We all know the agreement, at least 82 (now 84) times a year (and hopefully many more), that a three-hour window is blocked off so we can be in front of the TV, in the stands, or listening on the radio while commuting.

This works out to roughly 250 hours of commitment to our team. That’s pretty overwhelming, especially if you’re like me and have trouble committing to dinner plans with friends a lot of the time. This begs the question – why are we like this?

The answer is FOMO – fear of missing out. With this team, it comes down to the “what if” factor – there are some moments where seeing them happen in real time just can’t match up with the highlight reels.

I myself have experienced this feeling of FOMO – anyone remember the Battle of Alberta beatdown/goalie fight/best game ever that the NHL just released the full version of? Yeah, I wasn’t watching that night. I remember getting a text while the game was happening saying, “ARE YOU SEEING THIS?” and knew I had messed up. This feeling only got worse when I saw the highlights. Now, you might say that game was an outlier, but there’s so much other stuff that can happen that can cause the same feelings.

What if Connor McDavid goes full Columbus Blue Jackets return-from-injury game? New York Rangers/Winnipeg Jets deke the entire team out game? Toronto Maple Leafs spin-o-rama goal game? And, if not McDavid, the team has several more capable human highlight reels.

What if someone scores eight points in a game? Seeing Sam Gagner go through that stretch of being untouchable in 2012 was pure magic. I bet there were lots of people who missed that game because we were deep in the Decade of Darkness – it just goes to show that you have to watch!

What if someone goes off with a 59-save shutout like Ben Scrivens in 2014? I’ll never forget the post-game interview where he used the word “inauspicious” to describe having a bad warm-up. I think that comment forever cemented him as “The Professor” in the fans’ eyes.

What if an EBUG comes into the game like Matt Berlin did in 2022-23? Nothing like seeing a guy’s life get made on the ice, at Rogers Place, during an Oilers victory. That’s the type of hype you bring with you to work the next morning.

What if there’s an NHL first? What if there’s a crazy moment on the broadcast? One of the coolest moments from the 2025-26 season was the game where Connor Clattenburg scored his first NHL goal. It was a pretty unassuming game with not much excitement. To boot, Jack Michaels’ voice was on its last legs after a battle with a cold. The moment would have been cool on its own with Clattenburg scoring but somehow, Jack also summoned up the power to give the goal the call it deserved. These types of moments are what we watch for.

So, what about this season? We know that every game has the potential to provide us with a “McDavid flying down the wing, through three defenders and backhand top-shelf ” type of goal. I’ll never get sick of those. This season, we can look forward to more than that. Maybe we’ll see a generational fight? The Oilers certainly have some players who can do it (Trent Frederic, Vasily Podkolzin, and, who can forget, Nuge). Maybe we’ll see a young gun turn into a real rising star. Isaac Howard looks like they could take off at any moment. Maybe we’ll see a game with three Bouch Bombs. What kind of celly will Jake Walman have for his first OT winner? And will Gene Principe finally run out of pre-game hijinks? That seems unlikely. This season promises to be memorable in so many ways, so don’t miss out!

I’m looking forward to the new season.