Glen Sather (born September 2, 1943 in High River, Alberta, Canada) is a retired professional ice hockey left winger in the World Hockey Association and National Hockey League and current General Manager of the New York Rangers of the NHL. He played for the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Saint Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, and Edmonton Oilers (in their WHA incarnation).

Background and early career

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Sather played 3 seasons starting in 1964 with the CPHL Memphis Wings and Oklahoma City Blazers, joining the Bruins at the end of the 1966-67 season and playing in 5 games. He earned the nickname "Slats" because of his gritty style of play.

Professional playing career

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Sather played 10 full seasons in the NHL and another season in the WHA. He played 739 regular season games as a pro, scoring 99-146-245 and earned 801 penalties in minutes. In the playoffs he added 77 games played and scored 2-6-8 with 88PIM. His career as a player ended at the conclusion of the 1976-77 WHA season.

Post playing career

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Sather became head coach of the NHL Oilers in 1979 and took them to the first round of the playoffs in their inaugural season. This was the start of a tremendous run for the Oilers, who became a genuine NHL dynasty with him as the coach and general manager. The team made the playoffs with Sather as head coach from 1979-80 until 1984-85. From 1985 until 1989, Sather split coaching duties with John Muckler, but retained the title of head coach. With Sather at the helm in various duties, the team won five Stanley Cups in seven years, after losing in the finals to the New York Islanders in 1983.

In 2000, Sather left the Oilers organisation and joined the Rangers to become their President and General Manager, a position he currently holds despite not making the playoffs during his first four years at Madison Square Garden. He also has coached the Rangers for 90 games (33-46-11) in that timespan.

Notable achievements

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Glen Sather is the winningest coach in Oilers history, and under his leadership the team set several NHL records including most team goals for and holding several spots in the best winning seasons ever. With him as head coach, the Oilers won 791 games, lost 660, and tied 215. They won 3 President's Trophies for best league regular season record. Their playoff record was even more impressive, winning 133 games and losing 82 en route to five Stanley Cups in six Finals appearances. In 1985-86, Sather won the Jack Adams Award as the league's best coach. Teams he has coached for a full season have only finished out of the playoffs once and had winning records 8 out of 11 seasons. He currently stands ninth in coaching wins in NHL history.

Outside of the NHL, Sather has been instrumental in building Canadian national teams for the World Cup of Hockey (1996), the Canada Cup (1994), and the World Hockey Championships (1994).

Sather was admitted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, and as of January 2005 is currently the NHL's longest-tenured general manager.

Sources/External references

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• Slate, Ralph. The Internet Hockey Database. Stats checked 22 January 2005.
• Unknown. Oilers Heritage.
• Unknown. HockeyDraft Central.
• Unknown. The Garden.

1943 births | Boston Bruins players | Canadian ice hockey players | Edmonton Oilers coaches | Edmonton Oilers players | Hockey Hall of Fame | Jack Adams Award winners | Minnesota North Stars players | Montreal Canadiens players | National Hockey League executives | New York Rangers coaches | New York Rangers players | Pittsburgh Penguins players | St. Louis Blues players | Stanley Cup champions | Living people | Edmonton Oil Kings alumni | Current National Hockey League General Managers