Years before I arrived in Alberta late in 1989, I remember thinking while watching Dave Semenko pummel anybody who even looked at Wayne Gretzky wrong, “Man, that dude is big and tough and mean.” When we eventually met, up on the catwalk at Northlands Coliseum in a corner where smokers gathered, I remember thinking the same thing. “You can’t smoke up here,” Semenko said straight-faced as I lit up. I was just about to stub it out and go wipe my ass when he laughed and took a drag of his smoke.
Yes, Semenko was as big and tough and intimidating as they come during his years playing beat cop for Gretzky and the Oilers during their final days in the WHA and entry into the NHL, but mean? No, not really. As a player and then a broadcaster and Oiler scout in his post-playing days, Semenko had a sharp tongue and a dry sense of humor, which he happily unleashed on the unsuspecting, like the night we met in the press box. He was also, for my money, one of the top-three enforcers to ever ply his trade in the NHL.
Dave Semenko
Left Wing — shoots L
Born July 12, 1957 — Winnipeg, MAN  
Height 6.03 — Weight 215 [191 cm/98 kg]
Drafted by Minnesota North Stars
Round 2 #25 overall 1977 NHL Amateur Draft
Drafted by Houston Aeros
Round 2 #21 overall 1977 WHA Amateur Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season
Age
Tm
Lg
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1977-78
20
EDO
WHA
65
6
6
12
-4
140
47
12.8
1978-79
21
EDO
WHA
77
10
14
24
-12
158
56
17.9
1979-80
22
EDM
NHL
67
6
7
13
-13
135
43
14.0
1980-81
23
EDM
NHL
58
11
8
19
-4
80
42
26.2
1981-82
24
EDM
NHL
59
12
12
24
7
194
54
22.2
1982-83
25
EDM
NHL
75
12
15
27
19
141
69
17.4
1983-84
26
EDM
NHL
52
6
11
17
9
118
39
15.4
1984-85
27
EDM
NHL
69
6
12
18
5
172
50
12.0
1985-86
28
EDM
NHL
69
6
12
18
-1
141
51
11.8
1986-87
29
TOT
NHL
56
4
8
12
-7
87
32
12.5
1986-87
29
EDM
NHL
5
0
0
0
0
0
1
0.0
1986-87
29
HAR
NHL
51
4
8
12
-7
87
31
12.9
1987-88
30
TOR
NHL
70
2
3
5
-8
107
12
16.7
8 yrs
EDM
NHL
454
59
77
136
22
981
349
16.9
2 yrs
EDO
WHA
142
16
20
36
-16
298
103
15.5
1 yr
HAR
NHL
51
4
8
12
-7
87
31
12.9
1 yr
TOR
NHL
70
2
3
5
-8
107
12
16.7
Career
NHL
575
65
88
153
7
1175
392
16.6
Career
WHA
142
16
20
36
-16
298
103
15.5
PLAYOFFS
Season
Age
Tm
Lg
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
PIM
S
S%
1977-78
20
EDO
WHA
5
0
0
0
-1
8
1978-79
21
EDO
WHA
11
4
2
6
3
29
1979-80
22
EDM
NHL
3
0
0
0
2
1980-81
23
EDM
NHL
8
0
0
0
5
1981-82
24
EDM
NHL
4
0
0
0
2
1982-83
25
EDM
NHL
15
1
1
2
69
1983-84
26
EDM
NHL
19
5
5
10
11
44
25
20.0
1984-85
27
EDM
NHL
14
0
0
0
2
39
5
0.0
1985-86
28
EDM
NHL
6
0
0
0
0
32
1
0.0
1986-87
29
HAR
NHL
4
0
0
0
1
15
0
Career
NHL
73
6
6
12
14
208
31
16.1
Career
WHA
16
4
2
6
2
37

NOTABLE

For those too young to remember Semenko during his playing days with the Oilers, here’s a clip of when the Battle of Alberta with the Calgary Flames really was a battle. When things got goofy against the Flames, as they often did, you didn’t have to look far to find Semenko. Sammy’s fistic handiwork in games against Calgary, particularly in scraps with Tim Hunter, was epic.
Semenko was also a central figure as the upstart Oilers of the early 1980s bumped up against the powerhouses of the day, the New York Islanders, eventually claiming Edmonton’s first Stanley Cup in 1984, ending a string of four straight Cups by the Islanders. I’ll never forget Semenko going after Billy Smith or his dismantling of Gary Howatt.
Teammate Kevin Lowe, who had a front row seat for Sammy’s tenure in Edmonton from start to finish, summed up Semenko this way: “He was in a class of his own. He didn’t beat guys up, he destroyed them. He employed a combination of sheer strength, sheer power, and sheer quickness, but mostly power. He wasted players with just two or three punches.” And Semenko did it during an era when the rosters of opposing teams were loaded with a depth of toughness we don’t see today.

THE STORY

The Oilers of the Boys on the Bus era weren’t only known as having some of the best players in the game – Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey and the rest – they had a string of guys who ranked among the toughest in the league at any given time like Semenko, Kevin McClelland, Marty McSorley and Dave Brown. I don’t think, given how the game was played then, that’s a coincidence.
Gretzky and the other future HHOF players on those great Oiler teams have said more than once in the years since the glory days they were able to do what they did because guys like Semenko took care of their end of the game – the fighting, the intimidating, the bloody knuckles work. That role doesn’t hold the same importance now, but it damn sure did then. I really can’t think of anybody who understood his role better than Semenko, who chronicled his career in the book Looking Out For Number One.
Semenko won two Stanley Cups with the Oilers, in 1984 and 1985. Even in retirement as a player, intimidation was part of Semenko’s game as a member of Edmonton’s scouting staff. When the Oilers hockey-ops staff would interview prospects leading into the Entry Draft, they’d often have Semenko lean in with a question or two to see if the kid got rattled. “Why should we draft you?” Kind of like “You can’t smoke up here.” I’m guessing most of the kids did better than I did.
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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