Who's Better? The 84 Oilers or The 04 Gupps

by Jim Carney

   As I was flying out to Calgary for an NHL playoff game between the Flames and the Red Wings a couple of weeks ago. I thought back to the hey day of Hockey in Alberta, the 1980's, with the Stanley Cup spending half the decade in this sparsely populated Canadian province. Edmonton was where the Cup spent the most time and where arguably the best hockey team in history ever played. I remember the players, the city, and the excitement of those days in Edmonton and I thought I would never see anything like that again, until..... A few weeks back I had the opportunity to cover a Killingworth Guppies game and see how the players, the town, and the excitement has come together to make this such a storied Hockey Franchise. So, It  begins! The comparisons, Edmonton or Killingworth;  Killingworth or Edmonton? Do you got a 5 hour flight to kill?? Here we go!

The Players:

Forwards-

      Edmonton had Greztky the most talented player in NHL history and the league's All-time leading scorer. Who can match that in Killingworth? Rob Murphy! He might be better.... Here me out. Murph is a complete player all around offense and defense, not Gretzky! When was the last time you saw Wayne play Defense? Right! Murphy is by far the most talented Guppies player in the history of the team and much like Greztky he would never come out and say it. Next; Tim Poulin and Juri Kurri, both guys are very talented and the second punch most teams don't see in their respective team's one, two punch! What Kurri was to Edmonton, Poulin is more to the Guppies,  a natural goal scorer with no quit. How about Ken Linesman and Jason Zito? Both small in stature but Big in stats. Linesman and Zito are hard working players that make the most out of their opportunities. Zito might have the edge in the scoring touch as he is almost always at the top of the Guppies stat page. Glenn Anderson vs Marc Crayton! Both guys are solid players that might be top line guys on any other team. Like Anderson, Crayton is a gritty player and normally finds himself scoring goals and paying the price in front of the net. Not to mention Crayton also fills the Back up goalie role that can only be compared to Andy Moog!

      When trouble is brewing on the Ice, Dave Smenko was often summoned by the Oilers to take care of the problem. Dave Armenia often finds himself in that role for the Gupps. Dave is willing to do whatever it takes to secure a Guppies victory. Brian Mulcahy is Dave Hunter,  a no nonsense player that will play the game whatever way you'd like. Brian might find the net a little more often then Hunter but their style is the same. Finally there are the leaders,  Mark Messier and Brian Kelly. Mess didn't have the C on his sweater in 84 for the Oilers but it would be there soon enough. Messier is consider the best captain in sport. Kelly shares not only the same sweater number but same ability to lead his team into battle.

Defense-

Paul Coffey and Dan Pequita are the number one defensive guys on their teams but its their offensive numbers that make people turn their heads. Like Coffey, Pequita is an offensive threat when over he's on the ice. Kevin Lowe vs John Carroll, both of these guys are the back bone of each teams defense. John Carroll has been in Killingworth since 1995 and while he hasn't lit the lamp often, he has always kept the Guppies kitchen clean! Tom Mierkiewicz is Charlie Huddy, they both have the size on the blue line and they aren't affraid to get their sweaters a little dirty. Mierk and Huddy would be a force to be reckoned with paired on any blue line. The Defense would be rounded out with comparing Lee Fogolin to Mike Halle, the hands down winner is Halle. He has had a strengthening effect to the Guppies blue line and also looks to jump into the offensive side of the game. In Net? Grant Fuhr is up against Joe Linskey, Linskey has the better numbers and he is playing roller hockey here folks! However, Fuhr was in the NHL and Linskey is brutal to the press. You're right - It's got to be Fuhr!

The Towns-

Gretz and Mess had been known to wake up some mornings and take Stanley (Cup) for a walk through the streets of Edmonton. However, Killingworth's top players like Armenia, Kelly, and Crayton can walk into June's Place in their street clothes and not be recognized by the Killingworth faithful. Granted many of them were drinking! Edmonton has won Five Championships in their history and Killingworth has four. Edmonton has a Mcdonalds, Taco Bell, Subway, etc in town. Killingworth has a Dunkin Doughnuts and a Texaco gas station. Who am I kidding, Edmonton, the small Oil city, has gotten Killingworth, the old farming community, beat!! 

The Excitement -

Edmonton is in Canada folks and we are talking about Hockey - Edmonton wins Again!!

So who is better?

After all that you still have to ask? The Oilers dominated the NHL and the Guppies are playing in a beer league! Yeah, the Guppies have had 3 undefeated regular seasons in four years but I'm not as nieve as former Guppy Jason Prozzo! They are in the show  and the Guppies have games at 11pm at night!! Aw Forget it - Killingworth is better!!