Growing up as a kid my father was British and a soccer player. His idol was a guy that passed the ball a lot, Stanley Matthews. Our family thought if you could be unselfish your teammates would always like you.

After scoring 42 points in 22 games in his freshman season of 1982–83 he spent the summer working with a skating instructor to improve his foot speed. He scored 45 points in 67 games with the Mighty Ducks and added 13 points in 21 playoff games.

He was named a tournament all-star in helping RPI win the 1985 national championship and in 1990–91 the NHL included him in its Second All-Star Team; he played in five All-Star Games. Known as an elite playmaker his career total of 1079 assists was the fifth highest total in NHL history at the time of his 2004 retirement. As a college player Oates was a standout forward for the RPI Engineers.