Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

Other banner-raisings have been more momentous.

And others were more emotional than when Glenn Anderson’s No. 9 finally went up to the rafters at Rexall Place last night.

But what made this one extraordinarily memorable was the players from the past who showed up to be there for the player who had to wait the longest to get there.

“Everybody was there,” said Anderson when it was over.

“It was tough to hold back the emotions. They were right there with you,” said Anderson.

No. 9 said he’s glad he didn’t have the banner-raising before his Hockey Hall of Fame induction.

“If it had been the other way around, I don’t think I’d have been able to go through my speech.

“It was amazing to have them all there. I think we showed the strength of the organization and the team we had and what we meant to each other. Everything was overwhelming,” said Anderson.

“It was a real good feeling,” said Glen Sather of being out there with all his players of the past.

“It’s nice to see everyone back here. This is what it’s all about,” said Wayne Gretzky.

The Oilers do banner-raisings better than anybody, but after you’ve done Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr and Al Hamilton, how do you top that with the one guy who had been overlooked by the Hockey Hall of Fame for so long?

Simple. Play the theme from the Magnificent Seven and introduce them one by one. Then cut to the Zamboni entrance where No. 9 stood in the dry-ice fog, his back to the crowd.

Except that wasn’t Glenn Anderson.

It was the Edmonton Oil Kings’ Drew Nichol.

“I got to be Glenn Anderson. And I get to keep the uniform,” said the Oil Kings tough guy.

The spotlight then hit the Oilers bench. And the real Glenn Anderson stood up, jumped over the boards and began a slow trip around the rink, waving to the crowd, many of whom were sitting in the same seats when he was scoring more game-winning goals, than any player in Oilers’ history.

There were lots of little touches, like Anderson stopping to pick up his six-year-old daughter Autumn, and to have a special moment with wife Susan and his dad Magnus who, despite his health, was able to make it after not being able to attend his Hall of Fame induction in November.

Anderson shook hands with Sather and John Muckler, who Gretzky put to work behind the Phoenix Coyotes bench as a coach for the occasion.

One by one, he did the same with every former teammate.

Eventually, Anderson took his place to watch No. 9 make the slow trip to the top of Rexall Place, the crowd standing from beginning to end when, taking a page from the Coffey banner-raising, they called on Messier to send Anderson a pass on the right side to break in on the net and score.

The only thing that might have made it better was if Billy Smith had been in the goal in a New York Islanders uniform, slashing him with his goal stick as Anderson crashed the crease to score.

Oilers president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe gave the banner-raising speech.

“Glenn, it’s nice to see you back in that uniform,” he said.

“And it’s terrific to see all these other guys. We haven’t had as many of these guys on the ice at the same time since the Heritage Classic.

“I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever get to have this celebration,” he said of the time Anderson had to wait to finally make it into the Hockey Hall.”

He spoke of Anderson’s “courage, guts and bravery” and how “when it came to crunch time, there was never anybody any better.”

“As much as Glenn marched to his own drummer, when the chips were down, we knew Glenn would deliver.”

Lowe ended it by saying, “Tonight, I hope this makes your dream come true.”

Messier’s eyes were wet as he listened to Anderson start his speech.

“It was a lot easier watching someone else,” said Messier, who was the focus of the previous banner-raising.

“He was nervous before it. As we waited for it to start, you could tell the moment got bigger and bigger.”

Messier said he wouldn’t have missed this.

“We played on the same line, roomed together on the road, lived together here in town.

“To me, he’s my brother.

“We’re all like brothers. To look out there at all our guys together again, it felt like we should still be playing,” he said.

Anderson told the crowd, “It’s great to be back in this uniform again. This jersey represents home and home is where the heart is. Right here is where my heart is.”

His last comments he saved for the fans.

“You are the greatest hockey fans in the world,” he said. “We had the time of our lives here.”

Last night was another of those times.

Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

There are some things that you just can’t believe you get a chance to witness. It happens every so often in my job and last night was one of those nights that you bookmark for the rest of your life.  If you are a hockey fan and you find yourself in Edmonton, Alberta and at a rink that features Mark Messier, Jarri Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Wayne Gretzky and Glenn Anderson, well, let’s just say you might want to sit back and enjoy the ride.

And that’s what we did last night, despite the outcome of the game itself. To witness Anderson’s number 9 thrust into the rafters, and him receiving one last pass from Messier as he flew down the right wing was the stuff you write home about. (Or, you write it on your blog!)

My personal favorite moment? The decision to put John Muckler on the Coyotes bench!  What a classy move. And it obviously meant a great deal to a man who has given his entire life to the game of hockey. That was one of the topics of conversation with Gretzky just moments before the ceremony.

Listen below for a tribute to Glenn that ran on our game broadcast and Wayne’s comments prior to the special ceremony.

Wayne on Glenn’s ceremony:

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Broadcast Tribute:

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As a bonus, here is Glen Sather from right after the ceremony.  Interesting to note that he was asked about Wayne’s comments regarding the potential NEXT name to hang from the rafters.

Slats:

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A tip of the hat to the entire Oiler’s organization. They put on a helluva show and really know how to roll out the red carpet. They have built a wonderful connection between past and present Oilers.

It’s quite a fraternity.

- Todd

Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

No matter where he played or who he played with, Anderson always made it fun.

Glenn Anderson didn’t get the date wrong. He didn’t mistakenly think his banner-raising was this Sunday, not next.

But he showed up here yesterday. For the event.

Right off, you get the idea that his Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame banner -raising, like Anderson himself, is going to be a little bit, well, odd … unusual … out there …

Anderson got off the plane and proceeded directly to sign and be photographed for collector authenticity with 300 unique concept hockey jerseys that will be on sale at a kiosk at Rexall Place tonight for the San Jose Sharks game.

“I received approval from the league last night in New York at the Rangers game. Also, I have a collector’s hockey stick.

“The hockey sweater is an artist design picturing my life from the first backyard rink to the Stanley Cups.

“Instead of being on canvas and framed, it’s all on a hockey sweater. It’s really cool. Nobody has done it before. It’s different.”

Kind of like the person.

After years of fighting his space cadet, skate-to-the-beat-of-a-different-drum image, you may have noticed, watching the telecast of the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions that Anderson has come to embrace it.

The latest of the glory gang to be honoured arrived 10 days early because it’s not just the Glenn Anderson banner-raising, but Glenn’s Global Games Raising The Rafters Weekend.

“I’m a little bit behind the eight ball with some stuff,” he said of organizing his own personal hockey fantasy camp, modelled after the highly successful Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier camps — “except more fun.”

It’s an extension of a project Anderson and Igor Larianov worked on during the Hall of Fame weekend in Toronto.

“It’s a fantasy camp featuring three-on-three hockey. It’s first-class all the way.

“The players will be outfitted head-to-toe. Each team will have uniforms from a team I played for in my career, home or away — an NHL team, a Canada Cup or All-Star team. They’ll have sweat suits and team jackets. We’ve rented a restaurant for an evening. They’ll be part of the Oilers function with the Don Metz videos and everything.

“We’ll start the tournament at the rink at the River Cree Resort & Casino on Friday and then move to Rexall on Saturday and Sunday.”

The price tag is $20,000 per four-man team or $6,000 per player to be placed on a team.

There’s still room for another team or two, and another player or two.

“Each team will get a girl,” he said.

Huh?

Anderson laughed, explaining that he’s arranged with Hayley Wickenheiser to provide a female member of Canada’s national women’s hockey team for each team.

And each team will get an Oiler great.

“Jarri Kurri, Dave Semenko, Dave Hunter, Ken Linseman, Craig Simpson, Kevin Lowe, Paul Coffey, Bill Ranford and, hopefully Mark Messier,” he said.

On Thursday, Anderson will present a cheque for $10,000 to the Cross Cancer Institute, which made him an honorary chairman during his Oilers career.

And what else?

Oh, yeah.

The banner-raising.

That’s at next Sunday’s game, with Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes in town as they were in 2007 when Mark Messier’s No. 11 went up.

The Oilers have led the league with their banner-raisings for Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Coffey and Grant Fuhr.

And this one, says Anderson “will be different.”

It took a long time for No. 9 to go up there, but Anderson said it isn’t going to take a long time for him to sit down.

“I’ve been to a lot of banner-raisings and the best ones are the ones that don’t go on and on.”

He’s seen Mark Messier bawl and doesn’t think he’ll do that.

But will he shed a tear?

“I hope I do,” he said. “If I don’t have the tears, I want to show people how much I cared about the city.”

And a message?

“I plan on telling the players on both teams how we bled the Oiler colours here and came to play for the crest on the uniform. And that it’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it.”

I don’t know about Gretzky’s guys, but that’s a message that Kevin Lowe’s modern-day Oilers need to hear.

Terry Jones appears courtesy of the Edmonton Sun

Another great Hall of Fame induction evening, another great Oiler enters. The competitiveness inside that locker fueled their play on the ice, with each and every player pushing their teammates to new heights. They had as much fun off the ice as they had winning on it, too. That Oilers Dynasty was something to behold.

You got spoiled if you were a fan. Every night the expectations were high, nothing but a win. Nothing but a blowout win. Try being a goalie, or a defenseman against that squad.

Today, there is another unique, dynamic player entering the Hall of Fame and it is the right call by the selection committee, just slightly overdue. Anderson was a gifted, free spirit off the ice and a competitive, free wheeling big time player on it. Maybe his loose and off beat personality kept his 498 regular season goals out of the Hall for this long, who knows. He was nearly a point per game when it mattered most, the postseason. He scored big goals at big times. Clearly a difference maker, but hidden somewhat behind the other big 3 up front.

Make no mistake, every dynasty has layers of great players, all put in a position to succeed. Would Glenn Anderson have been able to carry the mail for that franchise if he was the lone, go-to guy? Not likely. The team was put together with solid drafting and a timely WHA sale with the Greatest player ever. Up the middle its Gretzky and Messier. Patrolling the wings its Kurri and Anderson. On the bleuline, its Lowe and Coffey. In the net it is Fuhr and Moog.

Everything has its order. The players all have their rightful place in the line up and the coaches have the right players to put in match ups against any style of team. You ask any of their coaches and they will tell you they could all play defense when they had to. They could win 2-1 when they needed to. And it was the star players that bought in and sold it to the rest of them. Anderson was unique. He was a winger that would challenge you with speed, tenacity and an edge that bordered on reckless and careless, especially with his stick.

I remember the 1st game I played in Edmonton and the Oilers were coming at us pretty good. As a goalie, studying the likes of Gretz and Messier were one thing. You knew Mess liked to shoot the puck on his “wrong” foot, across the grain to the far side. He was looking for the goalie to be slightly off his angle and by shooting early in a game, he got you thinking he would do it all the time. It backed you off.

Gretz was simply amazing in the way he found the late man, especially on the weak side of the ice. He put pucks where he just came from, always against the flow, causing you to turn your head, if just for a split second. Impossible to defend against.

Anderson could dipsy doodle, beat you with speed or simply run over you. He ran into me so hard that night in Edmonton, I thought I was going right through the mesh in the net. He set a tone. He wanted to know if I would challenge him the next time, or would I get deep in the net and play passively?

I recently spoke with Hall of Fame defenseman Denis Potvin about Anderson. I got the feeling Denis originally felt Anderson might be a little ‘soft’ in the tenacious department. But Potvin said he went at Anderson pretty good one night, and Potvin was one tough player, especially when he buried the heavy wooden Titan in your back or mid section. He goes right at Anderson and gets him good. Anderson didn’t back down. He knew he had to earn space and respect in the scoring areas and came back at Potvin with a discreet, timely crosscheck to his back. He stood up to him and that caught Potvins and the rest of the Islanders attention.

The game hasn’t changed that much. You have to show the veteran, tough players you aren’t afraid. If you are, they know it right then and soon the entire team knows about it and that is how soft players get a reputation as being, well, soft players. Not Anderson.

He was unique. He wanted the puck in big games and he delivered. Welcome to the Hall of Fame Glenn Anderson.

For Gretzky.com, I’m Darren Pang 40

Anderson’s eccentricity hasn’t left him as he prepares for Hall

By Terry Jones, SUN MEDIA

Glenn Anderson doesn’t do it often anymore. But he’s still capable of morphing back into Mork. He did it yesterday in his Hockey Hall of Fame conference call interview session.

“I heard there’s ghosts in the Hall,” he said. “I can just imagine my picture probably looking right at Father Bauer or Glen Sather.

“I’m thinking about it as the plaque – I don’t know what kind of picture they’re going to use for me, but as the plaque is hung and if our ghosts at some point in time, when we’re no longer around and the lights are out and nobody’s there … well, I can hear Slats going ‘It’s past curfew, you better go to bed.’ ”

Anderson was responding to a question from your correspondent which had, trust me, nothing to do with ghosts or anything else involved in the answer.

It was tough not to pick up on it. And a Toronto writer followed suit.

“So there’s the whole space cadet thing that goes on as a young guy. Was that all justified, you know, the space cadet image, sort of, you know, the different drummer, and in a way do you kind of relish it now?” the scribe asked.

The writer was reacting to Anderson allowing that he’d been hung with the Mork nickname (from the alien character played by Robin Williams in the Mork and Mindy sitcom) in a column by the Edmonton sports columnist with whom he had a frosty relationship for the first few years of his career as a result – a relationship which would go on to warm up considerably in later years.

OLD WOUNDS

“Relish it? Well, I don’t know about that! I think Terry would have a different opinion of me after spending some great quality time together. And I’m sure that’s true with a lot of other people as well.

“The only way I could say I relish it is the fact that I’m really glad that I’m an individual and that I’m a little different than your average hockey player; which I think all players should be unique in their own way and beat to their own drummer. I mean that’s part of life. I think, if anything, it’s an attribute.”

You can see how on occasion the deep-from-inside and the way-out-there Glenn Andersons could get confused. There were those on the conference call who were fishing to see if the Oilers’ great would bite on the idea that the off-ice Glenn Anderson had kept the on-ice Glenn Anderson out of the Hall until this late date.

Fair question. In 16 seasons he played 1,129 regular-season games, recording 1,099 points on 498 goals and 601 assists, won five Stanley Cups in Edmonton in the 1980s and 1990, and one with the New York Rangers in 1994.

He appeared in 225 playoff games, which is his seventh on the all-time list and also ranks fifth in playoff goals with 93, seventh in assists with 121, and fourth overall all-time in playoff points with 214. And then there are perhaps his most impressive numbers, being tied for third in overtime playoff goals and tied for fifth with 17 playoff game winning goals.

He should have been an automatic inductee.

When Anderson spoke to that it definitely wasn’t Mork speaking.

NO DEFINED STANDARD

“It’s tough to judge on what determines what gets you in and what keeps you out,” he said. “They don’t say ‘The criteria for getting in is this, and you meet this, this and this or what you do off the ice is material or immaterial.’ I mean it’s been over 10 years for me. It’s a difficult question for me to answer because I don’t know. Is it the stats? His championships? What is it exactly? It’s not written in stone. So I don’t know the answer.

“Of course you think about it, but I didn’t dwell on it. As I get closer to the day we now get to reflect on a life history of what transpired. I’ve had a little time to think of it, more than your average person. So I’m savouring the moments and seconds as they go by.”

Definitely not Mork.

But who shows up to the induction Monday? Mork? The other guy? Or both, like they did yesterday?

As you will hear, still no word on Kyle Turris and his status for tonight’s game. It will be a game time decision. Plus, more reflections on the now Hall of Fame career of Glenn Anderson, the Team Canada logo story and thoughts on this evening’s game here at GM Place in Vancouver.

Listen:

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See you on AZ TV!

- Todd

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced that Honoured Members Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier will join former teammate and 2008 Inductee Glenn Anderson for the 2008 Hockey Hall of Fame Legends Classic Game.

The game, featuring a record total of 19 Honoured Members, will be played Sunday, November 9 at 2pm at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

“Stepping on to the ice again with Mark, Paul and Jari will be a real thrill,” said Glenn who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday, November 10. “It’s a great honour to have the support system back in place as we once did.”

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