Craig MacTavish’s tenure as a member of the Edmonton Oilers spans 32 years. That includes parts of nine seasons and 701 games as a player in which he won three Stanley Cups and served two seasons as team captain, which is the primary focus when it comes to his place on this list of Top 100 Oilers. It’s a tenure, of course, that is considerably broader and more complicated than that.
MacTavish’s time in Edmonton has seen him coach and manage with the Oilers since his playing days as a checking centre, face-off specialist and captain were done – with considerably less success than he enjoyed wearing jersey No. 14 with the Boys on the Bus. Of that, there is no debate. For those old enough to remember, it’s also a tenure that began with MacTavish as a reclamation project. Each day since then speaks volumes about MacTavish’s character as a man.

Craig MacTavish

Center — shoots L
Born Aug 15 1958 — London, ONT
Height 6.01 — Weight 195 [185 cm/88 kg]
Drafted by Boston Bruins
Round 9 #153 overall 1978 NHL Amateur Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1979-80
21
BOS
46
11
17
28
16
8
61
18.0
1980-81
22
BOS
24
3
5
8
-1
13
44
6.8
1981-82
23
BOS
2
0
1
1
0
0
1
0.0
1982-83
24
BOS
75
10
20
30
15
18
120
8.3
1983-84
25
BOS
70
20
23
43
9
35
135
14.8
1985-86
27
EDM
74
23
24
47
17
70
121
19.0
1986-87
28
EDM
79
20
19
39
9
55
140
14.3
1987-88
29
EDM
80
15
17
32
-3
47
90
16.7
1988-89
30
EDM
80
21
31
52
10
55
120
17.5
1989-90
31
EDM
80
21
22
43
13
89
109
19.3
1990-91
32
EDM
80
17
15
32
-1
76
113
15.0
1991-92
33
EDM
80
12
18
30
-1
98
86
14.0
1992-93
34
EDM
82
10
20
30
-16
110
101
9.9
1993-94
35
TOT
78
20
12
32
-14
91
122
16.4
1993-94
35
EDM
66
16
10
26
-20
80
97
16.5
1993-94
35
NYR
12
4
2
6
6
11
25
16.0
1994-95
36
PHI
45
3
9
12
2
23
38
7.9
1995-96
37
TOT
68
5
9
14
-9
70
58
8.6
1995-96
37
PHI
55
5
8
13
-3
62
42
11.9
1995-96
37
STL
13
0
1
1
-6
8
16
0.0
1996-97
38
STL
50
2
5
7
-12
33
26
7.7
9 yrs
EDM
701
155
176
331
8
680
977
15.9
5 yrs
BOS
217
44
66
110
39
74
361
12.2
2 yrs
PHI
100
8
17
25
-1
85
80
10.0
2 yrs
STL
63
2
6
8
-18
41
42
4.8
1 yr
NYR
12
4
2
6
6
11
25
16.0
Career
1093
213
267
480
34
891
1485
14.3

PLAYOFFS

Season
Age
Tm
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1979-80
21
BOS
10
2
3
5
7
1982-83
24
BOS
17
3
1
4
18
1983-84
25
BOS
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0.0
1985-86
27
EDM
10
4
4
8
6
11
17
23.5
1986-87
28
EDM
21
1
9
10
1
16
35
2.9
1987-88
29
EDM
19
0
1
1
0
31
12
0.0
1988-89
30
EDM
7
0
1
1
1
8
10
0.0
1989-90
31
EDM
22
2
6
8
6
29
21
9.5
1990-91
32
EDM
18
3
3
6
-3
20
24
12.5
1991-92
33
EDM
16
3
0
3
4
28
27
11.1
1993-94
35
NYR
23
1
4
5
0
22
15
6.7
1994-95
36
PHI
15
1
4
5
-3
20
13
7.7
1995-96
37
STL
13
0
2
2
0
6
11
0.0
1996-97
38
STL
1
0
0
0
-1
2
0
Career
193
20
38
58
11
218
187
8.0

NOTABLE

We can’t have a discussion about MacTavish as a player, coach or manager without recognition of the life-altering event that landed him in Edmonton. MacTavish was signed as a free agent after five years with the Boston Bruins by GM Glen Sather after serving a year in prison for vehicular homicide in the death of 26-year-old Kim Radley in Massachusetts in 1984. Radley died of injuries four days after a multi-car wreck that was caused when her vehicle was struck by a car driven by MacTavish, who was under the influence of alcohol. You can read a more thorough account here.
MacTavish served his time and made peace with the parents of Radley, Ron and Hazel Foote, in a face-to-face meeting upon his first return to Boston as a member of the Oilers. It was in that first meeting that Ron and Hazel Foote expressed their willingness to forgive and that MacTavish expressed his remorse to them face-to-face. That doesn’t change what happened, but it does lend context. MacTavish has visited the Footes more than once – I witnessed one of those visits during a morning skate in Boston.
“I was real apprehensive about doing it,” MacTavish told the New York Daily News. “Sure I was nervous. But I knew it was something I had to do. I wanted to do it . . . it was definitely a turning point. It alleviated some of my guilt, obviously. I can`t say enough about them. They were unbelievable. Just unreal people. They`re a real religious family, and I think their attitude toward it was it being an act of God rather than my irresponsibility.”

THE STORY

MacTavish scored 23 goals in this first season with the Oilers, then had 20 in his second on the way to winning his first Cup in 1987. He had a career-high 52 points in 1988-89. MacTavish would score 20-or-more goals four times with the Oilers, but his bread and butter was as a stifling defensive forward, a penalty killer and a guy who dominated on the dot. MacTavish claimed his fourth Cup ring in 1994 with the New York Rangers after being dealt for Todd Marchant at the trade deadline. That New York team, of course, was basically a reunion of former Oilers on a roster that included Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Esa Tikkanen and Jeff Beukeboom.
It didn’t take MacTavish long after his retirement at the conclusion of the 1996-1997 season to return to Edmonton. After two seasons as an assistant coach with the Rangers, MacTavish rejoined the Oilers as an assistant under Lowe for the 1999-2000 season. He took over as head coach for the 2000-01 campaign when Lowe replaced Sather as GM. MacTavish’s high-water mark in eight seasons as coach came in 2005-06, when the Oilers reached the 2006 Cup final, losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Relieved of his duties by GM Steve Tambellini in April of 2009, MacTavish returned to the Oilers and was later named Tambellini’s replacement as GM in April 2013. As the Oilers approached 10 straight years out of the playoffs, MacTavish was replaced as GM by Pete Chiarelli before the 2015-16 season. He remains with the Oilers as vice-president of hockey operations. It’s been a long and winding road for MacTavish, who sits fourth in franchise record books for shorthanded goals (29), seventh in game-winning goals (25) and eighth in games played (701) since he arrived, but it’s one that lands him on my Top 100 list as a player.
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.

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