We’ve made it through Christmas, and the Edmonton Oilers are back on the ice Saturday in Los Angeles. This gives me a perfect chance to empty my brain of its delicious contents and purge everything I’ve been thinking about over the last few days.

As much as I enjoyed relaxing with friends and family over the past few days, part of me wishes the Oilers had been playing right through the week. The boys were so dialled in through the first three weeks of December that it almost seems like a bummer to throw a week full of turkey-induced rust in the mix at a time when they’re playing so well. Edmonton has won 11 of their last 13 games and climbed into second place in the Pacific Division, and I’m nervous how a week off will impact that run.

Even though I know every other team—the Kings included—will be in the same boat, I just hope that everyone in an Oilers uniform is on the same page about getting right back to work. I hope the team saw how they were steamrolling quality opponents and got hooked by the feeling. Then again, maybe I’m entirely overthinking it. Maybe I’m wrong even assuming that the Oilers will take a step back just because they got a week off work? Either way, Saturday’s game against the Kings will be a big test, and I hope the boys are ready for it. Gord knows the Kings will be.

Shout out to our girl Kennedy, who is always on top of what’s going on with the Oilers around Edmonton and discovered that a bunch of the boys were hanging out in the city over the break. Even though they could have been anywhere, a bunch of our boys stuck around town and spent their time off together. And since the weather was so great over the last few days, what better way to make use of the time than hitting up a local ODR for a couple of twirls with the public.

I love everything about these pictures and videos coming out of the boys ripping around with gleeful Edmontonians. It shows how much they actually appreciate the community, and I think that’s spectacular signals from a group that appears to be incredibly tight. Even though they only had a five days, the boys do well enough in life that they could have taken off for almost anywhere, but the fact that they chose to stick around makes me love them even more. Edmonton loves the Oilers, and that grows exponentially with small moments like these where they’ve giving back to the community that supports them. I love everything about what’s going on here, and it warms the heart to know how these guys are really laying roots down here.

If we’re talking about Oilers doing good in the community then how could I not give some love to Evander Kane for the holding his third consecutive Christmas shopping spree for needy kids in and around the city. With a lot of families struggling with basic essentials these days, I can only imagine how stressful the Christmas season must be when you’re worried about whether or not you can give your children a holiday they deserve. So to see someone in Kane’s position helping out even a little bit probably meant the world to all 200 of those kids and their families.

Since he’s gotten here, Kane has done a lot of this stuff in Edmonton, and we shouldn’t discount how impactful those moments can be. None of these kids have any idea about his injuries, surgeries, or personal life, all they care about is how an NHL player is giving up his time to help them have a merry Christmas. I think about how a few second exchange with Bill Ranford when I was seven years old turned me into a life long Oilers fan, and I can only imagine how many of these youngsters will remember what Evander Kane did for them as grow into sports fans themselves. Either way, I think it’s fantastic what Kane does for the community around the holidays, and I want to make sure to give him some flowers for consistently making the effort.

Alex Ovechkin hasn’t been in the Capitals’ lineup since November 18th after having a ridiculously hot start to his season. Up to that point, Ovi had put up 15 goals in 18 games, narrowing the gap between himself and Wayne Gretzky’s record to only 26. Who knows where he would have been by now had he not suffered a fibula fracture that caused him to miss more than a month? Even if we live outside the land of hypotheticals, Alex Ovechkin will probably be knocking on Gretzky’s doorstep by the time the season ends, and I think that’s pretty wild when you think of how many of us thought the goal record was untouchable.

Of course, the other side of that coin is that Ovi probably wouldn’t have broken the goal record a long time ago had the NHL not lost so much time to lockouts and COVID during his career. I know some folks around these parts would prefer if Ovi didn’t break Wayne’s record, but I actually disagree because of how much mileage the league will be able to get out of that moment. Not only that, but we’re watching the greatest goal scorer in league history at a point in history when no one scores as much as him as consistently as him. I don’t know that I would have expected Ovi to keep filling the net into his late 30s, but now that he is, I’m enjoying the ride because I think the story is pretty damned special even if part of me wishes the goal record would stay with Gretz.

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