There’s still a lot more questions than answers regarding when and if the NHL season could resume, and what that might look like if it does. As time ticks on, we still don’t have anything more than bits and pieces and ideas about getting started again.
So, Curtis Joseph turns 53 today. That, in itself, is noteworthy, given the relatively short but definitely spectacular time the man they call Cujo spent tending goal as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. So, Happy Birthday, Cujo. Of course, there is more.
It’s been a brutal week for so many people on so many levels. As we remain hunkered down during this COVID-19 crisis, people across the country are losing their jobs, their businesses and their livelihoods. Worse still, their lives. This week, we’re reeling from the horrific and senseless slaughter in Nova Scotia.
To hear Edmonton Oilers’ CEO Bob Nicholson tell it, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is bound and determined to finish the regular season, stage the playoffs and award the 2020 Stanley Cup. I don’t know if I share Bettman’s optimism, given it hinges on what happens with the COVID-19 pandemic, but it would be good news…
Today was supposed to be the day friends and family gathered to mark the two-year anniversary of the bus crash that killed 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos and injured 13 others. Today was supposed to be their time to lean on each other and share their grief. It won’t happen. It can’t happen, at…
With the Edmonton Oilers having played so few meaningful games in March and April over the last 14 years, it looked like fans were going to be in for one helluva thrill ride down the stretch drive this season. It’s a stretch that was supposed to end with Game 82 of the regular season against…
It’s been six days since the NHL suspended play March 12 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s been a welcome distraction from having our lives turned upside down to speculate about how and when we might see hockey again, the truth is we don’t have a clue about what comes next – big…
After failing to commit to providing financial assistance to game-night and part-time staff during this COVID-19 crisis Friday and taking some heat for it from local media and fans, the Edmonton Oilers made things right on Saturday – even more quickly than I thought they would. Good on them.
So, after a conference call by its Board of Governors, the NHL has decided to suspend the regular season, just as the NBA did yesterday, because of the coronavirus pandemic. What began as something that seemed foreign and far away not so long ago on the evening news is real enough now.
Watching the Edmonton Oilers pick up points lately has been like driving around with the “change oil” light on in your car. You can look the other way and keep going because the damn thing is still running, but sooner or later you have to know the engine is going to seize up and leave…
There’s no debate Dave Tippett has raised the bar in terms of expectations in the 68 games he’s spent behind the bench as coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He didn’t let it slip after a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday to end a three-game road trip, and that’s a good thing.
