{"id":539814,"date":"2026-04-04T05:24:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T05:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539814\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T05:24:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T05:24:29","slug":"no-40-mike-krushelnyski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/539814\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 40 \u2014 Mike Krushelnyski"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top 100 Oilers: No. 40 \u2014 Mike Krushelnyski<\/p>\n

For being on the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> for just four seasons, winning three Stanley Cups is a darn good and efficient tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That player is Mike Krushelnyski, a smart and effective player who exploded offensively playing on Wayne Gretzky\u2019s wing in 1984-85, and most famously went with the Great One in the Sale of the Century trade to Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He played 290 regular-season games with the Edmonton Oilers and then 68 more in the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys had experienced it, and that first year, I had to learn it,\u201d said Krushelnyski, at an Oilers team event celebrating the NHL Centennial\u2019s Greatest Team with the 1984-85 Oilers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Krushelnyski learned how to win quickly, and has three rings to show it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Notable\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Montreal, Mike Krushelnyski was drafted in the sixth round, 120th overall, in the 1979 draft by the Boston Bruins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a great start to his professional career, he made the jump from the AHL to the NHL with the Boston Bruins in the 1981-82 season. He produced 65 points in his first full-time season, playing alongside veterans like Rick Middleton and Brad Park, and fellow young dynamos Ray Bourque and Barry Pederson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1984, Edmonton acquired Krushelnyski from the Bruins in exchange for Ken Linseman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Multiple productive seasons with the Oilers, plus his good friendship with Wayne Gretzky, made him one of the pieces included with the Great One in the infamous trade to Los Angeles in August 1988.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His most famous career moment was the overtime series-winning goal<\/a> in 1990 with the Kings to upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Calgary Flames.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Krushelnyski was also along for the ride with the Toronto Maple Leafs during their 1993 playoff run. After a short stint with the Detroit Red Wings, a return to the Oilers organization with their Cape Breton affiliate, and a jaunt to the Italian League, he hung up the skates after the 1996-97 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Story<\/p>\n

Krushelnyski is one of several NHLers who received the \u2018Gretzky bump\u2019 playing on his wing. A feature for that 1984-85 with Jari Kurri, he scored 43 goals and 88 points, a career high he\u2019d never get close to again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was good enough for fourth on the team that season. He chipped in 13 points in that postseason run, as the Oilers repeated as Stanley Cup champions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to learn how to win. These guys had known it, so I had to watch them and follow suit,\u201d said Krushelnyski<\/a> in 2017.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very exciting. Even when we were down, we always knew we could pop in a few goals to win the game. To be with such a good group of guys, and when a big guy came and said, \u2018Krush, way to win that draw, nice goal,\u2019 that was really special to me. We had a very special bond back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krushelnyski didn\u2019t play much on Gretzky\u2019s wing in the next three seasons, but was a much-needed depth piece on a roster with steel pillars throughout the lineup. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven when rumors of the Gretzky sale to Los Angeles began to swirl behind the scenes in the days leading up to the big deal on Aug. 9, Krushelnyski didn\u2019t put any stock in in the talk. He never saw it coming, or at least he never thought he\u2019d be a part of the swap. When asked if he had any inkling he would be involved, Krushelnyski laughed off the possibility,\u201d said Brownlee.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I was with a reporter a couple days earlier, and they were mentioning, \u2018Well, what do you think of the trade?\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018What are you, nuts? You can\u2019t trade Wayne Gretzky.\u2019 And lo and behold, two days later, my agent calls me, and it looks like we\u2019re off to L.A.\u201d The Great One, McSorley and Krushelnyski were dealt to Tinseltown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He\u2019s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY DERRICK DODGE\"\"There\u2019s a new chapter beginning at Derrick Dodge<\/a>, and the momentum is real. Under new ownership, the dealership is bringing fresh energy, a renewed focus on customer experience, and a bold, forward-thinking approach to vehicle buying. This change marks the start of an exciting new era, built around transparency, trust, and putting customers first. To celebrate this transition, every vehicle purchase comes with a trip for two to Las Vegas. Whether you\u2019re shopping for your next vehicle or simply curious about what\u2019s changed, Derrick Dodge is moving forward with confidence, purpose, and a clear vision for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top 100 Oilers: No. 40 \u2014 Mike Krushelnyski For being on the Edmonton Oilers for just four seasons,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5125],"tags":[198,146,5300,5,4,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-539814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton-oilers","8":"tag-edmonton","9":"tag-edmonton-oilers","10":"tag-edmontonoilers","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-oilers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116344774329285842","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}