Edmonton Oilers' 1995 Draft: A Disappointing Day

For the NHL, it's March 13th. Here's what's happening.

Last year, marked the 30th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers hosting the 1995 NHL draft,

the only time they've done it in their history.

That July 8th at Northland's Coliseum, the league crammed nine rounds into one busy day.

The Oilers held the six overall pick, their second highest ever at the time,

and had eight selections total to rebuild after three straight playoff.

Mrs. Fans packed the arena, buzzing as the top five picks went to Ottawa,

the Islanders, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Tampa Bay.

When Edmonton's turn came, General Manager Glenn Sather picked forward Steve Kelly

from Prince Albert instead of local hero Shane Dome, whose name the crowd was chanting.

Kelly brought speed and scoring from juniors but flamed out fast,

playing just 33 games for the Oilers with one goal before getting traded.

The one bright spot was their second rounder, George LaRocke, taken 31st overall.

The big enforcer became a fan favorite, playing nearly 500 games over eight seasons in Edmonton

with plenty of goals, assists, and penalty minutes.

He racked up over 695 NHL games before retiring.

The rest of the class bombed hard, only Goli Mike Menard made the league at all,

winning his lone Oilers game.

Other five picks never even sniffed Pro Hockey in North America.

Meanwhile, Edmonton passed on future stars like Jerome Egan La,

John Sebastian Gigauer, and Miica Kepersoff.

Overall, the 1995 picks combined for just 845 NHL games near the bottom that year.

It wasn't quite as bad as their disastrous 1990 draft was zero NHLers,

but hosting and hyping it made the flops thing even more for Oilers.

Fans.

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