It’s been a minute since my last edition of Random Thoughts and there’s no better time for a fresh dose than here on a Sunday afternoon when we’ve got nothing to do and no hockey in sight.

I know he doesn’t play for the Oilers anymore but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a good time with the pictures that came out from his wedding this weekend. Whether it was the laundry list of celebrities or the array of former teammates, you’d have to think it was a fantastic night and there’s no better example than seeing Mike Smith tarps off with the shades on. If the weddings I’ve been to in my life have taught me anything, you know the night is a banger when the boys start losing their clothes and no one else seems to bat an eye. Based on the tweet above, the guest list for this thing was pretty spectacular and I think it’s pretty great to get even the smallest glimpse of the boys letting loose a little bit. Toss in the fact that the net worth in that room is sky-high, and I can guarantee you that Tyson Barrie’s wedding was one to remember… as much as they could remember anyway. Congrats to the Barries!

If you’re looking for a new Oilers jersey or simply interested in adding to the collection, numbers for our new friends got announced earlier this week and we’ve got the opportunity to either a) pick up some fresh gear or b) re-crest one of the old jerseys you refuse to wear anymore. That’s good news for any of you that picked up a Ryan Murray jersey last year as Connor Brown will be rocking #28 for his first year in Edmonton, making for an easy swap and upgrade on past-yous bad life choices. As for the other new guys (kinda) Drake Caggiula will wear #8 and Lane Pederson will wear #19 if either gets some time with the big club at any point. Unfortunately, at least from my side of the computer screen, I bet the sales on these ones could be a little light.

On Friday night, the crew from Nation HQ made our way to RE/MAX Field to check out the Edmonton Riverhawks take on the Kelowna Falcons, and as always, it was a blast. For my money, I don’t know that you can have a better time than on a Friday night at the ballpark with a beer and a hotdog in your hand. There’s something special about the vibes at the ballpark and they always seem to set the tone for a fantastic evening, and in this specific game we watched, it took until extra innings before Kelowna finally won so it wasn’t the perfect night but it was pretty damned close. If you haven’t been down to the ballpark yet, it’s tough to argue with jumping in an Uber and having a relatively cheap night out.

Next up on my list of fun things to do is go check out my first Edmonton Stingers game. I know they’ve been around for a while and that I’m late to the party here, but I’m looking forward to going to watch them play against Saskatchewan on Thursday. This will be the first basketball game of any kind that I’ve ever been to, and I’m looking forward to supporting a local team that gives its fans a great show. And given that the tickets were only $25, the missus and I can check it out without having to mortgage Gregor’s farm as I did during the Oilers playoffs. Of course, going to watch the Stingers is something that I’ve always wanted to do and the fact that I’m seeing their last game of the season is the most “me” thing to do, but I’m legitimately looking forward to getting my first game in.

If you’re looking for another way to follow along with the Nation and everything we’ve got going on around here, check out our new Threads account after Facebook launched the Twitter clone on Wednesday afternoon. If you’re already there, I’d love to know your feedback on the app because I think it’s fantastic so far. Are there a few glitches to fix and updates to make? Absolutely, but at first blush, I have to admit that I spent more time on that app than I have with any social platform in recent memory. Regardless of what we think about the Zuckertweet machine, the point I’m getting at is that we’ve got another spot for you to check out what we’ve got going on and interact with the crew.

This week’s episode of Better Lait Than Never was a truckload of fun as I was able to recap the blink-182 concert, the first few days of free agency, and picked a few winners and losers from around the NHL. Subscribe to Better Lait Than Never on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you get podcasts. New episodes come out every Wednesday.