The party’s over: Edmonton Oilers say goodbye to Rexall Place

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They said goodbye on Wednesday to the giant concrete house that generations have grown up in. Tears flowed as a standing-room crowd watched the Edmonton Oilers play the last of more than 1,800 games at the only rink they have known since 1974.

In the four decades since then, there were more than 10,000 goals scored, 10,000 penalties served and four Stanley Cups won on home ice. Members of those great teams were among the 130 alumni who participated in postgame ceremonies that had been in the planning for a year. Invitations were extended to anyone that ever pulled on an orange and blue sweater.

"It's like when I got married," Kevin Lowe, a team executive who won five Stanley Cups as a defenceman for the Oilers, said. "My mom asked who was invited and I said, 'Anyone who wants to come.'"

Canada has had 10 prime ministers and Edmonton's population has doubled to nearly 900,000 people since the Northlands Coliseum opened 42 seasons ago. The former Canadiens goaltending legend Jacques Plante outduelled Gerry Cheevers to help the Oilers win their first home game as a member of the World Hockey Association, 3-2.

The Oilers' won their final game in the building too, spanking the Canucks, 6-2. The franchise's new hope, Connor McDavid had the game-winner and two assists, Patrick Maroon scored twice, and Nail Yakupov, Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl scored one a piece in the Oilers' next-to-last game of the season. The same teams play again in Vancouver on Saturday night.

"I was anxious before the game," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "This was a different kind of night. When those guys come around, you perk up. They hold you accountable by their presence."

Very few spectators in a standing-room audience went home immediately after the game. Most stayed for a one-hour farewell tribute afterwards. With an orchestra playing at one end of the ice, past and present Oilers' players were introduced and entered the ice rink at the other end. With a crowd of nearly 17,000 cheering wildly, they walked along a carpet and then took seats at stools set up at centre ice.

"I thought it was a really good effort on all fronts, and a good way to finish here," Hall said. "There was really good electricity in the building, and we wanted to have a good game. It was a really fun night for us and our fans."

Spectators began streaming in to the arena as soon as the doors opened at Rexall Place at 3:30 p.m. local time. The start of the game – a sellout, for which tickets were being sold online at prices ranging from $300 for nosebleeds to $3,000 – was moved to 5 p.m. Mountain Time to accommodate the closing festivities.

A few fans tailgated in the parking lot, others snapped photos in front of the bronze statue of Wayne Gretzky out front.

The Great One flew in from Los Angeles, to see the era of the 16,839-seat house he built, end. He won eight consecutive most valuable player awards with the Oilers, and was the NHL's top scorer seven successive years at the beginning of his career. He holds records for the most records, and without him Edmonton would have been hard-pressed to win four Stanley Cups in five years.

"Glen Sather would tell us, 'These are memories you'll have the rest of your life,'" Gretzky said, talking about the architect and head coach of those great teams. "Until now, I didn't realize how right on he was.

"I scored my first goal in the WHA in the building, and my first goal in the NHL was scored there, too. It was a very special time and a very special place."

When he arrived at the arena on Wednesday, Gretzky made his wife, Janet, and kids pose for a picture with the bust of him that will soon be moved to Rogers Place. He said he felt emotional when he took a tour of the new downtown rink with his wife and Paul Coffey.

After the game, he and fellow legend Mark Messier visited the Oilers' dressing room and asked to have their picture taken with McDavid, the sensational 19-year-old rookie that is considered the best player to enter the game in at least a generation.

McDavid looked surprised at the request, smiled and tried to quickly fix his hair.

"We wanted to give fans a great send-off, and [give] them the send-off they deserved," Jordan Eberle said.

In the early afternoon Wednesday, thousands of fans gathered downtown in a square outside city hall to pay tribute to the team. With the wind whipping around them, players spanning five decades stood on the steps in orange and blue jerseys.

"This is similar to 1984, when people came here to celebrate the Stanley Cup," Messier said, addressing the throng. As he spoke, construction continued a few blocks away on the rink the team will move into next season. "We used to say, if we win, the stage is big enough for everybody. Well, all of you deserve to be up here with us."

Raised on the outskirts of Edmonton, Messier remembered that, as a kid, he took the bus to the old Edmonton Gardens to see Bobby Hull play. He saw the coliseum being built, and then had the good fortune to play there for 12 seasons, starting in 1979, the year the Oilers joined the NHL. During a Hall of Fame career, he won five Stanley Cups while playing in his hometown, and one another as captain of the New York Rangers.

"As a kid I had a dream to play in the NHL," Messier told the crowd, many dressed in Oilers sweaters, some also carrying signs and holding flags. "Who would have ever thought I would get to not only play in the NHL, but at the Northlands?

"It was a building that put Edmonton on the map, and galvanized the city in so many ways."

In the morning, as he drove to the arena for a reception with other former players, Messier was flooded with memories.

"I was here from the start," the 55-year-old said. "It's incredible how a building can take on a personality.

"If I described it as a hockey player, I'd say it has a lot of heart, a lot of passion, it was tough for opposing teams to play against, and has a lot of grit and dedication.

"This is going to be an incredibly emotional night for anyone that ever wore an Oilers sweater."

Built at a cost of $16.6-million, the arena carried four different monikers over the years. It began as the Northlands and subsequently was known as the Edmonton Coliseum, the Skyreach Centre and, since 2003, as Rexall Place. It will be used for concerts for the rest of this year, and will play host to the men's world curling championship in April of 2017 before it closes down. Future plans are being discussed, but the most popular option is to turn it into a multiplex with a half-dozen ice surfaces.

"We look forward to turning the page into Rogers Place, making more memories, winning more Stanley Cups and restoring the pride we all had,' Messier told the crowd.

With only one game left, the Oilers are battling to keep out of last place. They have failed to make the playoffs now for 10 years, the longest drought in the NHL.

"I think there have been a lot of positives this year," Eberle said. "At the same time, there have been a lot of negatives, and there is a lot of room to grow."

Before the game, fans sang O Canada louder than ever before. They stood and cheered during a ceremonial puck drop that brought together representatives ranging from long-time arena employees to team executives and players from long in the past. The group included Mark Lewis, the arena's retiring announcer of 35 years, Miles Poliak, an usher since 1974, and Val Fonteyne, the first player chosen by the then-Alberta Oilers in the 1972 WHA draft.

In the morning, Fonteyne had chatted over coffee with former teammates at Rexall Place. From there, they were bussed downtown for the rally.

A Hall of Famer who excelled on the wing next to Gretzky, Jari Kurri recalled arriving in Edmonton from Finland in 1980. He was 20, spoke little English, and was met at the airport by a limousine.

"I was a young guy and didn't know what to expect," Kurri said. "There was so much going on in my mind. Was I going to make it? Would I only be here for one year?

"There are a lot of stories, and I feel a lot of different emotions. I am sure tonight, when I look around the building, there will be a lot of flashbacks."

More than an hour after the final game, fans were still standing and cheering at their seats. At centre ice, heroes and legends were bathed in light. After 42 years, no one was in a hurry to leave.