They were plagued by injuries throughout the season and lost the second most man-games to injury, with only the last place Edmonton Oilers losing more.

The Steelers were the defending Super Bowl XIII champions, and finished the 1979 regular season with a 12-4 record, and posted playoff victories over the Miami Dolphins and the Houston Oilers.

Buffalo then played against Denver Broncos, who were coming off a 26 – 24 win over the Houston Oilers in which quarterback John Elway led them on an 87-yard drive to set up kicker David Treadwell's game-winning field goal with only 16 seconds left.

During the 1997 – 98 period when they were known as the " Tennessee Oilers ", the team had an alternate logo that combined elements of the flag of Tennessee with the derrick logo.

The team also wore their white uniforms in home games, as opposed to their time in Houston, when their blue uniforms were worn at home – in the two years as the Tennessee Oilers, the team only wore their colored jerseys twice, for road games against the Miami Dolphins and a Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The pants were reminiscent of the ones donned by the Oilers.

The Oilers, like the other surviving WHA teams, were allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters from being reclaimed by the established NHL teams.

The same success was not immediate when they joined the NHL, but within four seasons, the Oilers were competing for the Stanley Cup.

The Oilers were a young, strong team featuring, in addition to Gretzky, future Hall of Famers including forwards Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri, defenceman Paul Coffey, and goaltender Grant Fuhr.

Two hours after the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1988, Gretzky learned from his father that the Oilers were planning to deal him to another team.

In the following season, the Devils were publicly humiliated by Wayne Gretzky after they were blown out 13 – 4 by his team, the Edmonton Oilers.

After game four, the Oilers players walked past the Islanders ' dressing room and were surprised to see the champions subdued and nursing injuries.

Continuing to revamp their defensive core, Joni Pitkanen and Geoff Sanderson were traded to Edmonton for Oilers captain Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul.

As one of the most stable WHA teams, the Whalers, along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets, were admitted to the NHL when the rival leagues merged in 1979.

The Cup finals were against the Edmonton Oilers, the first time in NHL history that two former WHA franchises had played against one another in the finals.

Chicago proved they were no fluke the next season, also making the third round before losing to the eventual runner-up Edmonton Oilers.

The following season the Hawks did prove they were late-round playoff material, running away with the Norris Division title, but, yet again, the third round continued to stymie them, this time against the eventual champion Oilers, despite 1970s Soviet star goaltender Vladislav Tretiak coming to Chicago to become the Blackhawks ' goaltender coach.

The Oilers were founded on November 1, 1971, with the team playing its first season in 1972, as one of twelve founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association ( WHA ).

However, when the Broncos relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, before the WHA's first season began, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers.

After the newly founded Calgary Broncos folded prior to commencement of the inaugural WHA season, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers as it was planned to split their home games between Edmonton and Calgary.

The Oilers lost most of the players from 1978 – 79 when the NHL held a reclamation draft of players who had bolted to the upstart league as they were allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skill players.

It was the first time since 1982 that the Oilers had been eliminated from the playoffs after only one round.

The years in which they qualified, the team was eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers ( in ) or the Calgary Flames ( in, and Flames championship season of, which was decided in Game 7 ), both division rivals.

In the 1992 playoffs, the Canucks won their first series since 1982 before being eliminated by the Oilers in the second round.

In 1992 they were again eliminated in the First round, this time by Canon Yaoundé of Cameroon after beating LPRC Oilers of Liberia in the Preliminary round.

The goal, credited to Calgary forward Lanny McDonald, stood up as the game winner and eliminated the Oilers from the possibility of a three-peat.

In his first season with the Ducks, Niedermayer recorded a then-career-high of 63 points and helped carry the Mighty Ducks to the Western Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers.

Despite having a strong team with players like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy, the Avalanche were eliminated quickly in the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers.

After the Oilers were eliminated in the 1982 NHL playoffs, Kurri was able to join the Finnish national team in 1982 World Championships.

Vancouver won the series to advance to the second round, but were then eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers.

In the first round of the playoffs, Dallas eliminated the Edmonton Oilers in six games, before losing in six games to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the second round.

Combined with upset wins in Games 1 and 5, the Kings eliminated the heavily favored Oilers in a 3 – 2 series victory to reach the second round.

Anaheim returned to the playoffs and made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers.

Brewer had six points, but the Oilers were eliminated four games to two by the Stars.

He appeared in his second NHL playoffs, another quarterfinal series against the Dallas Stars in which the Oilers were once again eliminated four games to two.

The Oilers finished the season third in the Smythe Division, and then were eliminated by Gretzky's Kings in the first round of the playoffs in seven games, afterward Sather relinquished his title of head coach but remained general manager of the Oilers.

However Sather was unable to retain Joseph, who signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs for 1998 – 99, and Oilers were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by the Stars from 1999 to 2001.

Marchant and the Ducks advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals but were eliminated by Marchant's former team, the Edmonton Oilers.

Påhlsson returned to the Ducks the next year in the 2005 – 06 NHL season, and the team advanced to the Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers.

The Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated the Patrick Division titlists, the New York Rangers, in six games, while the Vancouver Canucks, the Smythe Division toppers, fell to the Edmonton Oilers, also in six games.

New York was quickly eliminated, however, by the Houston Oilers in the wild card round.