The other day on Oilersnation Socials I asked the question “Who’s the first Edmonton Oiler you fell in love with” Because growing up or whenever you got into hockey, there’s that one player that stood out to someone, that one player who made you enjoy the game a little bit more. Let’s get into what you had to say.

When it comes to goalies of the 2000s, Roloson always comes to mind even if he spent three years with the Edmonton Oilers. Atc_k97 on Instagram: “Dwayne Roloson with the gold cage on his mask”

Other than his performance in the 2006 playoffs, Roloson was always fun to root for. From his fantastic goalie masks to chanting his name. I remember in elementary school we started chanting “Roli the Goalie” during recess and for kids who decided to become a hockey goalie during that era, Roloson was an idol. Current Oilers goalie, Stuart Skinner has mentioned on several occasions that Roli was one of the players he looked up to when first playing hockey.

Another legend from the late 90s and early 2000s was Ryan Smyth.

Not only did he bleed copper and blue and left it all out of the ice for the Oilers, but his flow was also undeniably beautiful.

As UK3 Saiyan mentions, he was fortunate enough to have one interaction with Smyth that left him with a memory that’s lasted a lifetime. One encounter with Smytty shows who he was as a person off the ice and how he treated fans.

Reis_fugslang on Instagram “Smyth, retire the number, I know he wasn’t a Gretzky, but no one will wear out of respect for him and who he was anyways. If Brown has a statue in LA, Smyth should be retired at least” – I 100% agree here. I understand they have the Ring of Honour for players who were fan favourites but didn’t win a Stanley Cup or weren’t in the Hall of Fame however Smyth should be an exception.

Miikka Kiprusoff is having his number retired in Calgary, didn’t win a Cup, and hasn’t been inducted into the Hall of Fame so why not Ryan Smyth? Guess some franchises have different standards. But I can’t deny it, Kipper was one of the best goalies of his era so it does make more sense for his number to go up into the rafters.

Layne Hunter on Facebook “Hall cause he signed my copy of NHL on a midnight release” – I was so jealous of anyone who was able to attend those midnight releases for NHL games, especially when the Oilers would sign autographs.

The Moose, as they called him, is one of Edmonton’s finest leaders and second all-time in points for the organization.

Dan on Facebook “Mark Messier, a perfect blend of talent and toughness, and also had a chance to meet him a handful of times, one of the nicest guys ever.” – If there’s one thing I heard about Messier it was his toughness. That he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Mark Messier, the name just rolls off the tongue so smoothly. When you think of leadership, Messier exemplified it. Led by example and that’s what you want in a captain.

I lost count of how many times I saw Hemsky’s name on this post.

Ben Salsbury on Facebook “I was the biggest Ales Hemsky fan!” It’s so nice to hear all the positive comments about Ales. Prior to Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, he was the only player on the Oilers at the time that had skill and was flashy.

Hemsky had a lot of critics during his time, and lots of negative attention because of his play away from the puck or his physical play. Hemmer turned out to be a light in the darkness in those years.