September 21, 2023 by Eric Friesen

The Edmonton Oilers elected Charlie Huddy and Doug Weight into the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Huddy and Weight will join Al Hamilton, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Kevin Lowe, Glen Sather, Rod Phillips, Ryan Smyth and Lee Fogolin in franchise’s Hall of Fame.

After going undrafted, Huddy signed with the Oilers in 1979. Huddy played parts of 11 seasons with the Oilers (1980-1991), tallying two 50-point seasons, six 40-point seasons and one 20-goal season. Huddy won five Stanley Cups with the Oilers in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. He’s one of only seven players in Oilers history to play on all five of their championship teams. Huddy also won the 1982-83 NHL Plus-Minus Award.

“I know there’s a lot of great players that deserve to be on the wall up there, but, for me, it’s a great honour,” Huddy told Oilers TV on Wednesday. “I’m excited. It’s going to be a great night, and every time I walk into the rink, to see my name up there, it’s pretty exciting.”

Huddy and Coffey formed one of the best defensive pairings in the league during the 1980s. While Coffey received most of the attention and accolades as the lightning fast, amazing playmaker on the back end, Huddy could cover for him defensively. Their contrasting styles complemented each other well on the ice, and helped the Oilers become a dynasty.

“For whatever reason we just fit together,” Huddy said. “We all know the kind of player that Paul was and the way he could skate and get into the offence. My job was to stay at the other end [of the ice]. The odd time he’d let me carry the puck and try to do something with it, which didn’t happen very often and I usually didn’t do anything very good with it once I got to the other blueline.”

Following his playing career, Huddy served as an assistant coach with the Oilers for eight seasons (2000-2004, 2005-2009) and helped guide the team to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. The 64-year-old Oshawa, Ontario native ranks 13th in assists (287), 16th in points (368), fourth in plus-minus rating (+245), 11th in games played (694), tied for 11th in playoff goals (16), sixth in playoff assists (61), tied for seventh in playoff points (77), tied for second in playoff plus-minus rating (+89) and fifth in playoff games played (138) in franchise history.

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The New York Rangers traded Weight to the Oilers in exchange for Esa Tikkanen on March 17, 1993. Weight quickly packed up his gear and sticks and moved down the hallway to the visitors’ dressing room at Madison Square Garden, as the Oilers were in town to play the Rangers that night. It would be his first of 627 games in an Oilers’ uniform.

Weight played parts of nine seasons with the Oilers (1993-2001), recording one 100-point season, two 90-point seasons, three 80-points seasons, six 70-point seasons and six 20-goal seasons. Weight finished top-10 in league scoring once and top-20 in league scoring three time. He also led the team in scoring seven times (only Gretzky has led the franchise in scoring more times with nine), played in three NHL All-Star Games and was named captain in 1999.

“It’s just an honour to be considered [for the Oilers Hall of Fame] and certainly a great part of my life and my memories and my career,” Weight told Oilers TV on Wednesday. “I appreciate even being considered and it’ll be a great trip for me and my family and I look forward to it.”

Weight possessed elite vision and hockey sense, outstanding passing ability, great puck skills, plenty of grit and quality leadership. Until the arrival of Connor McDavid in 2015, many fans considered Weight to be the greatest post-dynasty Oiler. After missing the playoffs for his first four years in Edmonton, Weight helped get the franchise get back on track and led the Oilers to consecutive first-round upsets over the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in 1997 and 1998.

“I spent over eight years with the Edmonton Oilers. It’s a passionate hockey city with an unmatched tradition,” Weight said during his United States Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech on December 9, 2013. “We had a very close, young team that proudly made the playoffs my last five seasons in Edmonton prior to a salary cap era. And that was a great feat for us. And that was because we had belief in building a core, which had to be done in Edmonton. I really wouldn’t trade my time in Edmonton for anything.”

The 52-year-old Warren, Michigan native ranks 14th in goals (157), eighth in assists (420), 10th in points (577), tied for 14th in power-play goals (39), third in power-play assists (207), seventh in power-play points (246), 11th in shots on goal (1,405) and 17th in games played (588) in franchise history.

Huddy and Weight will be enshrined into the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame prior to the team’s game against the Rangers at Rogers Place on October 26.