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Sunday Scramble: Welcome to the late, late night Oilers show

By Michael Menzies

Jul 19, 2026, 20:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 19, 2026, 21:15 EDT

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Is anyone else curious or confused about what the new “Alberta Time” means for Edmonton Oilers start times?

The Alberta government is no longer changing the clocks twice a year and is going to run on permanent Daylight Saving Time. Great news for people who don’t change the clocks in their cars and wait out those six months.

The first hockey-related ramifications arrived with the NHL schedule release this week. Take a peek at how the start times are listed on the Oilers website, presumably to accommodate some of these changes.

In the winter months, home games for the Mountain Standard Time puck drops during the week are more often listed at 6 p.m.

If that’s the local puck drop time in Edmonton, that is nice for the people who like to rush to bed early, but it’ll be a pain in the ass trying to get to games for the working crowd, or any motorist trying to navigate rush hour traffic.

If not (and this is my hunch), then Alberta Time would mean an hour later than what is listed on the website. Those earlier puck drop times would actually be the typical home game start at 7 p.m.

What will take getting used to is a Saturday night, like the home game against the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 7. That is listed at 8 p.m. MST, but on Alberta Time, again assuming my thinking is correct, that would actually be 9 p.m. local puck drop time.

Other games that would fall into this “later” category:

Saturday, Nov. 28 vs. Seattle, 9 p.m. Alberta Time
Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Vegas, 9 p.m. Alberta Time
Thursday, Jan. 21 at Los Angeles, 9 p.m. Alberta Time
Saturday, Jan. 23 at San Jose, 9 p.m. Alberta Time
Saturday, March 6 vs. Chicago, 9 p.m. Alberta Time

After this date, Alberta Time and Mountain Standard Time would again become aligned.

Alberta isn’t alone in keeping clocks the same

Forgoing time changes is becoming a continent-wide trend. British Columbia also voted to keep the clocks as is, and now a new bill in the United States aims to do the same.

The House of Representatives voted to enact permanent DST, which will now go to the Senate, before getting the final seal of approval from President Donald Trump. He seems motivated to stop the clocks from changing.

So, this may complicate it more.

Ontario hasn’t gotten this far yet, wanting to stay on the same time as major U.S. cities. If the U.S. does press on, does that give Premier Doug Ford more motivation to enact a similar bit of legislation?

Depending on how wacky and unusual these time variances become, Commissioner Gary Bettman may have new wrinkles to figure out.

“We’ll deal with it,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final. “It may impact some start times in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver…But we’ll deal with it just as we deal with whatever things come our way that we don’t get to control.”

In a June article from the CBC, an Oilers representative was asked about start times for fans.

“Ensuring hockey games remain accessible for fans in Oil Country is our priority,” said Oilers President and Chief Revenue Officer Stew MacDonald in an email to CBC. “And any shift that results in later game start times is a concern — particularly as it creates challenges for families and young fans attending games or watching live broadcasts.”

Beyond Oilers start times in the capital region, it’ll be interesting to monitor how residents in all these jurisdictions react when we get to the winter months. There’s a lot of noise every November and March when the clocks are changed. It is bloody annoying, don’t get me wrong, but ultimately it is a slight inconvenience in my life.

How will people en masse react?

Connor Bedard’s new contract

Is Connor Bedard writing Leo Carlsson a thank-you card?

His $15 million per year pact with the Chicago Blackhawks became official on Saturday. It’s not an outlandish contract, but Carlsson resetting the market makes Bedard look like a reasonable “team guy” with his measly $15 million, which still represents the third-highest average annual value next year.

The Blackhawks were going to make him rich anyway you slice it, what’s surprising is that so far they have not gotten an impact forward to play him with.

Last season before Bedard got hurt on Dec. 12, he was in the midst of Team Canada consideration, and the Blackhawks had a 13-12-6 record. Not great, but not abysmal for a team trying to take a step. Bedard scored 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games. His overall numbers still finished with a 30-goal season and 75 points in 69 games. To think, he ended the year on a 10-goal goalless drought.

I’m still high on Bedard.

He just celebrated his 21st birthday. There’s an elite hockey player prime for an explosion, if he can keep himself on the ice. Yes, he’s been surpassed by Macklin Celebrini. And although Carlsson had a strong season last year, I’d rather have Bedard, especially at that contract. If they were both $15 million, I’d still prefer Bedard for the player, while worrying about his shoulder.

One of the best ever junior coaches in Alberta going to AHL

For those familiar with the Brooks Bandits in the past decade, their former head coach Ryan Papaioannou is now the Abbotsford Canucks bench boss.

I’ve dealt with “Papi” a handful of times over the years and he’s an elusive figure to those outside the Bandits building. Often, my interview requests before a game were shuffled to an assistant coach, which is a bit unusual at the AJHL/BCHL level.

With that said, there’s no debating how he forged the Bandits into an absolute juggernaut with his top-notch recruiting. He had the keys to the kingdom in Brooks and stayed for a long time, considering the type of success he was having, a run of eight league championships in the AJHL and BCHL, with four RBC Cups/Centennial Cups as national junior A champions.

Last season, as junior hockey changed with the new NCAA rules in place, the allure of the BCHL as the go-to NCAA pipeline waned, and Papaioannou seized an opportunity to go the ECHL.

With the Wheeling Nailers, they had their best record in over 20 years and went to the Eastern Conference final. He’s had success everywhere he’s gone. I’ll be curious to see how he is at the AHL level.

On the other hand, it’s an embarrassing situation for the Vancouver Canucks. According to The Province, they were turned down by the Memorial Cup winning coach Jussi Ahokas because of money, which is a trend under the Aquilini family’s ownership. Ahokas got his bag from the Colorado Eagles instead.

Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.