8	1430	17:26
2003-04	29	WSH	68	8	12	20	-19	32	115	7.0	1185	17:25
2003-04	29	BUF	14	1	8	9	10	4	18	5.6	245	17:29
2005-06	31	BUF	81	7	16	23	-7	28	109	6.4	1164	14:22
2006-07	32	SJS	81	16	17	33	-5	43	125	12.8	1332	16:26
2007-08	33	SJS	78	9	13	22	-8	24	132	6.8	1264	16:13
2008-09	34	SJS	62	10	13	23	8	25	108	9.3	930	15:00
2009-10	35	BUF	73	10	12	22	-4	14	123	8.1	1153	15:48
2010-11	36	BUF	73	5	11	16	0	12	107	4.7	1051	14:24
6 yrs		EDM	448	81	102	183	30	292	673	12.0	4802	15:51
4 yrs		BUF	241	23	47	70	-1	58	357	6.4	3612	14:59
3 yrs		SJS	221	35	43	78	-5	92	365	9.6	3526	15:57
2 yrs		WSH	150	23	29	52	-33	68	248	9.3	2644	17:38
Career			1060	162	221	383	-9	510	1643	9.9	14584	15:56

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
1996-97	22	EDM	12	3	1	4	-2	4	21	14.3
1997-98	23	EDM	12	2	2	4	4	13	14	14.3
1998-99	24	EDM	4	1	1	2	3	6	9	11.1	94	23:26
2000-01	26	EDM	6	0	0	0	-2	8	6	0.0	128	21:23
2002-03	28	WSH	6	1	1	2	0	2	10	10.0	108	17:59
2005-06	31	BUF	18	3	5	8	3	2	32	9.4	293	16:17
2006-07	32	SJS	11	2	2	4	1	27	31	6.5	190	17:16
2007-08	33	SJS	13	0	1	1	-2	2	22	0.0	199	15:20
2008-09	34	SJS	6	0	0	0	-2	6	8	0.0	63	10:33
2009-10	35	BUF	6	2	0	2	0	2	19	10.5	111	18:34
2010-11	36	BUF	7	0	1	1	-3	0	5	0.0	66	9:29
Career			101	14	14	28	0	72	177	7.9	1253	16:17

NOTABLE

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“The scouts all wanted Mike but Glen didn’t know much about him,” recalled former head of scouting Kevin Prendergast. “I remember Glen saying ‘he weighs 265 pounds, he’ll never fit into a pair of pants.” I don’t know if Grier ever actually weighed that much because when he got here he bent the beams at about 230 pounds – opponents can thank their lucky stars for that because Grier hit like a runaway freight.

While Grier wasn’t particularly fleet of foot in terms of having great lateral movement, he could get there in a straight line and if he caught somebody in the trolley tracks, he simply ran them over and kept going. I’m trying to think of a better pure hitter than Grier and I’m hard-pressed to come up with a name. Mercy, he wrecked guys – no elbows, no stick, all body, and there damn sure was plenty of that.

Grier paid a price to play that way. During the 2000-01 season, Grier’s shoulder made a habit of popping out of place – dislocating during games. More than once after the problems began, you’d hear Grier scream in pain and skate to the bench with his arm hanging loosely at his side. As many times as not, he’d get it popped back into place and return to the ice after missing just a shift or two. He was a tough SOB.

THE STORY

As big as he was and as tough as he was, Grier, who was at his best during his time in Edmonton while playing on a checking line with Todd Marchant and Ethan Moreau, was a real sweetheart. He was soft-spoken, polite and professional win or lose – even when the riff-raff in the media poured into the room to ask questions. Grier was tough as hell, but never felt the need to play the role when the equipment came off. His teammates loved him.

Grier twice scored 20 goals in a season for the Oilers and the 44 points he amassed in 1998-99 was a career high. He was not without offensive ability. Grier’s calling card, though, was steaming up and down the right wing and making sure everybody knew he was there. I don’t recall another Oiler, save for maybe Bryan Marchment (who was a knee-shredder and the antithesis of Grier), drawing more shouts of “Heads up” from opposing benches.

Simply put, Grier was as honest a hockey player as I ever met in an NHL dressing room. He was a guy who showed up ready to go to work every day, played his role without question and put his teammates first on and off the ice. I know of former teammates who would rather see him higher on this list, and that says a lot about the player and the man. Big Train at No. 49.

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 GRIER (49)

BY THE NUMBERS

NOTABLE

THE STORY

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