Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). He was the Rangers' general manager until stepping down on July 1, 2015, and then served as their president until April 4, 2019.
He is known for coaching the
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
to four
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
victories during the 1980s. He played a key role in attracting the talented players, including
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
, who helped make the Oilers a hockey dynasty at that time. Gretzky, who became "the most dominant player in the history of the game," credits Sather, along with Walter Gretzky, his father, as his most important mentors.
Outside the NHL, Sather was instrumental in building Canadian national teams for the
1984 Canada Cup (tournament champions), the
1994 Ice Hockey World Championship (Gold Medal winners) and
1996 World Cup of Hockey (Finalists). Prior to coaching, Sather was a professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
left winger
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the WHA and NHL, playing for several teams over a 10-year period.
Sather was born in
High River
High River is a town within the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23. High River had a population of 14,324 in 2021.
History
The community takes ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
but grew up in
Wainwright, Alberta
Wainwright is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately southeast of Edmonton.
Located west of the Alberta–Saskatchewan border, Wainwright is south of Vermilion in the Battle River valley. Highway 41, called the Buffalo ...
. Sather resides in
Rye, New York
Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...
during the season and
Palm Springs, California in the off-season, but also has a home in
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise. At above Banff is the community with the second highest e ...
. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. His nickname is "Slats".
Background and early career
Sather played three junior seasons starting in 1961 with the
Edmonton Oil Kings
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...
. His professional career started in 1964 with the
CPHL Memphis Wings
The Memphis Wings were a professional ice hockey team in Memphis, Tennessee. They played from 1964–67 in the Central Professional Hockey League. As their name suggested, they were a farm team of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings' farm t ...
and
Oklahoma City Blazers, joining the Bruins at the end of the 1966–67 season and playing in 5 games.
Professional playing career
Sather played 10 full seasons in the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) and another with the
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
of the
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...
(WHA).
He played 739 regular season games as a pro, scoring 99–146–245 and earning 801 minutes in penalties. In the playoffs, he added 77 games played and scored 2–6–8 with 88PIM. His career as a player ended at the conclusion of the 1976–77 WHA season.
Post-playing career
Edmonton Oilers
Sather was named player-coach of the Oilers with 18 games remaining in the 1976-77 World Hockey Association season. In his first game as player-coach, the Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5–4, with Sather himself scoring a goal 1:11 into the game. He retired as a player after that season, but remained as head coach and would be the face of the franchise for the next quarter-century. Sather stayed on as head coach when the Oilers joined the NHL in 1979–80.
In 1978, then-Oilers owner
Peter Pocklington
Peter Hugh Pocklington (born November 18, 1941) is a Canadian entrepreneur and vocal advocate of free-market capitalism.
Peter Pocklington was known among North American hockey fans as "Peter Puck", the maverick entrepreneur from oil-rich Albert ...
came to Sather and asked him whether he should take advantage of an opportunity to acquire
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...
. Sather replied, "Whatever you have to do, get him." This was considered a risky proposition in 1978, as many scouts and hockey pundits, notably
Howie Meeker, considered Gretzky too small, and unlikely to ever make it in the pro ranks. Upon acquiring Gretzky, Sather allowed him to live with his family.
In 1979, the Edmonton Oilers were absorbed into the NHL. After taking them to the first round of the playoffs in their inaugural season, Sather was promoted to president and General Manager, and named
Bryan Watson as head coach. On the advice of
Barry Fraser
Barry Fraser (February 10, 1940 – December 4, 2022) was a Canadian ice hockey executive who was the Director of Scouting for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League from 1979 to 2000.
Career
Born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Fraser att ...
, his chief scout, Sather selected
Paul Coffey
Paul Douglas Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for nine teams over 21 seasons in the National Hockey League. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among ...
in the first round,
Jari Kurri
Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named on ...
in the fourth and
Andy Moog
Donald Andrew Moog (; born February 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Moog played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens, and also for the C ...
in the seventh. After a 4–9–5 record to start the
1980–81 season, Sather stepped back behind the bench and demoted Watson to an assistant (Watson retired after the season). While his record was only 25–26–11 the rest of the way, the young Oilers caught fire late in the season and swept the heavily favoured
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
in the opening round of the playoffs. It was a signal of what was to come. Again on the advice of Fraser, Sather selected
Grant Fuhr
Grant Scott Fuhr (born September 28, 1962) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and former goaltending coach for the Arizona Coyotes, who is best remembered for a decade of stellar play for the Edmonton Oilers i ...
in the first round and
Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to:
Academics
* Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager
* Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...
in the sixth round of the 1981 draft. The
1981–82 season saw the Oilers charge out of the gate as never before. They scored an NHL-record 417 goals, paced by Gretzky's 92 goals and 212 points. They rocketed to second place in the league behind only the
New York Islanders, but were upended in the first round by the upstart
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
.
This was the start of a tremendous run for the Oilers, who made it to the
1983 Finals (losing to the Islanders) and then winning the Stanley Cup in five of the next seven seasons. The team made the playoffs with Sather as the sole head coach from 1979–80 until 1984–85. In 1985, Sather named top assistant
John Muckler
John Muckler (April 13, 1934 – January 4, 2021) was a professional hockey coach and executive, who last served as the general manager of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Muckler had over 50 years of professional hockey e ...
as associate head coach and began splitting most coaching duties with Muckler. Sather won the
Jack Adams Trophy
The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 47 times to 39 coaches. The winner is selecte ...
in
1985–86 as the NHL's coach of the year. In the 1988 offseason, Gretzky was traded to the
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
. The Oilers finished the season third in the Smythe Division, and then were eliminated by Gretzky's Kings in the first round of the playoffs in seven games. Afterward Sather relinquished his title of head coach to Muckler, but remained general manager of the Oilers.
For the 1989–90 season, the Oilers returned to the Finals where they again faced the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
, winning in five games for their fifth Stanley Cup.
While the Oilers remained competitive during the first half of the 1990s, it was obvious they were no longer the powerhouse they had once been (they last won the division title in
1986–87). This was mainly because key players such as Mark Messier,
Jari Kurri
Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named on ...
, and
Esa Tikkanen
Esa Tikkanen (born January 25, 1965) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida P ...
left to seek higher salaries elsewhere (caused in part by the Gretzky trade in 1988). It has been argued that the high turnover came about from Pocklington's cost-cutting moves in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Oilers' decline was precipitated by poor scouting and drafting in the 1980s.
This was largely overlooked during their glory years, since their stellar records resulted in them drafting fairly late and Sather was fairly adept at making trades to fill in the pieces. However, the lack of depth in the minor-league system finally caught up with them when the last veterans from the dynasty years left town. This left the Oilers so bereft of talent that Sather was forced to rush many prospects to Edmonton before they had sufficient time to develop. While the Oilers dropped to third in the Smythe Division in 1991 and 1992, they had enough heft to make it all the way to the Conference Finals both years. The bottom fell out in 1993, when the Oilers missed the playoffs for the first time in their NHL history. Of the 17 players that Sather chose in the first round from 1982 to 2000, only
Jeff Beukeboom
Jeffrey Scott Beukeboom (born March 28, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played as a defenceman for the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers between 1986 and 1999
Playin ...
in 1983 and
Jason Arnott
Jason William Arnott (born October 11, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.
He began his National Hockey League career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993–94 after being selected seventh overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft ...
in 1993 turned out to be successful for the Oilers. This deficiency was particularly crucial as the Oilers' precarious financial situation in the 1990s kept them from paying their top players enough to keep them in Edmonton, and also locked them out of the market for top free agents.
After four years out of the playoffs, the Oilers returned to the playoffs in 1997 and would make the postseason in four more seasons. In 1997 and 1998, they managed first-round upsets of the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and were founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minne ...
and
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
, respectively, backstopped by goaltender
Curtis Joseph
Curtis Shayne Joseph (né Munro; born April 29, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player. Nicknamed "Cujo", Joseph was immediately recognizable on the ice for his masks featuring a snarling dog, drawing inspiration fro ...
. However Sather was unable to retain Joseph, who signed as a free agent with the
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
for 1998–99,
and the Oilers were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by the Stars from 1999 to 2001. Sather left the Oilers organization in 2000 and was succeeded as general manager by outgoing head coach
Kevin Lowe
Kevin Hugh Lowe (born April 15, 1959) is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive, former coach and former player. Lowe was the vice-chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group until his retirement on August 2nd, 2022 (behind only Glen Sather in ...
. However, the deficiencies in player development under Sather would hamper the Oilers for several years to come. Since 1991–92, they have only finished with 90 or more points five times.
New York Rangers
In 2000, Sather joined the Rangers to become their president and general manager.
He hired
Bryan Trottier
Bryan John Trottier (born July 17, 1956) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the ...
as head coach in 2002. The former Islanders' great, hated by the Rangers' fans, was fired 54 games into the 2002–03 season. Sather took over as head coach and remained as head coach into the 2003–04 season, eventually relinquishing the job to assistant coach
Tom Renney
Thomas Renney (born March 1, 1955) is a Canadian former ice hockey coach and executive. He served as the chief executive officer of Hockey Canada from 2014 to 2022, and was previously an associate coach with the National Hockey League's Detroit ...
; his record as Rangers coach was 33–39–11–7 over 90 games. That pushed his NHL career win total to 497, 19th all-time.
Some good, young players were also drafted during his tenure as the Rangers general manager, such as
Henrik Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist (; born 2 March 1982) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire 15-season career with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Before winning the Vezina Trophy in 2012, he ...
,
Brandon Dubinsky
Brandon Grae Dubinsky (born April 29, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He previously played for the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Dubinsky was drafted 60th overall in the ...
,
Ryan Callahan
Ryan G. Callahan (born March 21, 1985) is an Americans, American former professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), right winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. He ...
,
Marc Staal
Marc Staal (born January 13, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL) after having played over 1,000 regular season games with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings ...
,
Derek Stepan
Derek Kenneth Stepan ( ; born June 18, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey center. He is currently under contract with the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the New York Rang ...
,
Chris Kreider, and
Carl Hagelin
Carl Oliver Hagelin (born 23 August 1988) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hagelin was drafted by the New York Rangers in the sixth round, 168th overall, of the 2007 NHL ...
. The team greatly improved after the lockout under Renney, making the
Stanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...
four consecutive years. After the Rangers lost in the second round of the 2007 and 2008 playoffs and were struggling to make the playoffs in 2009, Sather fired Renney and replaced him with
John Tortorella. The Rangers made the playoffs as the seventh seed but ultimately lost in the first round to the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...
in seven games. The Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2010, resulting in some fans holding a rally asking the team to relieve Sather of his position as general manager. The Rangers would later advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 with Tortorella's replacement,
Alain Vigneault
Alain Vigneault (born May 14, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. Vigneault has previously coached the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL, as well as in the Quebec Major Ju ...
. He stepped down as the general manager on July 1, 2015, and resigned from his position as president on April 4, 2019, announcing his decision to take on the roles of senior advisor and alternate governor.
Head coaching record
Career statistics
Career accomplishments
*Sather stands nineteenth in regular-season coaching wins all-time in the NHL. Teams for which he served as head coach for the full season had winning records in 8 out of 11 seasons and missed the playoffs only once. With the Oilers, his teams finished first in the regular season three times and also set numerous scoring records.
*As head coach of the Oilers, he won 89 playoff games and lost 37 en route to four
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
s in five Finals appearances.
*
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
champion as head coach: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988. Edmonton Oilers.
*Stanley Cup champion as President/General Manager: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990. Edmonton Oilers.
*The Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic in Edmonton, Alberta, was named in his honor.
*Outside the NHL, Sather was instrumental in building Canadian national teams for the 1984
Canada Cup
The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...
(tournament champions), the 1994
Ice Hockey World Championship
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...
(Gold Medal winners) and 1996
World Cup of Hockey
The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every 3 to 5 years from 1976 to 1991 and was the first international hockey championship to allow natio ...
(Finalists).
*Sather was inducted into th
Alberta Sports Hall of Fame & Museumin 1996
- Click here to read his Bio*Sather was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
*In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the
World Hockey Association Hall of Fame
The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA) which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league.
Officially partnered with the United Stat ...
in the "Legends of the Game" category.
*On December 11, 2015, Sather's banner was lifted to the rafters of
Rexall Place
Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and N ...
before a regular season game between the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sather, Glen
1943 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian businesspeople
21st-century Canadian businesspeople
Boston Bruins players
Canada men's national ice hockey team coaches
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL) players
Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players
Edmonton Oilers coaches
Edmonton Oilers executives
Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Ice hockey people from Alberta
Jack Adams Award winners
Minnesota North Stars players
Montreal Canadiens players
National Hockey League executives
New York Rangers coaches
New York Rangers executives
New York Rangers general managers
New York Rangers players
People from High River
Pittsburgh Penguins players
St. Louis Blues players
Stanley Cup champions
Stanley Cup championship-winning head coaches
World Hockey Association coaches