Oilers Legend Craig MacTavish (9/15/26)

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Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer 16 min 2 speakers 8 chapters transcribed just now

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Who is Craig MacTavish and what is his legacy with the Oilers?

Bob Stauffer 0:00

Hey, it's Bob Stauffer. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Oilers Now ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Welcome back, everybody. It is 4.34 in oil country. Bob Stauffer with you on Oilers Now, where guests receive gift certificates to Japanese Village. It's a true celebration for the census, quality ingredients, and an unmatched grill side experience. Book your seat at jvebenton.ca. Don and his staff at Japanese Village will take care of you. We'll head off to the River Creek Resort and Casino Hotline, and welcome back to the show. A three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Oilers, he won four Cups overall, including with the 94 Rangers. He coached the Edmonton Oilers for, I guess, eight seasons, and was later their general manager.

Bob Stauffer 0:43

It is Mac T on Monday, today on Tuesday, brought to you by Michael and the team at Contract Equipment, Canada's premium heavy equipment dealer in rental and sales. Hello, Mac T. How you doing?

Craig MacTavish 0:56

Oh, I'm doing well, Bob. Looking forward to the start of the season, obviously, and lots to talk about. There is lots to

Bob Stauffer 1:05

talk about. But, you know, we had yesterday Patrick LaForge and Kevin Lowe on the show to talk about the passing of Cal Nichols. You were the head coach of the team. When Cal and the Edmonton Investors Group owned the team, Cal was later an alternate governor for Darrell Cates. When Darrell purchased the team from the EIG, you had a long history with Cal. And we'll get to some Oilers-specific 2026-2027 roster stuff and storylines in a second. But just a thought on the passing of Cal and how important he was to the history of the Edmonton Oilers and helping keeping the team here.

Craig MacTavish 1:55

Well, I hope I can do Cal justice with this description because I had nothing but the utmost respect for Cal. And... You know, shocking news, really. Cal is a member at the Royal Mayfair, as I am, and I, you know, I had, he was having lunch with Daryl Bozenkul, who you know well, was the CFO for the Oilers for many years during Cal's reign as governor and owner, main go-to guy with the ownership group, and he was in great spirits. And, you know, he was going in for a procedure that was going to be done arthroscopically. And, I mean, he was upbeat. And, you know, I was shocked when I got a text about six or seven days later that he had passed away from complications from the surgery. But, I mean, just...

How did Cal Nichols influence the Oilers' ownership and community ties?

Craig MacTavish 3:00

Cal was, uh, I mean, I've had a lot of guys reach out to me and, uh, Cal was an every man. Um, he, he bonded a lot with the grinders, which I was one of them, Kelly Buckberger, Mark Lamb, the guys go on and on. He wasn't a guy that, uh, just gravitated to the superstars. And I think he felt like he had more in common with the everyman hockey player, too, as well. And so we all had great relationships with Cal. I mean, I was under no illusion as the coach that if I screwed up, he was going to let me go because, you know, he was fully capable of doing the tough things. But when I think about leadership skills, I think of Cal Nichols at that juncture, Kevin Lowe, Patrick LaForge. Those guys were really all on the same page.

Craig MacTavish 4:03

From a coaching standpoint, you want the support of the organization from the ownership right through to the president and the general manager. When things don't go well, then you want them to come down and say, it's time to move on. Thanks for your efforts but it's it's not working out and definitely cal had that type of uh leadership we always felt fully supported and uh i mean we had our ups and downs through the course of my tenure as coach and then uh manager for sure but uh You know, you never could have got through it. It takes a lot of – you know, you need confidence to come to work every day, and sometimes that confidence is tough to find. And you get that through the support of the people certainly above you and around you.

Craig MacTavish 4:55

And Cal definitely had our backs on numerous occasions. So, I mean, I feel bad for – You know, Edna, who was around a lot, Cal's wife, who was, you know, a great supporter of mine over the years.