When Kurri arrived to the Oilers he was soon paired with Wayne Gretzky, a phenomenal Canadian centre and arguably the greatest player of all time. The duo of Kurri and Gretzky became one of the most prolific scoring tandems ever to play in the NHL. Despite not always playing on the same team, Gretzky assisted on 364 of Kurri's 601 career goals, while Kurri had an assist on 196 Gretzky goals.[1]
During his tenure in Edmonton, he was nicknamed the "Finnish Flash" (a title since usurped by Teemu Selänne). Kurri was "by far our most complete player," according to Oilers' director of personnel Barry Fraser. Although Kurri never won the Selke Trophy, he was regarded as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL. Alongside with Kurri, Esa Tikkanen and Gretzky, Edmonton had future hall-of-famers Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier. The team won four Stanley Cups during Gretzky's tenure. In 1988, however, the team would be dismantled when Gretzky was traded, along with team enforcer Marty McSorley, to the Los Angeles Kings. Following Gretzky's trade to Los Angeles in 1988, Kurri recorded 195 points in 154 games, leading the Oilers to their fifth and, to date, final Stanley Cup in 1990.
Kurri won five Stanley Cups, all with Edmonton (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990). In 1984–85 he had 135 points and scored 50 goals in his first 50 games, however his 50th game was the Oilers' 53rd game so it does not count as an official 50 goals in 50 games. A year later, he led the league in goals with 68. In 1984–85 Kurri set a record for goals by a right winger when he scored 71. The record lasted for five years until broken by Brett Hull when he scored 72 goals in 1989–90 (Hull's 86 goals in 1990–91 is the current record). Kurri also scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in game seven against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1987.
Kurri's 19 goals in the 1985 post-season (18 games played) tied an NHL record set by the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach in the 1976 playoffs (16 games played). Those 19 goals included four hat tricks, a still-standing record in a playoff season. Kurri scored three of the hat tricks against the Blackhawks in the conference finals, also a feat that no player has ever equaled. He remains the only Finnish player to score 5 goals in a single game, achieving the feat on November 19, 1983. In perhaps Kurri`s finest performance, he registered 3 goals & 2 assists in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Boston, May 18, 1990 (coincidentally Kurri`s birthday), setting a record for scoring in a single Finals game in the modern era. Kurri had also set up Petr Klima`s goal in triple overtime in Game 1.
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About Me:
I have been collecting autographs for over 45 years. I owned an Art & Collectibles Gallery in Rancho Mirage Ca for over 25 years, over those years. I have collected and also appraised art and authenticated many signatures and artwork from Monet to Picasso, Red Skelton and many more including Elvis. I framed art for the likes of Red Skelton, President Gerald Ford (Ford for over 15 years) and President Bill Clinton as well as Lucille Ball, Loretta Young, Ginger Rogers, George Montgomery, Dinah Shore and Walter Annenberg, Bob Kane (Batman Artist), Baseball Hall of Fame, Graeme Baxter “World Famous Golf Artist” and many more. I have also framed a Babe Ruth Display that was donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I have another customer that I have framed memorabilia that was on the moon as well as a set of pens and quills that go back as far as President Washington. I met many of these people in person and received autographs from many of them as well. I have autographs of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and about 300 others. I bought Elvis and Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix and others from an estate sale in Germany many, many years ago from a massive collection that was sold off, I wish I could have afforded more of them. This was about 40 years ago, back when there was not as much paperwork on collectibles. I paid good money for these and know they are original autographs. I have even sent some of my autographs that I have seen signed in person out to professional authenticators. They claim to be experts and I found that they were often wrong telling me that some of the autographs I sent them, even though I stood there when they signed them were not to be authentic. Beware of some of the authenticators out there. The reason I am selling my collection is that this was always going to be my retirement business, giving me something to do in retirement. I hope this might answer any questions you might have about me.
Howard