Many scouts consider Oates, a slick-passing center, too slow to play in the NHL, so he attends Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute instead. RPI goes 85-19 with one tie during his three seasons and wins the 1985 NCAA championship, with Oates setting school records for assists (60) and points (91) in his junior season. The Detroit Red Wings sign him to a four-year contract, and he splits time between the Red Wings and the minors in 1985-86 before becoming a full-time NHL player the following season.
But Oates sees his career really take off after he's traded to the St. Louis Blues on June 15, 1989, and becomes the first-line center playing with
Brett Hull
on his right side. Oates finishes with 102 and 115 points in his two full seasons with the Blues, helping Hull score 72 and 86 goals. After unsuccessfully trying to renegotiate his contract, Oates is traded to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, 1992. He leads the League with 97 assists in 1992-93 and finishes with an NHL career-high 142 points. Oates retires after the 2003-04 season with 341 goals, 1,079 assists and 1,420 points in 1,337 NHL games with seven teams. He is
inducted into the Hall of Fame
in 2012.
