During the 1980s, there was one team you could associate with the National Hockey League and greatness. This team would win one League Championship in 1984 and then go on to create one of sports greatest dynasties. The Edmonton Oilers from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada are a professional ice hockey team and compete in the Western Conference of the Northwest Division. Their complete dominance of the sport in the 80s led them to five Stanley Cup Championships. However, this championship decade was followed by a disappointing 90s due to trades and a competitive market. While the team made it into several playoffs and to another Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, much of the new millennium proved disappointing to the Oilers. As of 2010, the Oilers had fallen to the bottom of the league.

The Oilers were originally part of the World Hockey Association league and began play in 1972 but were members of the NHL by 1979 after the WHA/NHL merger. Just before the league switcheroo, then-new owner Peter Pocklington performed what is known as “one of the greatest trades in hockey history,” when he acquired Wayne Gretzky to the team. Although the team faced an almost full roster change in the NHL move, the General Manager and team recruiters were able to put together what would become an impressive and lethal roster. Gretzky was electric on the team and earned the Art Ross trophy seven consecutive years and the Hart trophy eight consecutive years. It took the Oilers a few years to climb to the top, but during the 1983-84 season, they were finally there…and would stay there for most of the decade. They went on to win the Championships from in 1983-84, 984-85, 1986-87, 1987-88, and 1989-90. Gretzky was traded in 1988.

The demise of the Oilers began in 1991 when the team just could not compete with the salaries the bigger markets were offering. Most of the dynasty team departed and joined other teams leaving Edmonton with a young underdeveloped team. Amidst being sold and moved out of the Edmonton several times in the 90s, the team remains there today. The team made it back to the playoffs in 1997 and rallied well against top teams. They fell in the second round to the Colorado Avalanche and history repeated itself falling again in the second round just a year later, but this time to the Dallas Stars. The Stars and Oilers would go on to play each other six times in the playoffs from 1997 to 2003, five of which were in first-round play.

In 2006, the Oilers finally made it back to the Stanley Cup Finals, nearly 16 years after their previous appearance. Throughout the Cinderella Story Finals, Edmonton was continuing to prove themselves but fell in Game 7 of the final game. The next few years would prove to be difficult for the team and in 2009, long time head coach Craig MacTavish and his assistants were fired. The team has since made some key trades acquiring Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson and promising young players and Jordan Eberle, Kyle Bigos and Olivier Roy. They will most likely have a top 3 pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft where they will be able to make a big pick. As the team rebuilds, the Edmonton Oilers hope to some day reach the top and bring that dynasty fever back into their beloved Province.