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50 free Edmonton Oilers trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Edmonton Oilers started as a WHA club that briefly called itself the Alberta Oilers, bought a teenage Wayne Gretzky for cash from a folding Indianapolis team, and turned into the most explosive dynasty the NHL has seen. This Oilers trivia quiz covers the whole run: Wild Bill Hunter, Glen Sather, the 21-year personal-services contract that got Gretzky into the NHL, 92 goals and 212 points, five Cups in seven years, the Steve Smith own goal and the vindication a year later, the Boston Garden blackout, the trade that shook Canada and Bill Ranford's Cup in 1990. It then follows the lean years and the near-move to Houston, Curtis Joseph's upsets, the first outdoor game, the 2006 run from eighth seed to Game 7, the decade of first-overall picks, Connor McDavid becoming the youngest captain ever, the move to Rogers Place, the Battle of Alberta rematch and back-to-back Finals against Florida. Easy questions sit alongside genuinely hard ones about the WHA and the McFarlane third jersey. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedic and reference sources before publishing, and each question carries a citation. For more, try our NHL trivia and hockey trivia pages.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which province-wide name did the club use in its first WHA season?
Alberta Oilers
The plan was to split home games with Calgary after the Broncos folded, but every game was played at Edmonton Gardens.
Q 02Which co-founder of the Oilers also founded the Western Hockey League and owned the junior Oil Kings?
Wild Bill Hunter
He turned to the WHA after the NHL rebuffed his expansion efforts.
Q 03Whom did the Oilers beat 7-4 in the first game in WHA history?
Ottawa Nationals
Captain Al Hamilton and goalie Dave Dryden were early draws.
Q 04Which journeyman forward, acquired in 1976, became player-coach and then ran the team for 23 years?
Glen Sather
Chief scout Barry Fraser helped him draft Messier, Kurri, Coffey, Lowe, Fuhr and Moog.
Q 05From which folded WHA club did Peter Pocklington buy the underage Gretzky in 1978?
Indianapolis Racers
Nelson Skalbania owned the Racers and had earlier owned the Oilers.
Q 06Which Oiler scored the last goal in WHA history in the 1979 Avco Cup final?
Dave Semenko
Winnipeg won that game 7-3 and the title.
Q 07How did Pocklington keep Gretzky out of the 1979 NHL entry draft pool?
A 21-year personal-services contract
He used it as leverage to force the NHL to admit the Oilers with Gretzky.
Q 08The Oilers' rookie goalie set a record in 1981-82 by going unbeaten in how many straight games?
23
Gretzky scored 92 goals and 212 points the same season.
Q 09The 1982 'Miracle on Manchester' saw the Oilers blow what third-period lead to Los Angeles?
5-0
The Kings won 6-5 in overtime and took the series in five.
Q 10Which team swept the Oilers in the 1983 Final before Edmonton beat them for the 1984 Cup?
New York Islanders
Mark Messier won the 1984 Conn Smythe.
Q 11How many goals did the 1983-84 Oilers score, an NHL record?
446
They were the first team with three 50-goal scorers: Gretzky, Kurri and Anderson.
Q 12Which defenceman set playoff records for goals (12), assists (25) and points (37) by a blueliner in 1985?
Paul Coffey
Gretzky still won the Conn Smythe with a record 47 points.
Q 13Which Oilers rookie scored on his own net on his birthday to decide Game 7 against Calgary in 1986?
Steve Smith
Gretzky handed him the Cup first a year later in vindication.
Q 14Which Flyers rookie goalie won the 1987 Conn Smythe despite losing Game 7 to Edmonton?
Q 21Which Italian club did Jari Kurri spend the 1990-91 season with?
Devils Milano
Grant Fuhr was suspended 60 games for drug abuse the same year.
Q 22Which NBA owner nearly bought the Oilers in 1998 to move them to Houston?
Leslie Alexander
The Edmonton Investors Group, led by Cal Nichols, paid $70 million hours before the deadline.
Q 23Whose overtime goal in Game 7 completed the 1997 upset of the Dallas Stars?
Todd Marchant
Curtis Joseph's goaltending carried both that upset and the 1998 comeback over Colorado.
Ron Hextall
The Oilers had let a 3-1 series lead slip before winning 3-1 in the finale.
Q 15Which 1987 documentary followed the Oilers' season?
The Boys on the Bus
Bob McKeown directed it.
Q 16Why did Game 4 of the 1988 Final against the Bruins have to be replayed?
A power outage hit the arena
It was 3-3 with 3:23 left in the second; the Oilers finished the sweep back home 6-3.
Q 17Which post-Cup tradition did Gretzky start after the 1988 clincher?
The team photo on the ice with the Cup
Every champion since has gathered at centre ice.
Q 18How much cash did the Oilers receive from Los Angeles in the August 1988 Gretzky trade?
US$15 million
Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas and three first-round picks came too; McSorley and Krushelnyski went with Gretzky.
Q 19Which NDP leader asked the Canadian government to block the Gretzky trade?
Nelson Riis
Some Oilers considered striking or demanding Pocklington sell.
Q 20Who scored in the third overtime of Game 1 of the 1990 Final, having been benched for much of the night?
Petr Klima
Bill Ranford won the Conn Smythe as Edmonton won its first Cup without Gretzky.
Q 24Which team beat the Oilers 4-3 in the 2003 Heritage Classic, the NHL's first regular-season outdoor game?
Montreal Canadiens
More than 55,000 fans at Commonwealth Stadium set an NHL attendance record.
Q 25The 2006 Oilers became the first eighth seed since 1994 to reach a conference final by beating which two teams?
Detroit and San Jose
They came back from 2-0 down against the Sharks, then beat Anaheim in five.
Q 26Which goalie's Game 1 knee injury in the 2006 Final forced Edmonton to turn to Jussi Markkanen?
Dwayne Roloson
Backup Ty Conklin's misplay gave Rod Brind'Amour the winner that night.
Q 27Whose short-handed overtime goal won Game 5 of the 2006 Final?
Fernando Pisani
Carolina still won Game 7 3-1.
Q 28Which star defenceman requested a trade for personal reasons four days after the 2006 Final?
Chris Pronger
He went to Anaheim for Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid and three picks.
Q 29Which pharmacy magnate bought the Oilers from the Edmonton Investors Group in 2008?
Daryl Katz
His Katz Group contributed to the Rogers Place financing.
Q 30Which star refused a 2009 trade to Edmonton and ended up in San Jose instead?
Dany Heatley
Dustin Penner, Ladislav Smid and Andrew Cogliano would have gone to Ottawa.