Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Petr Klima comes in at No. 37 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 33 on Brownlee’s original list.

The 1989-90 Edmonton Oilers were truly something special.

Just one season removed from the gut-wrenching loss of the greatest player in NHL history, there was noise around the team who had spent the 80s having immense success and claiming four Stanley Cups. It was the golden era of Oilers hockey.

Now heading into the ’90’s, the Oilers looked to have the same success that they had in the decade prior. Except this time, they were missing a crucial piece of their ’80s dominance.

In acquiring a plethora of depth players, the Oilers managed to prove that their team was more than just No. 99. One of these players was Petr Klima, who sits at No. 37 on our Top 100 Oilers list.

Notable

It was game one of the 1990 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.

Kurri and MacTavish were rushing up the ice in the third overtime period, seeking to end the longest playoff game in NHL history at the time.

As Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal wrote at the time, “Klima hadn’t played since the second period as Muckler cut his bench down.”

That’s over three periods of sitting for Klima before he was relieved of his bench-warming duties. Oilers’ coach John Muckler made the correct decision putting him out there with MacTavish and Kurri.

Klima was the trailer, rushing up the ice behind the two superstars. Kurri had the puck. He dropped it back to Klima, who fired a shot from the offensive zone face-off dot. Next thing the crowd knew, the puck was behind the Bruins goaltender, and previous Oilers legend, Andy Moog.

The Oilers team erupted into celebration as history was made. This marked the first of four wins that cemented them as Stanley Cup Champions for the fifth time in their existence, and the only time without Wayne Gretzky.

This iconic moment lives on in the Oilers history books. It was the day Petr Klima truly became an iconic member of the Oilers organization.

The Story

Klima was one of few NHL players to defect from then-Czechoslovakia after being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1983. He hit the ground running with them in his 1985 rookie season, scoring 32 goals and 56 points on a disastrous Red Wings team that finished last in the division.

Then, the 1989 trade between the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens saw Edmonton send Jimmy Carson and Kevin McClelland in return for Adam Graves, Joe Murphy, Jeff Sharples — and none other than Klima.

In his first stint with the Oilers that lasted four seasons, he played 258 games and scored 118 goals. His impact on the Oilers throughout his time in Edmonton was undeniable.

While his overtime winner in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals was the most notable moment during his time in Edmonton, his playoff goal-scoring prowess was also on display against the Minnesota North Stars in 1991.

Klima scored a hat trick in just five minutes and thirteen seconds, which is the fastest playoff hat trick in Oilers history. Ultimately, that game was the only one that the Oilers won in their Clarence Campbell final matchup, losing the series in five games.

On June 16, 1993, Klima was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 1994 third-round pick in the NHL Draft, where he played for three years. He had much success in Southern Florida, scoring 63 goals and 133 points across 189 games.

After that, he was traded to Los Angeles, who then traded him to Pittsburgh a couple of months later, but he never found the same offensive success. He returned to Edmonton for a single season in 1997, and then closed out his NHL career where it began: with the Detroit Red Wings.

He took two years off after the 1998-99 season, but would return for the Czechia league’s HC Chemopetrol as a captain, scoring 37 goals and 53 points in 93 games across two seasons.

A May 16, 1990 edition of the Edmonton Journal details Petr Klima’s over time winner.

What Brownlee said

From the candy cane tape job on his hockey stick to the Great Dane he kept in his hotel room at the Coliseum Inn across the Street from Northlands Coliseum to the business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back mullet and big fur coats he favoured, Petr Klima was a walking fashion statement. He had style.
Despite his penchant for driving coaches crazy wherever he played by doing nothing for games on end and occasionally missing curfew – hello, Goose Loonies – then going on a tear out on the ice that took your breath away, there’s no doubt Klima was equal parts substance. It’s fitting, then, he scored one of the greatest overtime goals in the history of the Edmonton Oilers in 1990 during a game in which he had his ass stapled to the pine most of the night.
…
It would be easy enough to wag your finger at Klima and dismiss him as one of those uncommitted types who was very good as a NHL player but refused to be great because he just wasn’t willing to put in the work – there’s certainly a lot of truth in that where he’s concerned – but he was a free-spirit who was difficult not to like. Then again, I never had to coach him.
Klima, who broke into the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings in 1985-86 after defecting from Czeckoslovakia, already had plenty of baggage as a good-time guy when he was traded to Edmonton with Joe Murphy, Adam Graves and Jeff Sharples by the Red Wings for Jimmy Carson, Kevin McClelland and a draft pick in November of 1989.
The most noteworthy incident happened right here in Edmonton as Klima, Bob Probert and Joe Kocur were caught partying into the wee hours of the morning at Goose Loonies, a southside nightclub, the night before the fifth game of Detroit’s third-round series against the Oilers. The Oilers won the game 8-4 and the series 4-1. – Robin Brownlee

The Last 10

THE SAUCE PLAYOFF WATCH PARTIES WITH RYDER AND LISA

Edmonton, it’s time to dust off your best game fits—playoff season is here. And for every away game, The Sauce is taking over Greta Bar YEG as the official playoff headquarters. There ain’t no party like a Nation playoff party. Expect food and drink specials you can’t beat, t-shirt tosses, giveaways, games, and a few surprises we’ve been saving just for the Nation Citizens. Whether you’re coming for the game, the atmosphere, or just to get a little saucy with the crew, this is where you want to be when the team hits the road. Secure your table by texting Greta’s hotline at 1-587-418-8507.

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