The trade deadline is less than 72 hours away. We could see some highly skilled players traded before Monday’s 1 p.m. MST deadline. Matt Duchene and Mark Stone were healthy scratches by the Ottawa Senators last night as they didn’t want to risk injury and get nothing for the pending unrestricted free agents. Duchene was…
Connor McDavid will return to the lineup tonight. Unless you’ve just awoken from a coma and are unaware of the state of the Edmonton Oilers, it should be obvious how much McDavid means to the team. But when you glance at the current group of supporting forwards it becomes even more glaring how horrific of…
The wildcard race in the Western Conference is at a level we’ve never seen in the shootout era. The Minnesota Wild made the playoffs with 87 points in 2016, the lowest point total for a wildcard/eighth seeded team since 2003 when the New York Islanders made the postseason with 83 points. There was no shootout…
It is amazing how some things change, yet they remain very much the same. Sam Gagner is once again a member of the Edmonton Oilers. He will play his first home game tonight in Blue and Orange since April 12th, 2014. That was also Ryan Smyth’s final game of his career. It was an emotional…
The NHL was founded in 1917/1918, and in the 100+ year history of the league only 7,842 players can say they played a game in the NHL. That number shrinks to 7,439 when we talk about playing in two NHL games. 6,312 players have played ten NHL games. 4,037 men have played 100 games. 3,119…
I was wrong. Again. At various parts of last season, I felt it was the most disappointing and frustrating season in Edmonton Oilers history. They’d ended a 10-year playoff drought in 2017, and won the first round in six games over San Jose before losing in seven games to Anaheim. It was supposed to be…
Sometimes we make sports more serious than they are. I understand why we do, because sports stimulate our emotions. When things are going well for your team you have an extra bounce in your step. While things are tough in Oilersnation right now, in Carolina their fans are having the most fun they’ve had in…
I loathe having to read between the lines. I prefer a direct approach. In business, at work, in relationships, I find being direct saves time, allows you to see the entire picture and in some cases find a solution. The Oilers playoff aspirations are cut and dry. They need wins and they need them quickly….
It is always exciting when two of the best players in the NHL faceoff against each other, and the energy is heightened when it is the two players considered the best in the league. Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid will play one another for the sixth time tonight. The previous five games have all been…
Things can change quickly in a playoff race. The Oilers entered the weekend two points out of a playoff spot. Today they are six back because the surging St.Louis Blues swept a home-and-home against the Nashville Predators over the weekend, while the Edmonton Oilers were blitzed by the San Jose Sharks. Now, with two weeks…
Despite signing a three-year extension on January 22nd, worth a surprising $4.5 million per season, Mikko Koskinen has only started one of the four games for the Edmonton Oilers since the bye week. The timing of his signing struck me as odd from the moment it came out. I didn’t see the need to sign…
It is difficult to outscore your mistakes at the best of times, and it becomes almost impossible when you don’t have enough offensive players. In 2019 the Edmonton Oilers defensive zone coverage has become their most glaring weakness. Since January 1st the Oilers have allowed 52 goals in 14 games. You won’t win many games…
