The Edmonton Oilers are a professional
ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members
of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National
Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers have won the Stanley Cup on five
occasions, in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. The team was founded
in 1972 as one of twelve founding franchises of the major professional
World Hockey Association (WHA). Notably, the team was renamed
the Alberta Oilers when the Calgary Broncos, a fellow WHA founding
franchise in Alberta, relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. The team returned
to the name Edmonton Oilers the following year. The Oilers joined
the NHL in 1979 as one of four franchises introduced through the
merger with the WHA. The Edmonton Oilers are the sole remaining
WHA team in-place.
The Oilers were the dominant team of the
1980s achieving the most recent "dynasty" status as
honored by the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame. The team collected five
Stanley Cups and six conference titles in a 21-team league over
seven years led by, among others, a record book shattering Wayne
Gretzky. The team's greatest success since the dynasty era was
a run to Game Seven of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Oilers have an intense rivalry with
the Calgary Flames, a part of the Battle of Alberta that has manifested
throughout Alberta sports history, and in the NHL since the Flames'
relocation from Atlanta in 1980.