Most hockey fans love to discuss and speculate on the ‘what ifs’ surrounding particular players and teams over the years, especially at the NHL level.
What if Bobby Orr’s career hadn’t been marred by his devastating knee injuries? What kind of staggering numbers would he have produced over a full career, and how many more Cups would he and the Boston Bruins have won? What if Flyers’ goalie and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pelle Lindbergh’s life hadn’t been cut tragically short by a car crash in 1985; would Philly have been a perennial contender for the next decade-plus? What would Toronto’s more recent playoff history look like if they hadn’t traded Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft in 2006?
OK, that last one was a low blow to Leaf fans, but at least I included a painful jab at myself on the Lindbergh/Flyers front.
But one of the biggest suppositional questions amongst fans and pundits in NHL history is undeniably: What if Wayne Gretzky had remained with the Edmonton Oilers instead of being traded to the Los Angeles Kings during his prime in 1988? The immediate answer is simple – many more Stanley Cups for the Oilers besides the lone one they won in 1990 without him. The reason why “The Trade” happened is not so simple, there were a lot of peripheral aspects to it beyond just the on-ice swap.
I’m not going to delve into the actual history of what went down that summer with Gretz’s La La Land courtship, but there is another speculative ‘what if’ that could have very well changed the course of what happened with No. 99. And it involves another player that likely even the most hardcore of fans have never heard of.
I consider myself reasonably well educated in NHL history and its standout players, especially over the last 50 years. But when a friend sent me a screenshot of a Scottish forward named Tony Hand and his insane career stats last week, I fully admit that I had never heard of him either. Regardless, Hand racked up more points than any other player in professional hockey history, the Great One included.
So why didn’t this apparent generational talent ever tear up the NHL?
Hand was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1967. Even by the age of 14, it was apparent the kid was exceptionally talented. Hand played his first three seasons (1983-86) for the Murrayfield Racers in the now-defunct British Hockey League, putting up staggering statistical totals – in only his first 98 regular season games, he scored 203 goals and 423 points, or better than four points per game.
While NHL general managers and their scouts may have still been hesitant to draft European players from non-elite leagues in particular during this era (Hand was actually the first of only three British born and trained players to ever be drafted to the NHL), one GM did in fact do so in 1986, albeit in the 12th round of the draft. But Edmonton GM/Head Coach Glen Sather saw something in Hand and used his 252nd overall pick on him, further adding to the bursting offensive coffers that the Oilers had at the time, and fresh off back-to-back championships with Gretzky at the helm to boot.
Following his 164-point season in 1985-86, Hand won a chance to attend the Calgary Flames’ training camp after he was named the BHL’s Young Player of the Year. He opted to attend Edmonton’s instead; he was not cut after the full camp and was offered a junior contract to start out with the Oilers’ farm team in Nova Scotia. Worried that he may be stuck playing in the minors for his career making minimal money and also suffering from homesickness (he also apparently didn’t enjoy being in the constant media spotlight at the time), Hand turned it down and returned to the BHL. This was before he put up eight points in three games with the WHL’s Victoria Cougars, no easy feat in one of Canada’s top competitive Major Junior leagues. It offered just a glimmer of what he was capable of playing North American hockey, and what potentially could have been if he ultimately joined the Oilers, which no doubt would have been in short order had he signed with them.
Throughout his incredible career that spanned over 30 years, Hand amassed over 4,000 points professionally, including four seasons in which he recorded over 200 points – ironically the same number of times that Gretzky did it. There is no doubt a marked difference in skill level between British pro hockey and the NHL, but given what he was able to do across the pond one can’t help but wonder what he could have accomplished in North America, especially playing with a star-laden supporting cast that he would have potentially had in Edmonton during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Hand was primarily a centre and so was Gretz, so it’s unlikely they would have played on the same line unless the former was converted to a winger, which was certainly very possible. But just imagine a power play unit consisting of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffey… and Hand. They could have been even more unstoppable.
Would Hand’s presence have been a contributing factor to Gretzky staying in Edmonton for at least a longer chunk of his sterling career, and by proxy Mess delaying his New York Rangers departure to help keep the proverbial band together? Possibly. Would Hand’s signing in Edmonton have resulted in more Cups for the Oilers stretching into the early and mid ‘90s? Also very possible.
It’s really impossible to know for sure, but it’s certainly fun to hypothesize as a fan. What if Dan McNee had opted to stay in Calgary rather than returning to the Banner in 2013 to waste your time with mundane sports speculations? No need to answer that one…
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you back here in a fortnight.
***
This is a bi-weekly opinion column; for question or comment contact Dan McNee at dmcnee@midwesternnewspapers.com.
