Glen Cameron Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and current executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers' general manager until stepping down on July 1, 2015, and then served as their president until April 4, 2019. He stepped down from his advisory role with the Rangers on June 26, 2024.
He is known for coaching the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup victories during the 1980s. He played a key role in attracting talented players, including Wayne Gretzky, who helped make the Oilers a hockey dynasty at that time. Gretzky, who became "the most dominant player in the history of the game," credits Sather, along with Walter Gretzky, his father, as his most important mentors.
Outside the NHL, Sather was instrumental in building Canadian national teams for the 1984 Canada Cup (tournament champions), the 1994 Ice Hockey World Championship (gold Medal winners) and 1996 World Cup of Hockey (finalists). Before coaching, Sather was a professional ice hockey left winger in the WHA and NHL, playing for several teams over 10 years.
Sather, together with Brian Burke and Darryl Porter owned the Tri-City Americans of the WHL until 2005 when the team was sold in order to prevent the team from moving. Sather, Burke, and Porter along with Moray Keith and Jim Bond who held a minority stake, were granted a WHL expansion team starting in the 2006-2007 season in Chilliwack, British Columbia which became the Chilliwack Bruins. The team was owned by this group until 2011, when the team was sold and became the Victoria Royals.
Sather was born in High River, Alberta but grew up in Wainwright, Alberta. Sather resides in Rye, New York during the season and Palm Springs, California in the off-season, but also has a home in Banff, Alberta. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997. His nickname is "Slats".
Background and early career
Sather played three junior seasons starting in 1961 with the Edmonton Oil Kings. His professional career started in 1964 with the CPHL Memphis Wings and Oklahoma City Blazers, joining the Bruins at the end of the 1966–67 season and playing in 5 games.
Professional playing career
thumb|Sather in action shot during 1973-74 season for St. Louis Blues
Sather played ten full seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and another with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). He played 739 regular season games as a pro, scoring 99–146–245 and earning 801 minutes in penalties. In the playoffs, he added 77 games played and scored 2–6–8 with 88PIM. His career as a player ended after the 1976–77 WHA season.
Post-playing career
Edmonton Oilers
thumb|1986 card of Sather with Edmonton Oilers
Sather was named player-coach of the Oilers with 18 games remaining in the 1976-77 World Hockey Association season. In his first game as player-coach, the Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5–4, with Sather himself scoring a goal 1:11 into the game. He retired as a player after that season but remained as head coach and was the face of the organization for the next quarter-century. Sather stayed on as head coach when the Oilers joined the NHL in 1979–80.
While the Oilers remained competitive in the first couple seasons of the 1990s, it was obvious they were no longer the powerhouse they had once been, as they last won the division title in 1986–87. This was mainly because key players such as Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, and Esa Tikkanen left to seek higher salaries elsewhere, caused in part by the Gretzky trade in 1988 as well as Paul Coffey's departure in 1987. It has been argued that the high turnover came about from Pocklington's cost-cutting moves in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Oilers' decline was precipitated by poor scouting and drafting in the 1980s. The Oilers returned to the playoffs in 1997 and would not miss the postseason again under Sather's management. In 1997 and 1998, they managed first-round upsets of the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, respectively, backstopped by goaltender Curtis Joseph.
The heavily-leveraged Pocklington was finally forced to sell the team in 1998, which nearly resulted in the franchise being moved to Houston, Texas by Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. However, a local consortium stepped in and made a successful bid to keep the Oilers in Edmonton. Sather agreed to remain general manager but was unable to retain Joseph who signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs for 1998–99, and the Oilers were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by the Stars from 1999 to 2001. Sather left the Oilers organization in 2000 and was succeeded as general manager by outgoing head coach Kevin Lowe. However, the deficiencies in player development under Sather hampered the Oilers for several years to come. Since 1991–92, they have only finished with 90 or more points nine times.
New York Rangers
For the 2000-01 season, Sather joined the Rangers to become their president and general manager, after Neil Smith was fired along with head coach John Muckler in March 2000. Theoren Fleury joined the Rangers after spending most of his career with the Calgary Flames and Eric Lindros was traded to the Rangers by the Flyers. The Rangers also acquired Pavel Bure late in 2001–02 from the Florida Panthers. Approaching the 2004–05 NHL lockout, they also acquired Alexei Kovalev, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Rucinsky, and Bobby Holik. However despite much fanfare, none of the acquisitions helped them obtain a playoff spot. Towards the end of the 2003–04 season, Sather traded away Brian Leetch, Kovalev, Rucinsky, and Nedved. Ending up, Sather's initial tenure as general manager saw the Rangers miss the playoffs for a further four straight seasons, contributing to franchise-record seven-year postseason drought from 1998 to 2005.
Sather hired Bryan Trottier as head coach in 2002. The former Islanders' great, hated by the Rangers' fans, was fired 54 games into the 2002–03 season. Sather took over as head coach and remained as head coach into the 2003–04 season, eventually relinquishing the job to assistant coach Tom Renney; his record as Rangers coach was 33–39–11–7 over 90 games. That pushed his NHL career win total to 497, 19th all-time.
Some good, young players were also drafted during his tenure as the Rangers general manager, such as Henrik Lundqvist, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Carl Hagelin. The team greatly improved after the lockout under Renney, making the Stanley Cup playoffs four consecutive years. After the Rangers lost in the second round of the 2007 and 2008 playoffs and were struggling to make the playoffs in 2009, Sather fired Renney and replaced him with John Tortorella. The Rangers made the playoffs as the seventh seed but ultimately lost in the first round to the Washington Capitals in seven games. The Rangers failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2010, resulting in some fans holding a rally asking the team to relieve Sather of his position as general manager. The Rangers later advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 with Tortorella's replacement, Alain Vigneault. He stepped down as the general manager on July 1, 2015, and resigned from his position as president on April 4, 2019, announcing his decision to take on the roles of senior advisor and alternate governor.
Head coaching record
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="7"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! Pts !!Finish !! W !! L !! Win % !! Result
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1976–77
| 18 || 9 || 7 || 2 || — || (20) || 4th in West || 1 || 4 || || Lost in Quarterfinals (HOU)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1977–78
| 80 || 38 || 39 || 3 || — || 79 || 5th in West || 1 || 4 || || Lost in Quarterfinals (NEW)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1978–79
| 80 || 48 || 30 || 2 || — || 98 || 1st in West || 6 || 7 || || Lost in Finals (WPG)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1979–80
| 80 || 28 || 39 || 13 || — || 69 || 4th in Smythe || 0 || 3 || || Lost in Preliminary Round (PHI)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1980–81
| 62 || 25 || 26 || 11 || — || 74 || 3rd in Smythe || 5 || 4 || || Lost in Quarterfinals (NYI)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1981–82
| 80 || 48 || 17 || 15 || — || 111 || 1st in Smythe || 2 || 3 || || Lost in Division Semifinals (LAK)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1982–83
| 80 || 47 || 21 || 12 || — || 106 || 1st in Smythe || 11 || 5 || || Lost in Stanley Cup Finals (NYI)
|- style="background:#fde910;"
! EDM !! 1983–84
| 80 || 57 || 18 || 5 || — || 119 || 1st in Smythe || 15 || 4 || || Won Stanley Cup (NYI)
|- style="background:#fde910;"
! EDM !! 1984–85
| 80 || 49 || 20 || 11 || — || 109 || 1st in Smythe || 15 || 3 || || Won Stanley Cup (PHI)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1985–86
| 80 || 56 || 17 || 7 || — || 119 || 1st in Smythe || 6 || 4 || || Lost in Division Finals (CGY)
|- style="background:#fde910;"
! EDM !! 1986–87
| 80 || 50 || 24 || 6 || — || 106 || 1st in Smythe || 16 || 5 || || Won Stanley Cup (PHI)
|- style="background:#fde910;"
! EDM !! 1987–88
| 80 || 44 || 25 || 11 || — || 99 || 2nd in Smythe || 16 || 2 || || Won Stanley Cup (BOS)
|- style="background:#fdd;"
! EDM !! 1988–89
| 80 || 38 || 34 || 8 || — || 84 || 3rd in Smythe || 3 || 4 || || Lost in Division Semifinals (LAK)
|-
!colspan="11"|
|-
! EDM !! 1993–94
| 60 || 22 || 27 || 11 || — || (55) || 6th in Pacific || — || — || — || Missed playoffs
|-
! colspan="2"|EDM total !! 842 !! 464 !! 268 !! 110 !! 0 !! !! !! 97 !! 52 !! !! 13 playoff appearances<br>4 Stanley Cups
|-
! NYR !! 2002–03
| 28 || 11 || 10 || 4 || 3 || (29) || 4th in Atlantic || — || — || — || Missed playoffs
|-
! NYR !! 2003–04
| 62 || 22 || 29 || 7 || 4 || (55) || 4th in Atlantic || — || — || — || Missed playoffs
|-
! colspan="2"|NYR total !! 90 !! 33 !! 39 !! 11 !! 7 !! !! !! — !! — !! — !! 0 playoff appearances
|-
! colspan="2"|Total !! 1,062 !! 583 !! 376 !! 126 !! 7 !! !! !! 97 !! 52 !! !! 13 playoff appearances<br>4 Stanley Cups
|}
Career statistics
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em;"
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" style="background:#fff;"|
! rowspan="99" style="background:#fff;"|
! colspan="5" | Regular season
! rowspan="99" style="background:#fff;"|
! colspan="5" | Playoffs
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1961–62||Edmonton Oil Kings||CAHL||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1961–62||Edmonton Oil Kings||M-Cup||—||—||—||—||—||19||5||5||10||14
|-
| 1962–63||Edmonton Oil Kings||CAHL||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1962–63||Edmonton Oil Kings||M-Cup||—||—||—||—||—||20||9||13||22||26
|-
| 1963–64||Edmonton Oil Kings||CAHL||40||31||34||65||30||1||0||0||0||0
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1963–64||Edmonton Oil Kings||M-Cup||—||—||—||—||—||19||8||17||25||30
|-
| 1964–65||Memphis Wings||CPHL||69||19||29||48||98||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1965–66||Oklahoma City Blazers||CPHL||64||13||12||25||76||9||4||4||8||14
|-
| 1966–67||Oklahoma City Blazers||CPHL||57||14||19||33||147||11||2||6||8||24
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1966–67||Boston Bruins||NHL||5||0||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1967–68||Boston Bruins||NHL||65||8||12||20||34||3||0||0||0||0
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1968–69||Boston Bruins||NHL||76||4||11||15||67||10||0||0||0||18
|-
| 1969–70||Pittsburgh Penguins||NHL||76||12||14||26||114||10||0||2||2||17
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1970–71||Pittsburgh Penguins||NHL||46||8||3||11||96||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1970–71||New York Rangers||NHL||31||2||0||2||52||13||0||1||1||18
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1971–72||New York Rangers||NHL||76||5||9||14||77||16||0||1||1||22
|-
| 1972–73||New York Rangers||NHL||77||11||15||26||64||9||0||0||0||7
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1973–74||New York Rangers||NHL||2||0||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||—
|-
| 1973–74||St. Louis Blues||NHL||69||15||29||44||82||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1974–75||Montreal Canadiens||NHL||63||6||10||16||44||11||1||1||2||4
|-
| 1975–76||Minnesota North Stars||NHL||72||9||10||19||94||—||—||—||—||—
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1976–77||Edmonton Oilers||WHA||81||19||34||53||77||5||1||1||2||2
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 658 !! 80 !! 113 !! 193 !! 724
! 72 !! 1 !! 5 !! 6 !! 86
|}
Career accomplishments
- Sather stands nineteenth in regular-season coaching wins all-time in the NHL. Teams for which he served as head coach for the full season had winning records in 8 out of 11 seasons and missed the playoffs only once. With the Oilers, his teams finished first in the regular season three times and also set numerous scoring records.
- As head coach of the Oilers, he won 89 playoff games and lost 37 en route to four Stanley Cups in five Finals appearances.
- Stanley Cup champion as head coach: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988. Edmonton Oilers.
- Stanley Cup champion as president and general manager: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990. Edmonton Oilers.
- The Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic in Edmonton, Alberta, was named in his honor.
- Outside the NHL, Sather was instrumental in building Canadian national teams for the 1984 Canada Cup (tournament champions), the 1994 Ice Hockey World Championship (gold Medal winners) and 1996 World Cup of Hockey (finalists).
- Sather was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame & Museum in 1996.
- Sather was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
- In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the "Legends of the Game" category.
- On December 11, 2015, Sather's banner was lifted to the rafters of Rexall Place before a regular season game between the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers.