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• The Oilers were in the National Hockey League. For only $6 million apiece, plus agreement to share equally the $6.35 million "closedown costs" of folding the Cincinnati Stingers and the Birmingham Bulls, plus agreement to give back all former NHL players signed by WHA teams and pay $125,000 for every player they bought back in an "expansion draft," the Oilers, the Winnipeg Jets, the Quebec Nordiques and the New England Whalers were grudgingly granted membership in the lodge.
• The Oilers put season tickets on sale and sold all 15,242 in 11 days.
• Wayne got his first NHL point opening night, and assist on a goal by Kevin Lowe at 9:49 of the first period in a 4-2 loss to Chicago. His first goal came four nights later with 69 seconds to play to give the Oilers a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks.
• Wayne had remembered his mother's bet - a 40 ounce bottle of rye that he'd score at least 42 goals on the season.
• At the half-way point of the season, he was sitting fifth place in the scoring race with 22 goals, 35 assists and 57 points, 26 behind Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings - and the Oilers were dead last in the standings.
• The team was struggling, but Wayne was pecking away. After 52 games he had reached third - a distant third, but still third - with 84 points, trailing Dionne by 15 and Guy Lafleur by 10. The three of them were to fight it out the rest of the way.
• On October 25, he played 2 periods in a game in Atlanta. 2 days later he managed only one period at home against Washington.
• On March 21, Wayne scored 3 third-period goals in a 9-2 win over Pittsburgh to reach 121 points. Now he was in second place, only 5 back and was 3 games left for each team, tied Dionne for the lead at 133 points after 2 goals and 4 assists in an 8-5 win at Maple Leaf Gardens.
• On Wednesday, Wayne scored his 50th goal of the season in a 1 - 1 tie with Minnesota. On Thursday, Butler shut out Dionne as the Canucks beat the Kings 5-2. On Friday, Wayne took a 2 point lead with a goal and 2 assists in a 6-2 win over Colorado in the Oilers' final league game.
• Dionne, great player that he is, came through. The Kings lost, but Marcel shook Butler enough to collect 2 assists in a 5-3 loss to the Canucks. So now Wayne and Marcel had finished in a tie for the scoring title with 137 points. They'd share the Art Ross Trophy, right? Wrong. The Trophy, the title and the $1,000 went to Dionne because he'd scored 53 goals, 2 more than Wayne.