At the end of Glen Sather’s tenure as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, he was building a young and exciting team after some ugly seasons.

Sure, they were heavily cash-strapped, but the Oilers were making strides and competing for the playoffs, especially after an exciting upset of the Dallas Stars in 1997.

But above him, the Edmonton Oilers’ future as a franchise was at stake. The deadline for a local buyer to match the offer received to relocate the franchise to Houston was ticking.

On March 14, 1998, the Edmonton Investors Group scrounged up the $70 million to match the deal with just hours to spare, keeping the Oilers in Edmonton.

Just 10 days later – at an admittedly less significant deadline for the franchise – the Oilers acquired Janne Niinimaa from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline.

Niinimaa was still just 22-years-old at the time and was part of a youth insurgency on the Oilers blueline. Roman Hamrlik had been acquired a couple of months before. Boris Mironov had just turned 26.

Pieces were falling into place. The Oilers were seventh in the Western Conference and........

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