Randy Gregg, Craig MacTavish names going up in Oilers Hall of Fame tonight

Edmonton Oilers alumni Randy Gregg and Craig MacTavish speak at a news conference at Rogers Place on Oct. 25, 2024, ahead of their induction into the team's hall of fame. (Darcy Seaton / CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton Oilers alumni Randy Gregg and Craig MacTavish were celebrated Friday morning ahead of their induction into the team's hall of fame in the evening.

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"It is humbling. Everybody says that, but for a guy like me…" MacTavish told the crowd at Rogers Place. "You know, I was a decent player until I got to the (National Hockey League) and I had to adapt because there were many players, certainly on this team, that had much more talent than I did."

In eight seasons with the Oilers, the London, Ont., native helped the team win three Stanley Cups in 1987, 1988, and 1990 and served as team captain from 1992 to 1994.

His time overlapped with Gregg, an Edmontonian who studied to become a doctor while with the team from 1982 until 1990. He was also one of only seven players who played on each of the five championship Oilers teams in the team's dynasty era.

After retiring from hockey, he completed his residency at the University of Alberta and began practicing medicine, which he still does to this day.

Meanwhile, MacTavish worked his way up to head coach and later a team executive in Edmonton.

"I don't even know where my Stanley Cup rings are," Gregg admitted Friday. "I know I have five of them, but it's not that I wear them. It's just that we worked hard enough together to get them."

Both spoke at length about the excellent leadership they had in teammates Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Kevin Lowe, Lee Fogolin and others.

"You don't win the cups without talent, that's for sure. But at the same time, you don't win it without the depth of character and leadership that those guys had," MacTavish noted.

Lowe and Fogolin, as well as Charlie Huddy, Craig Simpson and Don Jackson, also attended the event.

"I love the fact that both of them are going at the same time because they represent from a defensive perspective and from a forward perspective all the great things that championship teams need to have," Simpson said.

Gregg and MacTavish's names will be permanently enshrined in the Oilers Hall of Fame in Rogers Place.

The pair will also be honoured in an on-ice ceremony after the Oilers game against the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night.

The hall of fame was introduced in 2022 with an inaugural class that included Gretzky, Al Hamilton, Messier.

The selection committee consists of four former players (Gretzky, Ron Low, Louie DeBrusk and Chris Joseph); former player and executive Bruce MacGregor; Chief Wilton Littlechild; media members Jim Matheson, Terry Jones, Bob Stauffer and Jason Gregor; and two-time Olympic gold medalist Shannon Szabados.